Advice wanted on proximal neuropathy please

[Molly56]

Just wondered if anyone had any experience of proximal neuropathy ?

Having found out about this yesterday via a question and link on this forum I think that this may explain some of the symptoms my partner is experiencing. He often complains of extreme pain in the area of one hip and has also mentioned his knee giving way on a couple of occasion recently. Moving from a sitting to a standing position is also an effort.

He has had a number of appointments with a consultant about this resulting in a couple of treatments involving injections into the area concerned but this has only temporarily alleviated the pain. His GP has prescribed amitriptyline for nerve pain (for other neuropathy symptoms elsewhere) and cocodamol as a general painkiller.

I don't think that at any point either the doctor or consultant have attributed the pain in his hip to his diabetes - Type 2 but not well controlled.

Am always careful not to self diagnose but wondered if anyone had experience of this complication and,if so, any advice about ways in which to address this.



From website link found yesterday:

Proximal neuropathy, sometimes called lumbosacral plexus neuropathy, femoral neuropathy, or diabetic amyotrophy, starts with pain in the thighs, hips, buttocks, or legs, usually on one side of the body. This type of neuropathy is more common in those with type 2 diabetes and in older adults with diabetes. Proximal neuropathy causes weakness in the legs and the inability to go from a sitting to a standing position without help. Treatment for weakness or pain is usually needed. The length of the recovery period varies, depending on the type of nerve damage.

 

[catherinecherub]

Hello Molly,

This website explains the different types of neuropathy and it may be where you got your information from.
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/neuropathies/#proximalneuropathy

If you search the forum using "proximal neuropathy" you will find other threads about it and the general consensus seems to be that getting blood sugars down to an acceptable level does improve the symptoms.

I would suggest reviewing what he eats and plenty of testing. It is not feasible to expect good results within days but a gradual lowering of his blood sugars may prove more beneficial in the long term. Sometimes when nerve damage is being addressed the pain can get worse before it gets better as the nerves slowly heal.

Hope this helps.

 

[Molly56]

Hello Molly,

This website explains the different types of neuropathy and it may be where you got your information from.
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/neuropathies/#proximalneuropathy

If you search the forum using "proximal neuropathy" you will find other threads about it and the general consensus seems to be that getting blood sugars down to an acceptable level does improve the symptoms.
.

Thanks for the reply and yes that was the link that I had already found. I had been aware of various other forms of neuropathy but not this particular one which caught my attention as it explains some of his symptoms.

Since posting this thread I have started to look into other causes of proximal neuropathy and came across Cushing's syndrome....am probably in danger of self diagnosing something that may not be there but there are other symptoms of this that began to ring alarm bells, namely

• Obesity - with fat around the main body area (trunk) rather than the arms and legs. The arms and legs can become quite thin compared with the obese body.
• Facial puffiness, and the face often looks redder than usual.
• Diabetes.
• High blood pressure.
• Muscle weakness. In particular a proximal muscle weakness. The proximal muscles are the ones in your arms and legs nearest to the body. So, the muscles around the thigh, pelvis, shoulders and upper arms are the proximal muscles.
• Thin skin which bruises easily
• Tiredness.
• Aches and pains - particularly backache

(selection of symptoms taken from http://www.patient.co.uk/health/cushings-syndrome-leaflet)

My partner suffers from all of the above so wondered if perhaps something is being missed by the GP in terms of diagnosis and linking the various symptoms. I often feel that everything is blamed on the diabetes without looking further to underlying conditions.

Not sure what to do about this or if I am just barking up the wrong tree with this one.

Does anyone else have any experience of this?