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neuropathy type 2

salmon

salmon

Member
Messages
7
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi, could anyone give me any advice please?

About 8 yrs ago whilst collecting a repeat script for antibiotics for bad chest, I commented to gp that I had very bad burning pins needles in my left front upper thigh area, he said probably a trapped nerve, then 3 yrs later or so I was diagnosed with type 2 another gp said it was peripheral neuropathy. no examinations no tewsts nothing, the pains were often worse when standing in places like shops etc waitying for my family to do their clothes shopping!! etc, seriously though, the pains came and went, then about 8 weeks ago I was out in the countryside and found I couldn't walk back to my car whithout shouting in pain at the massive shooting pains in my upper left thigh I went to my GP and he sent me for a hip xray, came back clear, then I have just had nerve conduction tests, my left thigh /leg are in constant pain and it doesn't make any difference whether Im sitting laying down or standing and also tramadol is not having any effect.

Im quite worried that its more than a trapped nerve and could be a benign tumour that Ive read about in patient uk and nhs websites, plus the knock on effects of having to report to dvla if it IS peripheral neuropathy, etc etc

If anyone can help Id really appreciate it, thanks very much, forgot to mention have had vg hba1c for past 4yrs but recently have gained a stone plus in weight and hba1c has gone up trying to get more exercise and watch diet.
 
Could be either painful sensory diabetic neuropathy or from a trapped nerve in the spine. X-rays won't show trapped nerves, but an MRI will. You would need referred to Orthopaedics to get one arranged. Certainly GPs where I live can't refer you for an MRI.

With sensory neuropathy, the pain can vary from shooting pains, burning, or electric shocks. It can come and go lasting a few minutes each time or sometimes it will last for several hours, until the nerve has ran out of pain chemicals. Can also cause even the slightest touch on that area to feel like sharp burning pain.

It 's caused by damaged nerve endings firing off signals, often in an attempt to fix itself. Often of you've had a period of high blood sugars followed by an improvement it can set this off. It won't make any difference if you're lying down, sitting or standing to the pain to be honest. If sensory nerve pain Tramodol often won't help with the pain. Usually they prescribe things like Amitryptiline, Gabapentin or Duloxetine etc which seem to dampen down the nerve pain. When I had sensory nerve pain Amitrytiline was like a miracle cure for me.

I'd get the most likely causes ruled out before I'd worry about anything more sinister . Sometimes reading online self diagnosis can cause a lot of unnecessary worry .
 
Adele99 said:
Could be either painful sensory diabetic neuropathy or from a trapped nerve in the spine. X-rays won't show trapped nerves, but an MRI will. You would need referred to Orthopaedics to get one arranged. Certainly GPs where I live can't refer you for an MRI.

With sensory neuropathy, the pain can vary from shooting pains, burning, or electric shocks. It can come and go lasting a few minutes each time or sometimes it will last for several hours, until the nerve has ran out of pain chemicals. Can also cause even the slightest touch on that area to feel like sharp burning pain.

It 's caused by damaged nerve endings firing off signals, often in an attempt to fix itself. Often of you've had a period of high blood sugars followed by an improvement it can set this off. It won't make any difference if you're lying down, sitting or standing to the pain to be honest. If sensory nerve pain Tramodol often won't help with the pain. Usually they prescribe things like Amitryptiline, Gabapentin or Duloxetine etc which seem to dampen down the nerve pain. When I had sensory nerve pain Amitrytiline was like a miracle cure for me.

I'd get the most likely causes ruled out before I'd worry about anything more sinister . Sometimes reading online self diagnosis can cause a lot of unnecessary worry .
Click to expand...
Adele99 said:
Could be either painful sensory diabetic neuropathy or from a trapped nerve in the spine. X-rays won't show trapped nerves, but an MRI will. You would need referred to Orthopaedics to get one arranged. Certainly GPs where I live can't refer you for an MRI.

With sensory neuropathy, the pain can vary from shooting pains, burning, or electric shocks. It can come and go lasting a few minutes each time or sometimes it will last for several hours, until the nerve has ran out of pain chemicals. Can also cause even the slightest touch on that area to feel like sharp burning pain.

