Peripheral Neuropathy

Sorry to read you are struggling at the moment.

You say you are experiencing what you think is peripheral neuropathy.
I would recommend visiting a doctor and getting this confirmed as soon as possible.
It may be something else. It may be treatable. It may be short term.
I don't know the answers to these questions and, truth be told, no one can until you have a proper diagnosis.

Good luck. I am keeping my fingers crossed for you.

I would really advise that you get this checked out with your doctor. I had Peripheral Neuropathy some years ago due to a reaction from Chemotherapy.
I cannot remember having pin & needles (but it was 10 years ago) what I do remeber is that my feet were forever cold from mid foot to toes & having some difficulty with walking & no feeling in my finger tips even to the point of when i cut myself I didnot realise I had. not trying to frighten you as mine was quite severe & although now fully gone from my fingers I suffer from very cold feet.
Another sign may well be having problems holding things as they tend to slip from your hands.
Sorry if this sounds dramatic but you really do need to see your GP to ascertain exactly what the problem is & if it is neuropathy the severity.
best of luck













neuropathy

I'm in the similar boat, I've made the life style changes and have lost weight and my blood sugar level is stable (always between 4 and 7 throughout the day normally 5.4ish between meal) but as another member said it can be your body adjusting to the lowered blood sugar and I'm presently debating if I should go to the doctor myself to get this checked out.

I've noticed that my feet get cold but it's winter where I live and the temperatures drop throughout the day so I'm hoping that it's that, my brother has been diagnosed for 15 years and told me that the feeling comes and goes.

I don't necessarily have the pins and needles feel it's just a mild discomfort but whenever I massage my foot or walk on it it goes away. I'm sorry I don't have a more concrete answer for you but I wish you the best and congrats on your recent score. Make sure to celebrate your wins

Welcome @Chris Sarantis to the Forum .
If you find you cannot get an appointment at your GP Surgery and your symptoms get worse? Perhaps you ought to consider going to A & E.

I'd say you are starting to feel the improvements rather than the problems. Only when I was diagnosed did I realise that I'd had some symptoms. And those symptoms were lack of feeling which I reckon now I'm in better control, is coming back and feeling a bit like what you describe. So maybe it's an improvement rather than a deterioration?

@Chris Sarantis
It sounds suspicious. You really need to get a referral from your GP to see a neurologist. They will run a big series of blood tests looking for possible antibodies and maybe a nerve conduction test. It should be done sooner rather than later as nerve cells take a very long time to heal.

Even with good HbA1C numbers, spikes can still be threatening. There has been some work done on this:
https://dmsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1758-5996-6-139

Take care,
Glenn

I too have numbness, pins and needles and cold hands and feet.
Can be from a number of conditions. Best to see your GP.

Chris Sarantis said:

Hi guys I was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes two months ago with a hbAc1 result of 88 - I've since been on metformin, sitaglyptin and stuck to major lifestyle changes and brought it down to 57. My consultant said I could even reverse it if i continue the current routine. However - about five days ago I started experiencing what I think are the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy: pins and needles in my feets, hands, legs and arms, itchiness all over and general sharp pains. I feel really depressed that this has started considering all my good work - has anyone experienced this and can you tell me what the outlook is? Does it go after a while if blood sugar levels continue to fall? How long will it last for? Any advice or tips would be fantastic, thank you.

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Are you taking a statin?

Hi im newbie as well had same issue strait after extreme diet exercise and normalizing my blood sugars it was 2 weeks after diagnosis when it's started .I've started taking
Alpha lipid acid and b vitamins.After 2 month my problems with hands and feet stopped

R-ala supplement is fantastic for diabetic nerve damage.
I'm on pregabalin and it's done the same for my numb toe as r-ala did. Although pregabalin has a side effect for same which is weight gain. R-ala doesn't and it also reduces the need for as much insulin.

