Hi all,
It seems I only post when there's a problem and for that I apologise.
I'm doing this on behalf of my gran - she's type 2 diabetic.
She's asked me to post again about her neuropathy - at least we think that's what it is. She is in excrutiating pain in her left hip and down her leg. She does have tingling and pins and needles in other parts of her body but it's this hip that's causing her the most pain.
She's 84 years old (85 in January) and was officially diagnosed about 2 years ago, though I suspect she'd had undiagnosed diabetes for a lot longer. There were several occassions when the GP said she was "borderline". We now know this to be a load of old hooey because the diabetic nurse says there's no such thing as borderline. From her describing her symptoms and my hunting the internet, she seems to have every kind of neuropathy that there is. Her hearing and vision is greatly impaired as well.
At the moment, she is on Gliclazide 40mg in the morning and 40mg before her evening meal. She is also taking Benfotiamine 150mg, Alpha Lipoic Acid 200mg and Acetyl L-carnitine 400mg per day, Pregabalin 75mg three times a day and Simvastatin 40mg per day as well as medications for other health issues - Digoxin, Prednisilone, Azathioprine, Warfarin.
She's been taking the supplements and the Pregabalin for 5 weeks now and there is absolutely no improvement to the pain she is experiencing. She's almost weeping it's so painful and finds that she cannot stand for any more than a couple of seconds before she's in terrible pain.
She was at her diabetic review last week and I explained to the doctor about the pain she was in (I'm sorry to hear that, that's a nuisance he said). I also said that I was concerned about her blood sugar levels. They seem to gradually climb through the day and it doesn't matter what she eats, they still climb. For example, one evening she could have a small portion of meat and vegetables and a cup of tea with milk only and I'll check her sugars at bedtime and they'll be say 13.9. She could be a devil and have that same meal, but maybe have a dessert or a small piece of chocolate or something else that she shouldn't have and they would still be in the 12 - 13 range. This evening, she forgot about her evening diabetic medication completely. I checked her sugars and they were 12.0. The doctor said that he was perfectly happy with her HbA1c at 7.7 but if I was all that concerned to increase her Gliclazide to 80mg in the morning and 40mg in the evening. I haven't done this yet because I'm worried that increasing it in the morning may send her hypo. Is this how an increase in medication would normally be done?
Just as an example of her blood sugars, here is a typical day:
Morning before breakfast: 7.0 (has been as low as 4.8 but only once)
Before lunch : 11.4 (has been as low at 4.7 but again only once)
Before dinner : 14.0 (has been as low as 6.8 but again, only once)
Before bed : 14.9 ( lowest it's been here is 9.2)
Her typical meals for the day are:
Breakfast - porridge made with water and salt, cup of tea with milk
Elevenses - cup of tea with milk
Lunch - Bowl of soup or a roll and cold meat and cup of tea with milk
Mid afternoon - cup of tea with milk
Evening meal - meat with vegetables, very small amount of potatoes sometimes (she's not keen on potatoes), cup of tea with milk. She might have a small dessert if she's feeling like a devil!
Supper - cup of tea with milk and sometimes a packet of crisps
She's not often bad with her diet, but sometimes, she just thinks "hang it" and will have something she shouldn't, but as I said, it really doesn't make any odds to her blood sugars.
I'm at a loss here because I can't get anywhere with the doctors. The GP tells us to speak to the hospital doctor and he just says that he's happy with her sugars.
I don't know what else to do. I just know that my previously, extremely active grandmother is now having to use a wheelchair to get out of the house and is having to use a walker in the house because of this pain. It's destroying her confidence and she's really down about it all - she can't even go and make herself a cup of tea without being in agony.
If anyone could give me some advice, I'd be most grateful. She also wonders if others are in such pain as well.
Many thanks for you taking the time to read this.
Alison
It seems I only post when there's a problem and for that I apologise.
I'm doing this on behalf of my gran - she's type 2 diabetic.
She's asked me to post again about her neuropathy - at least we think that's what it is. She is in excrutiating pain in her left hip and down her leg. She does have tingling and pins and needles in other parts of her body but it's this hip that's causing her the most pain.
She's 84 years old (85 in January) and was officially diagnosed about 2 years ago, though I suspect she'd had undiagnosed diabetes for a lot longer. There were several occassions when the GP said she was "borderline". We now know this to be a load of old hooey because the diabetic nurse says there's no such thing as borderline. From her describing her symptoms and my hunting the internet, she seems to have every kind of neuropathy that there is. Her hearing and vision is greatly impaired as well.
At the moment, she is on Gliclazide 40mg in the morning and 40mg before her evening meal. She is also taking Benfotiamine 150mg, Alpha Lipoic Acid 200mg and Acetyl L-carnitine 400mg per day, Pregabalin 75mg three times a day and Simvastatin 40mg per day as well as medications for other health issues - Digoxin, Prednisilone, Azathioprine, Warfarin.
She's been taking the supplements and the Pregabalin for 5 weeks now and there is absolutely no improvement to the pain she is experiencing. She's almost weeping it's so painful and finds that she cannot stand for any more than a couple of seconds before she's in terrible pain.
She was at her diabetic review last week and I explained to the doctor about the pain she was in (I'm sorry to hear that, that's a nuisance he said). I also said that I was concerned about her blood sugar levels. They seem to gradually climb through the day and it doesn't matter what she eats, they still climb. For example, one evening she could have a small portion of meat and vegetables and a cup of tea with milk only and I'll check her sugars at bedtime and they'll be say 13.9. She could be a devil and have that same meal, but maybe have a dessert or a small piece of chocolate or something else that she shouldn't have and they would still be in the 12 - 13 range. This evening, she forgot about her evening diabetic medication completely. I checked her sugars and they were 12.0. The doctor said that he was perfectly happy with her HbA1c at 7.7 but if I was all that concerned to increase her Gliclazide to 80mg in the morning and 40mg in the evening. I haven't done this yet because I'm worried that increasing it in the morning may send her hypo. Is this how an increase in medication would normally be done?
Just as an example of her blood sugars, here is a typical day:
Morning before breakfast: 7.0 (has been as low as 4.8 but only once)
Before lunch : 11.4 (has been as low at 4.7 but again only once)
Before dinner : 14.0 (has been as low as 6.8 but again, only once)
Before bed : 14.9 ( lowest it's been here is 9.2)
Her typical meals for the day are:
Breakfast - porridge made with water and salt, cup of tea with milk
Elevenses - cup of tea with milk
Lunch - Bowl of soup or a roll and cold meat and cup of tea with milk
Mid afternoon - cup of tea with milk
Evening meal - meat with vegetables, very small amount of potatoes sometimes (she's not keen on potatoes), cup of tea with milk. She might have a small dessert if she's feeling like a devil!
Supper - cup of tea with milk and sometimes a packet of crisps
She's not often bad with her diet, but sometimes, she just thinks "hang it" and will have something she shouldn't, but as I said, it really doesn't make any odds to her blood sugars.
I'm at a loss here because I can't get anywhere with the doctors. The GP tells us to speak to the hospital doctor and he just says that he's happy with her sugars.
I don't know what else to do. I just know that my previously, extremely active grandmother is now having to use a wheelchair to get out of the house and is having to use a walker in the house because of this pain. It's destroying her confidence and she's really down about it all - she can't even go and make herself a cup of tea without being in agony.
If anyone could give me some advice, I'd be most grateful. She also wonders if others are in such pain as well.
Many thanks for you taking the time to read this.
Alison