It 's caused by damaged nerve endings firing off signals, often in an attempt to fix itself. Often of you've had a period of high blood sugars followed by an improvement it can set this off. It won't make any difference if you're lying down, sitting or standing to the pain to be honest. If sensory nerve pain Tramodol often won't help with the pain. Usually they prescribe things like Amitryptiline, Gabapentin or Duloxetine etc which seem to dampen down the nerve pain. When I had sensory nerve pain Amitrytiline was like a miracle cure for me.

I'd get the most likely causes ruled out before I'd worry about anything more sinister . Sometimes reading online self diagnosis can cause a lot of unnecessary worry .
Click to expand...
 
Hi thank you so much for your help with this it makes a lot of sense, makes me wonder why my gp sent me for an x ray to show if the hip had any trapped nerves!!
 
salmon said:
Hi thank you so much for your help with this it makes a lot of sense, makes me wonder why my gp sent me for an x ray to show if the hip had any trapped nerves!!
Click to expand...

Sometimes GPs work to a sort of protocol, so was likely ruling out any form of arthritis or mechanical injury as that would be the first thing to look for . And patients description of pain can sometimes be a bit vague , I'm told , so just an initial check. So next GP had went down the route of referring you for nerve conduction tests. If that comes back clear and you're still having problems, he might then go down the Ortho route leaving it to the consultant to decide if a CT scan or MRI is needed which will show up if any nerves are getting inflamed or squeezed by any of your discs etc.

There's a couple of doctors in our family and they told me one day when I was complaining about having to get numerous different tests done and the time it takes in between waiting for all the different outpatient appointments , that there's set investigative steps they have to follow and rule out in order when diagnosis isn't immediately obvious. Unless it seems life threatening or such when they pull out all the stops.

Hope you find out what's causing the problem and get it sorted soon.
 
The nerve conduction test, was this an EMG?
The pain in your hip that you described.. Was this actually feeling as it was in the muscles of your hip or the bone?
I had pain in my right hip and tops of my legs. So severe April 2013 I fell out of bed, crawled to bathroom where hubby got me paramedics and morphine. Stay in hospital and was diagnosed by a consultant as diabetic amyotrophy. Year later after being missed off the waiting list had an EMG Done... Not diabetic amyotrophy. Had this pain off and on for 5 years previously. Had also been off and on statins, and not enough fat in my diet. Had been on full DLA for a while too.
18months on from the amyotrophy diagnosis. No DLA, no medications at all. Stopped statins and got full fat in my diet. Legs, hip(s) have repaird the damage.. I believe the statins crucified me, but gp's n consultants wouldn't listen.
I too had scan and xray of hip and lower back. All a waste of nhs money and my health.

My hba1c's and bgs are pretty **** good..

Loving life
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I had an injury to my hip which gives me this type of pain, took 10 years to get a diagnosis despite me knowing I'd injured it! It was a tear in the labrum which is kind of the connective tissue in the joint, doesn't show on X-ray and even after MRI suggestive of it surgeon said he'd never seen so much damage once he got in there.

Worth exploring all possibilities. Good luck.

Summer x


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
Sorry to read of your problems.

I had mild but persistent pins & needles/numbness in one thigh. Dr diagnosed diabetic neuropathy & tested for & confirmed diabetes. That was 2000 at 61. I was physically active, adopted the recommended diet. Complex carbs/low sugar/fat/salt.

That feeling persisted for years, varying in intesity. A few months of simvastatin caused serious pain until I stopped taking it. About 2005.

By 2008 complications were serious, with crippling neuropathy, particularly that thigh. I learned from this forum the dangers of the high carb diet, & the benefits of low carb, & immediately stopped eating the obvious carbs. My health improved rapidly. Leg pains went within 3 months. 6 years on (at 75) I am fit & well, still playing tennis & table tennis at club standard.

I recommend you adopt a low carb, increased fat diet, with plenty of veg & limited fruit. This will give you what many of us believe is the best chance of minimising diabetic problems by attaining good control of blood glucose.
 
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