Contralto said:

You can actually have a test for this. Pins are stuck in along your major nerves in the legs and feet and they test your own personal electrical system. A neurologist orders this. It will definitively state whether or not you have it, how severe, etc. Diabetes is not the only reason for neuropathy

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Nerve conduction studies will only test for damage to the long nerves fibres, they will not be able to test for small fibre deficiency or damage which unfortunately is what most diabetic neuropathies are.

I had itching all over and awful pains when taking Metformin and a statin - amongst other side effects, a few weeks after diagnosis.

Juicetin said:

Nerve conduction studies will only test for damage to the long nerves fibres, they will not be able to test for small fibre deficiency or damage which unfortunately is what most diabetic neuropathies are.

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I would like to tag my friend's wife @tina_marie for this info too.
This needs highlighting with his GP who has just refused/stopped his test strips.

Chris Sarantis said:

Hi guys I was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes two months ago with a hbAc1 result of 88 - I've since been on metformin, sitaglyptin and stuck to major lifestyle changes and brought it down to 57. My consultant said I could even reverse it if i continue the current routine. However - about five days ago I started experiencing what I think are the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy: pins and needles in my feets, hands, legs and arms, itchiness all over and general sharp pains. I feel really depressed that this has started considering all my good work - has anyone experienced this and can you tell me what the outlook is? Does it go after a while if blood sugar levels continue to fall? How long will it last for? Any advice or tips would be fantastic, thank you.

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Hi Chris
I had similar sensations although it was only my hands, arms and fingers. I went to the docs (that's what they are there for) and suggested to him that I had neuropathy. Lots of questions and prodding and poking and checking my history turns out it is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Glad I went, it also seems I'm not T2 anymore. Also beware of Dr Google, checking it out on there it appears I am in the menopause, a tad unusual for a 70 year old male !!

@Contralto
Did they do any blood tests looking for antibodies such as C-ANCA and P-ANCA. Did they test reflex and sensations like with a tuning fork and cold bodies.

Glenn

As far as Im aware the only test for small fibre neuropathy (typically those in the hands and feet) are punch biopsies which, I was told, are incredibly rare in the UK. They are more common in the USA it seems.

I've found this thread really interesting. Definitely go to your GP and get it checked out and if you are not satisfied/there is no improvement or change then press to see a neurologist.

Hubby was diagnosed T2 last June with an initial HbA1C of (I think) around 12 or 14. He has since reduced that to 7 at his last check up and is due another 3 month (6 at our surgery!) test immentiently.

His diabetes was diagnosed when he was having blood tests to ascertain what 'virus' he was suffering from-he had no diabetic symptoms. The virus (may have been Hepatitis A) caused sharp stabbing pains around his middle and the liver area, burning sensations, prickling/crawling and itching down the length of his spine and flanks.

GP said that it was diabetic neuropathy due to having had high BG levels and that it would improve. He more than halved his BG and it didn't so he returned to the GP who said that it was 'probably' due to having lowered his BG 'too quickly'- you can't win can you ?! He wasn't experiencing tingly fingers or toes but has poor circulation in general.

On Friday he is going back to the GP (with me in tow) to ask for a referral to a neurologist which we want to do privately in order to talk to someone for more than 6 minutes) as we are both inclined to think this is something else. There is a tendancy to hang every symptom on the diabetic 'coat hook'.

Trust your gut instinct-this may not be related to being diabetic at all. Good luck.

I also dropped my HbA1C from 100 to 33 in a short period of time and also lost 40Kg including some muscle. I have also suffered from the burning and stabbing sensations down my back, flanks and across my shoulders and on a bad day, I've not known what to do with myself.
My GPs and DB Nurse have scratched their heads so far and have just said that my body will adjust to muscle loss- only that it hasn't and nearly two years since diagnosis. Physio and exercise hasn't made any difference.
My only other symptoms are skin itchiness in groin and generally tired and fatigued. Otherwise NHS consider me off their radar with consistent HbA1C or 33.
I would be interested in any more news or findings Sam50