pins and needles and diabetes

You should definitely mention this to your doctor. There can be many causes of the pins and needles but as a diabetic it can be the start of neuropathy.

Yes - I had that especially in bed for some reason and thought it was because of overuse of the mouse and computer.

It's disappeared altogether now that I've taken control of my blood glucose levels.

Cramps in the calves (also in bed), getting up in the night to go to the toilet, repeating thrush, itching genitals etc have also all disappeared. At the time, I never really put any of them down to high blood glucose levels but now know that they must have been.

You don't tell us anything about what you are achieving in terms of control of blood glucose levels?

Best Wishes - John

Hi again Jo,

Your blood glucose levels are way too high! What are you eating?

John

Hi jocat44,

I am quite new to all this too but I have had a similar experience to you (and by the sounds of it Wallycorker too). Initially when I was diagnosed I had really bad neuropathy so much so that my legs and feet (riddled with pins and needles and some painful calf cramps). It always used to keep me awake at night for hours on end. This was the original reason I went to see my GP.

Since that time I have followed the dietary advice and just general bits of information off this site and can say without a shadow of a doubt that my neuropathy has a direct relationship with my blood sugar levels.

At the moment I am eating what my meter tells me is good for my blood sugar and as a direct result of that my neuropathy has virtually gone. I try like hell to get my readings as close to 5 as possible but as I have found thats easier said than done but I generally manage to keep to the mid-high 5's or low to the occasional mid 6's.

Further to this I would like to add that I have for a number of years experienced hand pain and had a cervical fusion for it. A lot of pain was removed via the fusion but I always had what was termed as residual parathesia and pins and needles .... well guess what ! Since taking control of my blood sugar levels and reducing them via diet and metformin (once per day pm meal) that too has virtually gone. I get the occasional twinge/pins needles sensation now and again and according to my spreadsheet (I've basically recorded everything I had done since being diagnosed) this correlates to new foods which don't agree with me (high 7's is usually the one that triggers the sensation for me)

I know we are all different, but this is just what happened to me. So for me there is a definite cause and effect.

Please get yourself a meter, have a look around this site at what people have achieved and how they have achieved lower blood sugar readings by diet and what they eat. You have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Simply put eat what your meter records as good for your blood. Unless your Dr or Specialist tells you otherwise.

All the best.

I'm not certain that us Type 2s are all as different as we keep saying we are!

John

Hi Jocat, try testing one hour and then two hours after your porridge to see what the spike is. Some can eat oat products and some can't, this may be the cause of your spike after breakfast.

jocat44 said:

......I have porridge with some sultanas for breakfast..........

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Hi again,

Almost every cereal that I tried took my blood glucose levels to 10+ - all the ones that are supposed to be diabetic friendly e.g. All Bran, Weetabix, Shredded Wheat, porridge etc. Because of that, I've cut cereals out of my breakfast almost altogether. I now eat a small selection of grilled items (bacon, sausage, mushrooms) generally with tomatoes lightly fried in a little olive oil sometimes with baked beans. If I do eat cereals at all these days then I now eat Lizi's granola - it's nut-based and hardly does anything at all to my blood glucose levels. The product can be found in Tesco but in the Special Foods section in our Tesco not amongst all the other creeals.

These days, my readings in the morning after breakfast are a lot better than they used to be. I consider that this has been a very significant contributor to my overall improvement in normalising my blood glucose levels over the past twelve months.

John

I'm the same , Jo, I buy strips from Ebay to supplement my prescription.