Hi ben
I'll try to answer your questions first. Some of the information is my own experience, the rest is taken from Bilous and Donnelly's "Handbook of Diabetes" which is a standard textbook used by the NHS.
There are basically two sorts of neuropathy - the numb and the painful. Both appear to be caused by the dying back of the longest nerves: so it's usual that this starts in the feet. It happens because high blood glucose isn't good for nerves or capillaries. I never had particularly high blood glucose so it's not direct cause and effect: some people seem to get symptoms at low levels, others run with much higher levels and stay largely symptom free.
The big risk with having numb feet is that they can become damaged and you won't feel it. There is then a risk of ulceration (which is difficult to treat at the best of times but having high blood glucose makes it more difficult) which can lead to gangrene and its consequences.
The other thing that needs to be said is that there isn't a great deal of medical information around about neuropathy: because of the common medical view that diabetes is progressive and inevitable, there isn't a lot of official advice helpful to those of us who get neuropathy. It's known and recognised, but not "well understood" to use the medical jargon for "we don't know much about it"
The good news is that there is something you can do about it.
I had painful neuropathy starting about eight years or so back. Pins and needles, burning pain especially at night, "stabbing" pains. At the time my blood glucose level was rising (although no-one had told me) and I was specifically told that I wasn't diabetic. Once diagnosed I went on a very low carb diet and reduced my HbA1c to normal levels in a few months. The neuropathy symptoms started to go almost immediately I started low carb and faded very quickly. I still get a mild tingle (this is I guess probably permanent damage) but I have had no pain and particularly no burning since early 2020. Most of my other symptoms have also gone.
You asked
"if I keep dropping my HbA1c and my weight will the feeling in my feet return to normal?" So, if my experience is any guide, I'd say definitely yes, you can make big improvements with reduced blood glucose. Weight loss in itself probably won't affect your neuropathy, but will make you feel better generally. So I'd stick with no fruit, and look at reducing or eliminating other sources of carbs and sugar such as bread, pasta, potatoes, pastry, cakes, rice, etc.
Best of luck. If anything isn't clear, please keep asking questions and let us know how you get on.
Thanks for the tag
@EllieM