Hello, I am a Diabetic (42 year old) with the classic symptoms of neuropathy all over my body which started october of 2007 with tingling and burning feet which is when I found out I had diabetes with an a1c of 9.1. Doctor gave me 500mg metformin am and pm for 2-1/2 years until i was laid off with neuropathy graduating throughout my body. My new doctor put me on glyburide which brought my a1c down to normal to where my dr is telling me to back off of the medication for the past year but the neuropathy has gotten worse plus weight loss. Diagnosed with diabetes I weighed 175# and now 130#. My knees down to my feet are numb, hips down to knees tingle with pins and needles, wrist and hands numb, arms and collar bone area tingle with pins and needles, upper back tingles, face, lips and nose tingles. Erectile dysfunction, Rearend tingles. Very thin skin, Muscle twitching, Muscle loss in feet, hands, arms, legs and 90% hair loss from knees down to feet, Ears ringing with pressure behind both eyes with blurry vision, constipation. The intensity of the neuropathy has gotten worse over the last 4 months. I was laid off 15 months ago and was finally approved for disability 1 month ago but it does not solve my health problems with 15 months to go when medicare kicks in. Its been 61 days since I quit smoking for 27 years and 2-1/2 years since I quit drinking a 12 pack of beer every night for 20 years. All help is very much appreciated. Below are my following foods that I normally eat with a1c for the past year with a list of supplements and medications for the past 2 years . I started alpha lipoic acid and acetyl l-carnitine 3 months ago but quit using since i felt no relief and the neuropathy has only gotten worse.

My neurologist after 2 visits told me that there is no cure for my neuropathy so I just dont see him anymore. My neuropathy for 1 day out of every 45-60 days disappears but then quickly comes back to the classic symptoms. I also have the rebuilder but does not help that much. I was waking up at blood sugar level 185, but for the last 14 months since my new doctor I have been waking up to 95 whic is great but my neuropathy is getting worse. PLease help me.

For breakfast: 2 eggs, shredded wheat cereal with unsweetened soymilk. For snack: Peanut butter and sugar free jelly on natures own whole grain bread and 2 deviled eggs. For lunch: Tuna fish sandwich on natures own whole grain bread with great northern beans and green beans. dinner: diabetic pizza, baked whole wheat tortilla, refried beans, ground beef, diced tomatoes, onion, olives, low skim milk cheese and great northern beans.

jan 2012: a1c 6.2 metformin 500mg am
april 2012: a1c 5.4 metformin 1000mg pm
july 2012: a1c 5.9 glyburide 2.5mg pm
oct 2012: a1c 5.5 enalapril 2.5mg pm
jan 2013: a1c 5.1 prevastatin 20mg pm
april 2013: a1c 5.0 nuerotin 600mg 3x a day

vitamin a 8000i.u. methyl b-12 1000mcg
iron 13mg folate acid 800mg
vitamin e 800i.u. pyridoxal 5 phosphate 50mg
biotin 10000mcg niacinamide 500mg
vitamin c 1000mg benfotiamine 1200mg
magnesium 400mg
multivitamin ginko biloba 120mg
super b complex l-arginine 1000mg
calcium 1200mg coq10 300mg
fish oil 1200mg
pottasium 99mg

I am only PRE diabetic and your carb count is way too high for me.

I have neuropathy from thyroid problems and blood sugar that is high makes it worse.

Research shows a blood sugar about 140 can begin to cause nerve damage.

I keep my carb count between 20-30 a day and that keeps my neuropathy problems much much better.

The other miracle supplement for me personally has been Drs Best Benfotiamine. I saw amazing results within 24 hours of taking it. When I ran out of it for 2 weeks the burning/pain came back with a vengence, even during the day, where as with benfotiamine the burning is minimal with flares mostly at night.

Hope you find what works for you, everyone is different and so is their experience.

Personally, I couldn't eat all those carbs. Do you check 1and 2 hours after those meals to see where your glucose is? Keep a log to see what each food does to your spikes. You may be unpleasantly surprised.

See an endo or dietician for help with your D. Then find a neuro who specializes in PN.

Good luck

Welcome to NeuroTalk:

I see some potential problems with your medications.

1) Metformin can affect B12 absorption. I'd suggest you get a B12 test ASAP and if it is below 400pg/ml...start oral supplements of activated B12 =methylcobalamin. Don't accept "normal" from your doctor because the lab ranges go down to 200 still in US and that is outdated. Significant neurological symptoms can be present at that level.

2) all over pain, may come from your enalapril. This drug is known to cause a drug induced lupus as well as elevating bradykinin levels in the body. Bradykinin is a biogenic amine and causes fluid to move out into the tissues, which then presses on nerves causing pain. Ask your doctor to switch you off ACE inhibitors to another drug family for a while to see if this is a culprit for you. I am recovering from ACE inhibitor toxicity myself, and it was a nasty business!
Drug induced lupus does not elevate ANA levels, and is diagnosed by symptoms only. It will regress when the offending drug is stopped.

