Hi gingercat
Please, please, please get referred to your hospital specialist diabetic unit! Your symptoms match how mine were and I urge you not to leave this as the damage doesn't wait for anyone.
I was diagnosed diabetic 2008 & diet-only for 1 year but have now degenerated to max dose Metformin plus Exenatide injections twice daily (great stomach bruises). My count is now 6-10 but apparently this is the best I can hope for. I also had counts in the 20's, which I thought was ok as I felt worse when it dropped. However, a friend worried me when they said they were surprised I was upright and not collapsed in a heap. This made me take notice but with hospital red tape, it's taken 1 year of unmanaged levels to get anywhere near control. I've been exhausted constantly, nauseous with gut problems & losing feeling in my fingers and toes with many bodily pains. I now find out my lower left leg is badly nerve-damaged by the diabetes & probably can't be fixed. I could lose my leg - a stark reality. My liver is now also diseased (NFALD) & I have to have 3-monthly biopsies to check for cirrhosis. I'm 40, don't drink alcohol or smoke and eat healthily though Diabetes is literally crippling me, preventing exercise as I can't even walk properly now. Losing 4 stone doesn't seem to have made a difference, I can only work part-time now and am virtually knocked out if I do too much, which can be just hoovering! My immune system is shot & should "live in a bubble" as am prone to all infection now. I'm half the person I was, psychologically with physically fast catching up.
Don't let this happen to you - it makes me cry to think someone else will go through my agonies. Keep us updated, Monkey201 x