I am a long-term diabetic and have always had neuropathy up to my knees and to a lesser degree in my hands. About 12 months ago I suddenly started having difficulty walking and since then there have been two more step reductions in my mobility. I have seen a neurology consultant who has blamed my disability on neuropathy but frankly I don't believe him because it's not been a steady decline but has gone in stages, I am more inclined to believe it is due to problems with my lower spine caused by my lumbar disc disease. Could anybody comment on this or anybody with similar experiences.
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Neuropathy causing disability ?
- Thread starter Caveman
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Toucan
Forum Host
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Hello and welcome to the forum.
Really sorry to here about your mobility problems, and hope that you are able to get some more help from your medical team. There may be some other forum members that have some experience of this, and can offer some insight on how they dealt with it.
How is it going otherwise with your diabetes? It would be interesting to hear what meds you are on and how it is going.
Really sorry to here about your mobility problems, and hope that you are able to get some more help from your medical team. There may be some other forum members that have some experience of this, and can offer some insight on how they dealt with it.
How is it going otherwise with your diabetes? It would be interesting to hear what meds you are on and how it is going.
As my kidneys failed I was taken off all medication, I was on 11 drugs a day mainly to combat blood pressure as well as diabetes. My kidney function had dropped to 13% which was unsustainable, but when all the drugs except insulin were stopped my kidneys went back to 28% and my blood pressure did not go up! I am taking novomix 30 as required and generally my control is good but I am due for an hba1c.
mikeyB
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Hi Caveman, welcome to the forum.
I understand your doubts with regard to the motor symptoms. I assume that your pre existing neuropathy was entirely sensory. But I’ll bet that neuropathy didn’t start suddenly, nor did it proceed stepwise.
It’s a common mistake to blame everything on diabetes, but the key is listening properly to the history. What should take place is what would happen if you didn’t have diabetes, EMG studies (electromyography), and an MRI of the spine at the very least. You may well be right about the lumbar disc problem, but whatever - it needs further investigation. You may have to wait for that, it all depends on future progression to change your neurologist’s opinion. That’s the way of every neurological diagnosis. Neurologists almost always use the retrospectoscope in making diagnoses of motor neuropathy, mainly because that’s often the only way to do it.
My experience, as far as motor symptoms go, is the same as yours, but I have never had (and still don’t have) any sensory neuropathy, nor any pain. It’s taken around five years of progressing through using one stick, two sticks, two elbow crutches and now a wheelchair to get a diagnosis, but that’s the way of neurology. That’s just my story, of course, and interestingly includes a decision three years ago that it wasn’t the diabetes.
I understand your doubts with regard to the motor symptoms. I assume that your pre existing neuropathy was entirely sensory. But I’ll bet that neuropathy didn’t start suddenly, nor did it proceed stepwise.
It’s a common mistake to blame everything on diabetes, but the key is listening properly to the history. What should take place is what would happen if you didn’t have diabetes, EMG studies (electromyography), and an MRI of the spine at the very least. You may well be right about the lumbar disc problem, but whatever - it needs further investigation. You may have to wait for that, it all depends on future progression to change your neurologist’s opinion. That’s the way of every neurological diagnosis. Neurologists almost always use the retrospectoscope in making diagnoses of motor neuropathy, mainly because that’s often the only way to do it.
My experience, as far as motor symptoms go, is the same as yours, but I have never had (and still don’t have) any sensory neuropathy, nor any pain. It’s taken around five years of progressing through using one stick, two sticks, two elbow crutches and now a wheelchair to get a diagnosis, but that’s the way of neurology. That’s just my story, of course, and interestingly includes a decision three years ago that it wasn’t the diabetes.
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