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Any advice/help appreciated ? Treatment induced neuropathy

silver minion said:
I am on 2000mg Metformin and 160mg Gliclazide per day. Split between morning and evening doses.
I do get some numbness but not very often now and used to get sharp stabbing pains in the balls of my feet and ankles. These pains seem to have stopped. My legs are mostly OK but I do have arthritic knees so they do get stiff after sitting a while. I have found regular tai Chi is helping my general mobility and flexibility over several months.

Watching me stumble out of bed during the night can be entertaining as I try to get my feet and legs to work in a co-ordinated fashion. Luckily I can lean against the bed if I need to.
Not taking any medication for neuropathy as I don't think it is severe enough to impact my life significantly.
I hope that your neuropathy improves soon and your mobility gets better.
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Thanks, me too! How long did it last for you? Glad these symptoms have stopped for you.
 
ridder said:
Thanks, me too! How long did it last for you? Glad these symptoms have stopped for you.
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The sharp stabbing pains stopped a few weeks ago after 3 to 4 months of very variable symptoms. Some days hardly any pain or discomfort, other times lasted several hours. Pins and needles sensation varies a lot too and sometimes I get a burning sensation on the soles of my feet. It is not painful and continues to get better. Hopefully once my bg is stable it won't be a problem although I understand that nerve damage can take a long time to heal.
 
silver minion said:
The sharp stabbing pains stopped a few weeks ago after 3 to 4 months of very variable symptoms. Some days hardly any pain or discomfort, other times lasted several hours. Pins and needles sensation varies a lot too and sometimes I get a burning sensation on the soles of my feet. It is not painful and continues to get better. Hopefully once my bg is stable it won't be a problem although I understand that nerve damage can take a long time to heal.
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Thanks. I have had these symptoms of pain/ pins and needles underfoot, leg weakness affecting walking now for 4 months. Surely there has to be an end to this!!
 
ridder said:
Thanks. I have had these symptoms of pain/ pins and needles underfoot, leg weakness affecting walking now for 4 months. Surely there has to be an end to this!!
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Unfortunately like everything else diabetes it seems to be very individual. Hope your HCP can help in the meantime. Losing your mobility for any reason must be extremely frustrating and stressful, in addition to dealing with pain and weakness.

If it's any comfort I had terrible nerve pain in my arm after a neck/shoulder injury. The doctor warned me it would take several months to heal. Then one day it just stopped. Absolute bliss.
 
silver minion said:
Unfortunately like everything else diabetes it seems to be very individual. Hope your HCP can help in the meantime. Losing your mobility for any reason must be extremely frustrating and stressful, in addition to dealing with pain and weakness.

If it's any comfort I had terrible nerve pain in my arm after a neck/shoulder injury. The doctor warned me it would take several months to heal. Then one day it just stopped. Absolute bliss.
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That's what I'm hoping for. Thank you for your post.
 
ridder said:
That's what I'm hoping for. Thank you for your post.
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My doctor has increased my pregabalin to 100mg twice a day. I'm going to a physiotherapist next week and I've had more blood tests and a CT scan! There can't be many more tests to have! I have appointments with a diabetic specialist nurse and follow up neurology appt in March (no appts any sooner) Has anyone taken pregabalin and how did you get on? Asked about lipoic acid but not heard of it! Just want some relief but if it is treatment induced diabetic neuropathy after rapidly lowering my hba1c, is it a waiting game???
 
Very interested reading all of this as whilst I don't have it badly I do get numb and rarely slightly painful feet (sharp stabbing pain in a couple of spots). It started not long before my diagnosis and I was considering taking vitamin supplements and seeing the doctor (main reason why I re-registered locally and got diagnosed). All of my HCPs have said once you have it there's no cure, that's it which does seem a bit out of line with my experiences where it worsened over time after diagnosis a little but has improved quite a bit since maybe November/December so I'm rarely getting pain and often little or no numbness. Here's hoping it can be improved if the nerves aren't destroyed and good luck @ridder with improving yours and your quality of life.
 
