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Friend with Diabetes, looking for some information

S

SprayCan

Newbie
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Hi everyone,

Please bear with me as I'm not especially versed on the subject of Diabetes. A friend of mine (who has been diabetes most of her life) came out of hospital about a month ago after collapsing at work, and since that time has been diagnosed with having 'autonomic nervous system damage' (or that's how it was described it to me at least). My friend is in almost constant pain, and is taking any number of painkillers but they dont seem to be helping that much.

I realise there isn't much I can do to help (or if there is, please advise me on where I can do some further reading!), but I read on the old-style forums that some kind of nerve damage isn't permanent and can be reversed. Is that true?

I tried doing various google searches on 'nervous system damage repair', looking for diabetes-specific links, but with my limited knowledge of the condition it was hard to find anything that seemed useful. If anyone could provide me with some knowledge for the layman, it would be most appreciated.

Thanks :)
 
Thanks Sue and timo, they have both been very helpful.

Timo, re: the link you posted, would that drug/chemical be used to reverse the nerve damage, or just prevent/slow the progression of further damage?
 
Benfotiamine has been shown to prevent neuropathy(nerve damage) in diabetics
and has also been sucessfully used to treat the painful effects of neuropathy.
http://diabetes.about.com/b/2007/03/20/can-benfotiamine-treat-complications-of-diabetes.htm
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-153051156.html

even though some internet sites selling benfotiamine claim it can REVERSE neuropathy,
retinopathy etc etc I'm not so sure you'll hear such bold claims from actual doctors -
although the article on benfotiamine in the link below does talk of a
"beneficial therapeutic effect on neuropathy status" - does that mean reversal?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10219465?dopt=Abstract

Vitamin B6 is known to prevent diabetic neuropathy
(as is mentioned in the link second from the bottom on this post)
Everything you ever wanted to know about vitamin B6 is here:
http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitaminb6.asp#h5
(please notice the "interactions with medications" section.)

Benfotiamine is considered to be relatively safe in high doses (400+mg per day)-
although it's always best to start low and work up
(80mg is the lowest dose i could find being sold).
As you'll have seen in the link above, vitamin B6 should be used with a little more caution.
For long term supplementation you should not exceed 100mg per day unless supervised
buy a doctor.

It is very important that any information you research on these supplements comes from
an independant and sound medical source and not some nutter trying to flog you as much
of the stuff as he can. If a supplement actually has the power to help you then it will
also have the power to harm you if you get the dose wrong.

all the best to you and your friend.

a little more info on Autonomic neuropathy:
http://edition.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00544.html
more on benfotiamine:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15726875
other treatments for diabetic neuropathy:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2069851_treat-neuropathy.html
http://www.mendosa.com/neuro.htm
 
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