At my wits end..

Hi everyone!

Brand new here and have a couple questions for you guys. I was diagnosed with type 2 almost two years ago. It was found by accident when testing for the reason behind diziness, vertigo and leg&foot PAIN. I was diagnosed Fibro almost 5 years ago, but this kind of pain was all numbness, tingling and a shocking type feeling in my feet and legs. The pain is intense, but also ultra annoying.
Skip forward to now...Doc says its neuropathy, but there have been no definitive tests, just going on symptoms. I have been on 600mgs of neurotin 3x a day, cymbalta and vicodin for the last year. The vicodin was mainly for breakthrough pain, but its constant. I also use ultra stregth Tiger Balm- I dunno if it does much, but feels decent.
I take metfomin for the diabetes and spirolactone for blood pressure as well.
I need help. The PAIN, burning, tingling, numbness, shocking feeling is driving me slowly insane! Does anyone have any ideas, suggestions, comments that could lead me in the right direction? Any help would be more then appreciated!
Sorry for the long post. Thanks All.
Take care,
~Jen

Hi there Jen,

welcome!To sum up you have fibromyalgia(which too affected your lower limbs),Type 2 Diabetes on Metformin for two years,High blood pressure and symptomatically diagnosed 1 year back to have peripheral neuropathy on Neurotin and Vicodin.Vicodin potentiates the action of Neurotin.Beware,Vicodin is addictive.

How is your blood sugar control? Tight control of blood sugars is still the best drug for your neuropathy-like symptoms.Metformin is for starters and may not be enough later on,though i cannot definitively say how long metformin alone would suffice!It depends on the severity of diabetes.

Objective testing in a clinic by a physician will be very useful to confirm the diagnosis.

Though you're suffering,the the fact remains that the symptomatic neuropathy is only of one year duration,which stage is considered "reversible".

There is one drug yet which should prove very useful to you and that's "Alpha-Lipoic Acid",which is already approved in Europe for Diabetic neuropathy!I hate to say this,but for your immediate benefit i must---"Bio synergy in USA is marketing alpha-lipoic acid as"R-Alpha Lipoic Acid" casules of 100 mg strength each and two capsules per day should suffice!Hope this is of help!Thumbs up!

Please don't give up hope.Please let us know your present fasting and 2 hour post-meal values.

Oh, as a P.S...My blood pressure being higher is due to pain levels. I have tried to convince my doc of that, but when I go in, if I am in a lot of pain that day, bp is high. She added the med more as a precaution to having high bp causing later probs.
Thanks again!

Hi there,

            Yes,the medicine i mentioned is an anti-oxidant and is available otc.

            I feel you should add a multi-vitamin,multi-mineral like centrum silver to your list of drugs.

            I googled around for you and found this website informative:

http://www.uspharmacist.com/index.asp?show=article&page=8_996.htm

Jen,
I have diabetes, fibro, tmj and neuropathy, although it's not as bad as yours. It's only my 2¢ but I don't think your doctor is being aggressive enough in your diabetes control. You need to see morning sugars of 100 to 110 or less and after meal 2 hr. checks under 180. My neuropathy is much better when I keep my first morning readings around 90 and 2 hr. post meal around 150. This is because I have low enough sugars to keep the blood supply thin (not as many huge sugar molecules) and the oxygen and nutruients can reach the nerve fibers. (It is thought that the pain is caused by dying nerves.) I found an online article that sums it up pretty well.

"The exact cause of diabetic neuropathy is not known. Researchers believe that the process of nerve damage is related to high glucose concentrations in the blood that could cause chemical changes in nerves, disrupting their ability to effectively send messages. High blood glucose is also known to damage the blood vessels that carry oxygen and other nutrients to the nerves. "

Anything that helps with circulation, such as walking or swimming or even going up and down your stairs a few times a day will help. Increasing your intake of B vitamins will make sure that they are available for nerve health. I'm also getting better sugar control with the addition of Lantus insulin, one injection at bedtime. That has really brought my sugars in line.

I feel that you need to take tighter control of your diet and meds to get the numbers down. This should lead to a slowdown in the nerve death in your legs and feet. By asking your doctor for a tighter control diet and med regimen you will show him/her that you are interested in preserving your own health. By being more careful in your food choices you may be able to preserve your sight and kidneys much longer. See if your insurance will cover another nutrition class and start learning about glycemic index food choices. There is a food choice application that I downloaded called CalorieKing that really helps with my food plan. Something like that on your computer will keep you in line, too.

I will happily be your cheerleader as your numbers come down. You let me know how you are doing and you will be an inspiration to anyone with this dumb disease. I'm glad to make you as a new friend, but sorry for the reason. Take care.

Jen,
The dental problems may be diabetes related. Our bodies try to excrete excess sugar any way that they can and it shows up in our urine, sweat and saliva. I have 12 gold crowns and have 'enjoyed' three root canals so far. I understand completely! Also, high sugars make us prone to infections along with decreased circulation which allows the germs to grow and inhibits the antibiotics and our own antibodies from reaching the infected areas.

My physician started me on Colgate Total toothpaste as soon as I was diagnosed as a diabetic. So far it's the only toothpaste I have seen that works directly on the problems that diabetics face with tooth decay and mouth bacteria. It also helps kill the bacteria that cause plaque build up. These same bugs have been identified in causing plaque build up in our arteries and there has been a link established between heart attacks and poor oral health. I don't mean to sound like a commercial but you may find a lesser incidence in gingivitis and plaque if you switch toothpastes.

Glad you found a better doc. If you have to start on insulin we will all be with you thru it. It's about as hard as learning to apply mascara for the first time, honest! Take care.

Hi Jeannie- Thanks again for all the great info! Just regular Colgate? I'll get some when I head to the store tonight. Willing to try anything and I hadn't heard about a difference between one toothpaste and another.

Hi Coton- Thank you for your reply and great info, too! Depending on what my Doc says next week, he is going to add another B/P med since the Spirolactone (sp?) isn't enough. My B/P was really high when I went to the Doc last week, but pain level was high and I was nervous, so he wants to see what it will run next time. Makes so much sense about the blood flow. That is so wonderful about your husband finding relief and his kidney performance! What homeopathic formulas did you find that made such a difference?

Thanks again. My thoughts are with you All.
Take care,
~Jen