ridder said:
My doctor has increased my pregabalin to 100mg twice a day. I'm going to a physiotherapist next week and I've had more blood tests and a CT scan! There can't be many more tests to have! I have appointments with a diabetic specialist nurse and follow up neurology appt in March (no appts any sooner) Has anyone taken pregabalin and how did you get on? Asked about lipoic acid but not heard of it! Just want some relief but if it is treatment induced diabetic neuropathy after rapidly lowering my hba1c, is it a waiting game???
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Pregabalin is one of the things I have tried. Built the dose up until the side effects were a problem. It did nothing for the neuropathy. As far as I can see the effectiveness of neuropathy meds varies from individual to individual so, go with the flow and see if it works for you. Hope it does.
 
Sorry to hear you have to wait until March to discuss your results @ridder - hope your symptoms ease in the meantime.
 
everydayupsanddowns said:
Sorry to hear you have to wait until March to discuss your results @ridder - hope your symptoms ease in the meantime.
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Thanks.
Can I ask, Has anyone taken r-alpha lipoic acid for diabetic neuropathy in feet and legs? I'm on insulin and as I live in the UK, it's not well known! if so, What dosage and Where from please...Lots on amazon but would appreciate any help with this as my doctor just said..."Never heard of it"
 
ridder said:
Thanks.
Can I ask, Has anyone taken r-alpha lipoic acid for diabetic neuropathy in feet and legs? I'm on insulin and as I live in the UK, it's not well known! if so, What dosage and Where from please...Lots on amazon but would appreciate any help with this as my doctor just said..."Never heard of it"
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@PattiEvans took it I believe, as part of the "neuropathy cocktail" she gave details of in post #28 on page 2 of this thread.
 
PattiEvans said:
Here's the Neuropathy cocktail information.
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Can I just ask, Did taking the alpha lipoic acid affect your blood readings on insulin? I'm thinking I need to try this! What type of alpha lipoic acid did you take and at what dose? Any info will help as my doc is no help.
 
To be honest it was 22 years ago and I don't remember, though I do not think it affected BG. As to what ALA it was I am sorry I can't remember either. So sorry.
 
PattiEvans said:
To be honest it was 22 years ago and I don't remember, though I do not think it affected BG. As to what ALA it was I am sorry I can't remember either. So sorry.
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No problem, thanks anyway, much appreciated. There is ALA and R-ALA, Seens this could help me, anything is worth a try as not getting much help from the professionals! This forum has helped me more!
 
ridder said:
Thank you. Yeh, I have been researching a lot about alpha lipoic acid and any other supplements that could help me, lots of different opinions. I just thought I would ask people who have used this and anything else that had helped with similar issues. I'm just getting desperate now
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So, not ordered alpha lipoic acid yet. Will talk to my GP first. Got neuro physiotherapy next week. Could this help? Who knows! Asked for a referral to endocrinology but was told, no point as my levels were down and OK. I'm just feeling low and that I'm not getting much help/support, just test after test that are all coming back OK. It took 3 month of having these symptoms until I had to ask for medication and therapy which is what I'm getting now! On 200mg a day of pregabalin for the last week. No improvement, Do I ask for higher dose? I understand the needs for tests to rule things out But.... I just want relief from this pain, numbness and weakness in my legs and feet!!
Sorry for the long post.
 
Hope they help to alleviate your discomfort. B12 is important for a healthy nervous system and especially if it has damage. Are you still not taking the statin and have you discussed that with your GP. It can take quite a while to recover, if the statin was the problem or part of it.
 
rebrascora said:
Hope they help to alleviate your discomfort. B12 is important for a healthy nervous system and especially if it has damage. Are you still not taking the statin and have you discussed that with your GP. It can take quite a while to recover, if the statin was the problem or part of it.
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I can only hope! still taking pregabalin and that has been increased to 300mg a day. Yes, still stopped the atorvastatin, discussed it all with my GP. Seems I'm making the decisions, but my GP is on board with it all. Just want some relief, I'll try anything! This forum has helped more than anything, so grateful for the help/advice.
 
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