I suffer with damaged nerves in my feet and feel its starting in my hands iam on medication for this but feel it's getting worse I dont know if there is any thing else they can and this worries me also I am over weight and trying to lose wait bit by bit I have lost a stone in about a year and still tryig
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Hi I am trees 07 I am a diabetics type 2
- Thread starter Trees07
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Hello @Trees07
Welcome to the forum
Sorry to hear about your neuropathy (nerve damage). As I understand it one of the best things you can do to help is to try to maintain as good BG levels as you can manage by reducing both you glucose instability (spikes) and your median glucose values (where your BG sits most often). These not only help to reduce the symptoms and discomfort of any nerve pain/sensation you might experience, but also can slow or halt the progression of your nerve damage. Other medications might be available to further reduce symptoms.
Losing weight is a great idea, as this can make it easier for your body to deal with carbohydrates in your diet, and use insulin more effectively.
Do you currently take any medications for your diabetes, or do you currently manage it with diet and exercise? Have you experimented with reducing your intake of all carbohydrates (not just sweet things)?
Welcome to the forum
Sorry to hear about your neuropathy (nerve damage). As I understand it one of the best things you can do to help is to try to maintain as good BG levels as you can manage by reducing both you glucose instability (spikes) and your median glucose values (where your BG sits most often). These not only help to reduce the symptoms and discomfort of any nerve pain/sensation you might experience, but also can slow or halt the progression of your nerve damage. Other medications might be available to further reduce symptoms.
Losing weight is a great idea, as this can make it easier for your body to deal with carbohydrates in your diet, and use insulin more effectively.
Do you currently take any medications for your diabetes, or do you currently manage it with diet and exercise? Have you experimented with reducing your intake of all carbohydrates (not just sweet things)?
Several people in the other diabetes forum have reversed their T2 neuropathy by adopting a Low Carb 'way of eating'.
One guy even managed it after having been on Insulin injections and having had a big toe amputated. Obviously the toe didn't grow back, but the feeling in his feet returned to normal and he got his HbA1C back down below 40 while taking zero diabetes medications.
However not everybody has such success and even for those that do it can take several years!
One guy even managed it after having been on Insulin injections and having had a big toe amputated. Obviously the toe didn't grow back, but the feeling in his feet returned to normal and he got his HbA1C back down below 40 while taking zero diabetes medications.
However not everybody has such success and even for those that do it can take several years!
Hi and welcome, I am sorry to hear about your neuropathy, must be a worry for you. It would help to understand how you currently manage your diabetes other than the medication? What changes have you made to your diet? Do you understand the issue with carbohydrates?
Thank you all for your advice it's nice to talk with other people about this and know what there talking about. I still not sure what I am doing with carb i am not sure what my bg is as waiting for my first yearly appointment I have been trying to lose weight but do worry about neuropathy in my feet as all they give is medication I don know if I need to see some one else as my feet are either cold or hot and burning an throbing sensation
Drummer
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- Type 2
I no longer get any bother from diabetes, but I feel obliged to stick around and keep repeating - control your blood glucose and as a type two unable to deal with carbs, eat low carb foods, low in starches and sugars, use a cheap glucose meter to monitor your blood glucose after meals to see if you have got a grip on it.
Losing weight is no guarantee of normal blood glucose, nor is dutifully taking the medication, brown carbs might well be exactly the same bad news as white ones, and it isn't fat that is the enemy - nor is it carbs in general, to be honest, it is ignorance of a few simple fact.
Losing weight is no guarantee of normal blood glucose, nor is dutifully taking the medication, brown carbs might well be exactly the same bad news as white ones, and it isn't fat that is the enemy - nor is it carbs in general, to be honest, it is ignorance of a few simple fact.
It might help to get a good glucose meter, the code free is the cheapest, you can then check your levels before and 2 hours after eating, if you track your readings in a food diary you wi be able to see what foods work best for you, if the difference is no more than 2 points higher then its good, if its more then you need to tweak the meal and try again. Reducing or avoiding rice, pasta, potatoes and bread will help as these all increase blood sugar but we are all different in what we can tolerate so testing is key.
rebrascora
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Hi Trees07 and welcome from me too. It sounds like you are mostly leaving your diabetes management in the hands of your health care professionals and this is often not the best course of action. If you want to be proactive in dealing with your diabetes and associated nerve damage then you have come to the right place as many people here have managed to lower their BG readings through diet and exercise and lost weight and come off medication.
