Hi all, and firstly what a great forum, packed with a lot of answers and experience, I stumbled across the site last night and ended up reading well into the small hours, and a lot seems to click into place...

I was diagnosed type 2 Diabetic in December 08 following being rushed into hospital with chest pains, a cold sensation running up my legs and arms and generally feeling very ill, all of these symptoms appeared within the 14 days previous to being admitted, during which time I had started taking a course of Champix (Chantix in the USA and Canada) to stop smoking,I stopped the pills after admittance to hospital in case there was a connection.

During my week long stay in hospital ECG's were done and treadmill test along with plenty of blood tests, all of which came back normal, my HBA1C at that point was 8.0 so not that high, during my stay I got up and went to walk from my bed and literally walked like I was drunk, trying to focus my eyes and coordinate balance was very hard, this has continued since that date, along with other symptoms that have come and stayed, or come and gone since, among them lightheartedness, stomach bloating, constipation, diarrhea, grumbling stomach, short visual disturbance (sight loss for up to a minute a time), blurred vision, tightness and pain in the left side chest, radiating down the left arm into the fingers, shooting pains and strange sensations in both arms, numbness in throat, difficulty swallowing, alleged Raynaud's Syndrome, which only sends the base of 1 thumbnail grey, muscle cramps mainly in my calves and feet at night, and just lately waking several times a night with numbness and pins and needles in my hands, mainly my ring and little finger of my left hand, along with burning sensations/shooting pains and the feeling that somethings "on" my skin, mainly in my left side to name most of them...

Medication Wise I'm on 1g Metformin daily and 75mg Aspirin, I've tried stopping both for a month to See what happened and it was no different, last HBA1C was 5.8 and I tightly control my BG, the main problem and longest running is the lightheartedness, which has seen me lose my business (I was a small one man band company), it appears to be worsened when I eat, whilst my BG isn't affected, I've tried very small meals and that hasn't helped either.

The last week or 2 I've had the waking in the night with numb hands or pins and needles in them, and a dull ache in mainly my left arm, I've seen 6 different GP's in this time, 3 consultants and had a battery of blood tests done, all saying there's nothing wrong, except the one who suggested it was all in my head, I've also had nerve testing for carpal tunnel syndrome (tested neg), tests by ENT and the Endocrinologists, all negative so far and after 14 months I'm at a loss and heading for bankruptcy due to lack of working.

Sorry for the lengthy post but I'm trying to find if anyone has any ideas that I can try myself whilst I'm waiting for my next round of hospital visits to start, I'm trying to find out how a previously reasonably fit and healthy 37 year old can end up feeling so bad so quickly, in short just want my life back, thanks for reading, Andy