First of all congrats on weight loss thats not an easy thing to do.
I don't know for sure if it makes a lot of differance or not to high blood pressure, but for many years i haven't used regular salt, i have been using a product over here called " Lite salt ", even when i first got PN i was overweight but still my blood pressure only went up a tiny bit, no were near enough to take any meds for it, as soon as i lost the weight it went back to perfect, well thats what my doc keeps on saying anyway.

I was classified as pre diabetic when the PN thing started up, my neuro said it was the cause of it, he said keep right away from any high sugary carbs and you will eventually reverse the damage, i done what he said and he was spot on, i have read that its the the same deal with diabetic people with PN it can be reversed if you do all the right things, so you would think that by keeping a tight control on your blood sugars, it should make a big POSITIVE differance to the outcome of your PN, i hope so anyway
Brian

--diabetic neuropathy can be reversible if it's caught early, as his was; even later, it can be arrested with tight blood sugar control, exercise, good diet--and I recommend good vitamin/antioxidant supplements too, in order to try and get optimal healing conditions.

The mechanism in diabetic neuropathy is thougth to be primarily ischemic--that is, due to the circulatory breakdown caused by impaire glucose tolerance. The nerves are less supported by the breakdown in blood vessel integrity--they get less nourishment and oxygen, and wastes build up, harming nerves. This is why diabetic neuropathy is generally length dependent, happening in the toes/fingers first--longer distance to transport things through the blood stream--and why it generally is a disease of smaller fibers, as these are supported by smaller blood vessels that are easier to compromise. Of course, there are variations--some people get painful symptoms, many get numbness, others get electrical shoots, still others combinations or different things at different times; damaged nerves can produce all kinds of wacky signals.

I think, Mel, you're doing much of what you can to prevent your neuropathy from spreading. It is tougher to do as one ages--one simply has less cardiovascular resiliency--but it still can be done. Other things that you might consider, though I don't know how much insurance coverage you have to help you with these--or if the Cornell people would finance it as part of your program--are the Rebuilder or other TENS type system, or perhaps even Anodyne or other infrared therapy.

I also wonder if your doctors there would recommend things like Alpha-Lipoic/R-lipoic acid, a potent antioxidant with glucose regulating properties comnonly used for diabetic neuropathy in Europe--or even adding cinnamon to everything (cinnamon also has insulin/glucose regulating effects). Obviously, since you are on diabetic meds, this should only be done with physician input/monitoring.

I agree with Glen regarding nerve stimulation. I have been using a shiatsu massage machine for 2 months,and have never felt less pain than I do now. I take no pain meds for PN. I am only taking my BP meds. Now I only take pain meds for headaches or when my back starts hurting.

Also I listened to everyone regarding my magnesium and purchased a good quality one. This thankfully has stopped the twitching.

I thought you were going to discuss and drop the diuretic portion of your
lisinopril. You know thiazide diuretics increase blood sugar as well, and
have a warning for diabetics. Since you had that elevated blood work,
for uric acid etc, now would have been the time for a trial without.

Mrs. D. I showed Dr. Gantz the blood test where it said the uric acid information and she immediately said what Dr. Fred said when I showed it to him. She said "oh, you were dehydrated". I replied "yeah, I never drank any water when I fasted".

Then she lowered the water pill part of my zestoretic,taking me from 20/25 to 20/12 l/2. She said, when I come back for my next visit, they'll check my blood pressure again and might either take me off the water pill part or put me to 10/12 1/2. I have absolutely no idea what the heck this means. Dr. Gantz did say that as I am losing weight this might be the reason my blood pressure is going down.

I'm on a specific protocol (in the blood pressure part, I'm in the intensive group and in the diabetic part I'm in the conservative group), so I guess I have to trust they know what the heck they're doing right?

Should I mention anything to them the next time I go?

I will tell you something. I noticed a difference right away in my energy level when they lowered the zestoretic to 20/12 1/2. If I move in different directions, or blow my nose, I'm not getting dizzy anymore.


Maybe they didn't drop the thiazide portion completely because my blood sugar reading was 95 and my a1c was 6.

That's a good thing right??

melody

I just cleaned my whole hose with my swiffer and don't need to take a nap today.