Most of us believe that having the equipment to monitor our own BG and see how our body responds to each meal we eat, helps us to tailor our diet to own body's tolerance for carbohydrates. A blood glucose meter is only about £15 to buy but then the on going purchase of test strips for it can tot up the finances and for that reason, we recommend the SD Codefree Blood Glucose Meter or the Spirit Health TEE2 BG Meter as these have the cheapest test strips at £8 for a pot of 50. Testing before a meal and 2 hours after will tell you how your body responded to that food. An increase of more than 3 mmols (the scale on the meter) means that you ate too many carbs and need to reduce the portion size or leave out that carbohydrate food group. Carbohydrates are not just sweet foods which contain sugar (including fruit and fruit juice) but also starchy carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes in all their forms, breakfast cereals and even porridge.
This may sound like there is not much left to eat but eating a low carb diet can be really enjoyable and not like a calorie controlled diet and many of us would not go back to eating the way we used to once we have learned how to eat low carb.
Maybe if you could start by telling us the sort of thing you normally have for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then we could get an idea of how many carbs you are currently eating and suggest some substitutes for the high carb foods to help you slowly reduce your levels.
It would also be helpful to know what medication you are on as some diabetes medications can make your BG drop too low if you drastically change your diet, so you have to slowly modify what you eat and adjust medication to match. If you don't have a BG meter supplied by the NHS then it is likely that you are not on one of these medications, but it is helpful if you can confirm that by listing what you take for your diabetes. It might also be helpful to know how much weight you need to lose and what limitations you might have as regards exercise.... ie are you able to go for a walk or are you housebound etc. Whilst I appreciate that neuropathy may make walking uncomfortable, it will also help along with adjusting your diet, so the adage of "no pain, no gain", may be relevant and pushing yourself a little bit may be necessary to improve things.
I look forward to hearing more about your situation and hopefully we will be able to help you to make beneficial changes. There are people on this forum who have improved their neuropathy and pushed their diabetes into remission with exercise and diet and positive mental attitude and the right advice. Hopefully you will become one of them.
Most of us believe that having the equipment to monitor our own BG and see how our body responds to each meal we eat, helps us to tailor our diet to own body's tolerance for carbohydrates. A blood glucose meter is only about £15 to buy but then the on going purchase of test strips for it can tot up the finances and for that reason, we recommend the SD Codefree Blood Glucose Meter or the Spirit Health TEE2 BG Meter as these have the cheapest test strips at £8 for a pot of 50. Testing before a meal and 2 hours after will tell you how your body responded to that food. An increase of more than 3 mmols (the scale on the meter) means that you ate too many carbs and need to reduce the portion size or leave out that carbohydrate food group. Carbohydrates are not just sweet foods which contain sugar (including fruit and fruit juice) but also starchy carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatoes in all their forms, breakfast cereals and even porridge.
This may sound like there is not much left to eat but eating a low carb diet can be really enjoyable and not like a calorie controlled diet and many of us would not go back to eating the way we used to once we have learned how to eat low carb.
Maybe if you could start by telling us the sort of thing you normally have for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then we could get an idea of how many carbs you are currently eating and suggest some substitutes for the high carb foods to help you slowly reduce your levels.
It would also be helpful to know what medication you are on as some diabetes medications can make your BG drop too low if you drastically change your diet, so you have to slowly modify what you eat and adjust medication to match. If you don't have a BG meter supplied by the NHS then it is likely that you are not on one of these medications, but it is helpful if you can confirm that by listing what you take for your diabetes. It might also be helpful to know how much weight you need to lose and what limitations you might have as regards exercise.... ie are you able to go for a walk or are you housebound etc. Whilst I appreciate that neuropathy may make walking uncomfortable, it will also help along with adjusting your diet, so the adage of "no pain, no gain", may be relevant and pushing yourself a little bit may be necessary to improve things.
I look forward to hearing more about your situation and hopefully we will be able to help you to make beneficial changes. There are people on this forum who have improved their neuropathy and pushed their diabetes into remission with exercise and diet and positive mental attitude and the right advice. Hopefully you will become one of them.
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