Muscle Pains

Welcome to the forum,Hugh. One question,are you taking Simvastatin by any chance?

Hello Hugh

I suffer from muscle pain mainly lower back and behind the knee. I was on simvistatin but stopped talking them in March. I still have the pain and it sometimes disturbs my sleep. Getting up from the chair is quite painful. I have contacted Dexcel (manufacturer of simvastatin) to ask how long it takes for simvistatin to clear from they system. They have written to me asking for contact details of my GP. I have e-mailed them asking for what purpose do they want this information - I am only seeking a response on how long it takes for simvastatin to clear the system. I await their reply. It could be that it is not simvistatin. I noticed in a recent posting that when the person's BG went above 7 then they experienced muscle pain so I will be running some BG tests (pity that I can't get them on the NHS but have not been able to convince the Dr thus far). I expect that it will have to be a process of noting down what I eat/drink/exercise/BG testing and see if there are days when the pain lessens. Not much help to you but at least it's sharing experiences.

Regards Val

It's me. As far as I can tell, the condition is proximal diabetic neuropathy.

I've reduced my overnight BS from 7 to 6 by low carb, & am playing tennis actively again, substantially free from pain, but not from awareness of the condition.

6 weeks ago, I thought my days of tennis playing were finished.

Originally, I complained of numbness in my right thigh & the Dr suspected diabetes. That thigh is the first place problems occur. It happened with Simvastatin, & went away in a week when I stopped taking it. That was two years ago. The Dr tried another cholesterol drug - niacin (1000 mg) which raised BS & started the pain again. I only took it for 3 weeks. That was 18 months ago. I'm happy to live with chol of 5.0 & to be fit & active.

As far as I could see, the best treatment for proximal diabetic neuropathy is:

The best way to prevent neuropathy is to keep your blood glucose levels as close to the normal range as possible. Maintaining safe blood glucose levels protects nerves throughout your body.

Click to expand...

As far as I am concerned, normal means 6 or less not 7. (Fasting overnight.)

Thanks

I must try harder to cut down on the carbs and lower my BS. This morning (after a night of distruptive sleep through muscle pain) I struggled to get my limbs moving. As well as painful they feel stiff. Not a happy bunny I like to be up and at em. :evil:

Regards Val

Hi Val
As i was looking through the forum, i saw your name and wondered if you had read my post to you on the net doctor forum, have you had any luck with your Dr, investigating your ferritin again, i had blood taken last week, and had to have fluid put in the other arm as BP is too low, i have to have this done for at least 10 weeks running, ideal ferritin level i was told is 5-15 but 50 is ok, which is what i have to ger to, please , i hope you see this, i am interested to see how you are getting on
Valerie

Hi Valerie

I haven't been to the doctors but I am due a visit to the nurse on 21st June. You say that they want your levels down to 50 but when you google for ideal ferritin levels it seems to be 150-200 for women. That seems at odds with what you are being told and I remember Brian was told the same as you. No wonder we get confused.

I don't use netdoctor very often but I visit this site every day.

Keep in touch
Val

Hi again Val, i did post a while ago i think when i had just seen the consultant , or maybe after the liver biopsy. cant just remember when now, but the consultant said he wanted me down to 50, the nurse who took the blood said the ideal level is 5-15, but then i am guessing that not many people will be at the ideal level, so maybe 50 is the norm, the reason i was attracted to the muscle pain post was because that is how i feel, even my feet feel stiff, anyway hope you get some answers from the nurse, but as i said before yours and my levels were never normal for anyone i was told.

Hi Valerie

Just been reading an article on ferritin http://www.labtestonline.org.uk/underst ... print.html
"What are the signs of iron overload - one of which is pain, as iron accumulates in your body, usually in your joints."

I need to check again the normal level of ferritin as all the sites I have looked at gives normal as 150-200.

Best Wishes Val

Hi everyone,

I am also having terrible problems with aching 'bones'. My HBA1C is 4.2 I follow a mostly excellent diet. I am on Metformin 500 3 a day which is now lowered to 2 a day to see if I can come off them altogether. Dr and I decided a slow withdrawl would be a good idea. My fasting glucose is a bit high at around 7 but its always been that way. My Dr says that my iron tests show as being low. In Feb I had just 4. I believe its supposed to be between 9 and 36 or something like that. It's now up to 8 and Dr has given me an iron tablet 100mg a day until August/September. I don't like this as the body cannot get rid of excess iron stores from what I have heard. He says it can (even though I read on http://www.anemia.com that it cannot.

He says liver/kidneys etc are all normal. BUT my body aches like hell! So much so that I cannot sleep without a ton of weird activities such as adding another quilt below the sheet and then using the top quilt doubled up. I lie on top of that and over me I put a sheet and a small blanket and after all that I still have x2 hot water bottles and STILL ache! All tests for lactic acidosis are negative. Except for the iron all seems well... except I get a bit dizzy every once in a while and my fingers swell a bit in the mornings sometimes lately. I guess that could be the heat because its summer. I take no other medication. I really believe its the Metformin thats doing it. It's really dreadful. Exercise obviously makes it far more painful. My guts are in a mess with the Metformin. More air than a hot air balloon!

I am confused, regarding iron and or Ferritin.. are they the same thing? Can anyone help with ideas or advice....or even similar experiences such as above? I was told by someone on Diabetes UK that
it takes x2 weeks for Metformin to leave the body..so maybe it's the same for other meds?

I hate medication...no wonder so many poor Diabetics don't take their meds..when the meds cause so many problems..we are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea..Have to take the meds to save our lives but the meds cause problems.

:roll: HELP????