Diabetes and Foot Neuropathy related question
- Thread starter mysorian
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- Type of diabetes
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- Diet only
Hi. My answer is strongly yes. My neuropathy has pretty much gone away since reducing my HbA1c. My neuropathy started when my HbA1c was around 43/44mmol/l (6.1/6.2%)
I had a look in the Handbook of Diabetes - it says that neuropathy is a single condition - it's described as "peripheral" only because it doesn't affect the central system. The numbness and pain therefore come from the same source and are caused by the same dying back of the nerves. The Handbook suggests that numbness always precedes pain, but that wasn't my experience.
Needless to say, because it's a medical textbook, it doesn't talk about how to reduce neuropathy, only about how to manage a steadily worsening condition. It does say "..there is as yet little evidence that improving diabetic control influences the intensity of neuropathic pain" - but the reference is to the DCCT insulin therapy information dating from the mid 1990s.
The other thing is that there are other potential causes of the same symptoms- eg B12 deficiency - so you may need to exclude other factors.
I had a look in the Handbook of Diabetes - it says that neuropathy is a single condition - it's described as "peripheral" only because it doesn't affect the central system. The numbness and pain therefore come from the same source and are caused by the same dying back of the nerves. The Handbook suggests that numbness always precedes pain, but that wasn't my experience.
Needless to say, because it's a medical textbook, it doesn't talk about how to reduce neuropathy, only about how to manage a steadily worsening condition. It does say "..there is as yet little evidence that improving diabetic control influences the intensity of neuropathic pain" - but the reference is to the DCCT insulin therapy information dating from the mid 1990s.
The other thing is that there are other potential causes of the same symptoms- eg B12 deficiency - so you may need to exclude other factors.
I am heartened by your saying that controlling blood sugar can indeed make foot neuropathy go away.
