Hi
@syed_zaffar and welcome to the forum.
As this is your first post, I will tag
@daisy1 and
@AM1874 for some brilliant information for newbies.
Your question is very interesting and I am not sure I have an answer for you -- but I will share some of my ideas anyway. My initial was whether diabetic damage is caused by too much insulin or too much glucose. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to tell which of these two manifestations of T2 is more harmful.
As you are probably aware, most of us T2s produce too much insulin (at least for some time until the pancreas is damaged to such a degree that we have to be put on insulin injections). This is because the fundamental defect in T2s is insulin resistance.
The body tries to overcome insulin resistance by producing more insulin. Also, some drugs will work in the same way (these include
sulfonylureas). You say that you are on glimipride. Glimipride is such a drug that pushes your pancreas to produce more insulin. Thus, it is not an unreasonable assumption that you have a lot of insulin floating around your system.
So, to see whether too much insulin might be related to neuropathy, I put in a google search . What I found was that neuropathy develops in two cases associated with higher insulin levels. One of theses cases is an insulinoma, which is a tumor on the pancreas that leads to excess insulin secretion with normal or low blood sugars, the second case was when blood sugar levels rapidly normalized, which in at least some cases might also be related to a rapid increase in insulin (by either giving insulin itself or giving insulin-raising drugs such as glimipride).
Here is a link to an article that describes this.
http://pmj.bmj.com/content/81/952/103
Mind you -- this involves some speculation on my part. And it doesn't mean that high blood sugar levels will not also cause neuropathy. However, there are some experts who believe that treating T2s by raising insulin is not a good idea, unless it can be shown that your own body doesn't make enough insulin anymore.
In the end, however, you might be more interested in what might help you with neuropathy (and ultimately diabetes).
Many of us T2s on this forum have adopted a low-carb diet (or LCHF -- low carb healthy or higher fat diet) and have achieved normal or near normal blood sugar levels without medication. As you can see in my signature, I started with quite a high Hba1c and was able to come off all medications. This diet works by eliminating carbs, which raise blood sugar levels and insulin, and replacing them with healthy fats (such as olive oil, nut oils, coconut oil and butter), which have no or only a minimal impact. Protein intake stays about the same, as proteins also require some insulin. This diet consequently decreases not only blood sugar levels, but also insulin levels -- which is a good thing for T2s. Over time, some forum members have also noticed that their neuropathy symptoms have improved.
*** However, as you take glimipride, please talk to your GP if you decide to go this route -- as this diet combined with your medication might lower you blood sugar levels too much, so that you might experience hypos.
Also, the supplement R-ALA might help with neuropathy. Some members here have had good experiences with this. I am tagging
@Bluetit1802, who I believe has taken it.
I hope some of this helps. Please have a read around this forum and feel free to ask any questions.
Edited for grammar and readability.
Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it helpful. Ask as many questions as you need to and someone will be able to answer.