3) statins do cause neuropathy. If you continue with your statin and it is doing this to you, you will progress.
Here is a post --one of many on here-- to get you started:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post665830-5.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/028988_st...e_effects.html

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post678142-9.html
discusses statins and the elderly
These links provide information you will not get normally from
your doctor. Discuss these with your doctor and see if you really need yours. Many people are given these potentially toxic drugs when in fact they are only borderline high.

4) Some antibiotics also cause nerve damage. The family of fluoroquinolones (Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox) and metronidazole, Tindamax are examples. Also a less commonly used one Zyvox.

Supplements will not help if you are damaging your nerves with drugs every day. They will not be able to keep up with the damage.

We have alot more information here about drug damage, just use the search function at the top of page 1 of PN forum, to find others. There are also alot of statin posts on Parkinson's forum.

Anyone taking a statin drug should be replacing the CoQ-10 your body is blocked from making. This is a very important thing. Statins block your liver from making this nutrient, and without it damage to muscle and the heart occurs over time. CoQ-10 works in the mitochondria like the lipoic acid and carnitine. A quality product (the new water soluble type like Qunol) 100mg a day.
If you choose an older oil version, 300mg a day. The new water soluble types are far superior to the older formulas.

Diabetics lose magnesium thru the urine daily. So when magnesium gets low, your muscles suffer, twitch and cramp.
You should really add magnesium to your supplement list. Start at 1/2 the RDA (this would be one tablet twice a day) ...and use a quality product --not oxide form-- like SlowMag. This is now available at WalMart affordably.
You can also soak in a tub with epsom salts added, and some magnesium will go thru the skin this way. There is a lotion now at WalMart called Morton Epsom Lotion, a new version of the older CVS lotion, which was discontinued. Magnesium is essential to the mitochondria membrane functions and will enable the lipoic acid and carnitine to work better. Food sources of magnesium include nuts, beans, oatmeal and yogurt.

I personaly think that I am eating to many carbs myself but if I do not eat carbs then I will loose more weight and I am a male 5 foot 10 inches tall at 130#. I am in a unhealthy weight range. My a1c have been excellent over the past year and my doctor is advising me to cut back on diabetic medication. I take 600mg of dr best benfotiamine in the morning as well as 600 mg in the evening as well. My previous thyroid test is as follow: thyroxine uptake 36.4, thyroxine 7.29 and tsh is 2.25. As you well know sugar and saturated fat are bad for neuropathy so if you dont mind if I ask, what kind of food do you eat so that it does not aggravate your neuropathy like for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. please let me know as I am very interested in following suite to 20-30 carbs a day as long as i do not loose any more weight. Please let me know, Thank You.

I did test myself 2 hours after breakfast whic was at 102 which came from 2 eggs, 20 grams of shredded wheat with no sugar and 1 cup of unsweetened soy milk. total for breakfast is 24 grams of carbs. I personaly think that I am eating to many carbs myself but if I do not eat carbs then I will loose more weight and I am a male 5 foot 10 inches tall at 130#. I am in a unhealthy weight range. My a1c have been excellent over the past year and my doctor is advising me to cut back on diabetic medication. As you well know sugar and saturated fat are bad for neuropathy so if you dont mind if I ask, what kind of food do you eat so that it does not aggravate your neuropathy like for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. please let me know as I am very interested in following suite to what you eat as long as i do not loose any more weight. Please let me know, Thank You.

Dear mrsd, My b12 on the previous test was 1560 as I do take 1000mcg per day. My folate was 20.3. My mouth is always dry especially when I wake up and I drink about 3 liters of water a day.

Enalapril I started taking in december of 2012 for protien in my kidney and I have had neuropathy for 5-1/2 years. It may be the neurotin that may be causing the neuropathy with a dosage of 3x 600mg per day or am I eating too many carbs eventhough my a1c are good.

I did start taking prevastatin in december of 2012 at the same time as elnalapril.

My doctor said on my last visit that my coq10 test was normal but I do agree that water soluble is much better than the old form.

My magnesium level was 2.2 as well as I do put 2 huge table spoons of epsom salt in my foot bath with the rebuilder going at the same time.

I personaly think that I am eating to many carbs myself but if I do not eat carbs then I will loose more weight and I am a male 5 foot 10 inches tall at 130#. I am in a unhealthy weight range. My a1c have been excellent over the past year and my doctor is advising me to cut back on diabetic medication. My previous thyroid test is as follow: thyroxine uptake 36.4, thyroxine 7.29 and tsh is 2.25. As you well know sugar and saturated fat are bad for neuropathy so if you dont mind if I ask, what kind of food do you eat so that it does not aggravate your neuropathy like for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. please let me know as I am very interested in following suite to what you eat as long as i do not loose any more weight. What should a diabetic eat to gain weight that will not aggravate neuropathy. Even oatmeal hurts me and there is no sugar or fat in it. Please let me know, Thank You.

If you want to gain weight, nuts are the way to go. They also provide good amounts of magnesium, which will help your PN.

Dear Mrsd, Would peanuts be aright and if so salted or unsalted. Please Let me know, thank You.

Here is a link where you can look up nuts, and other foods to
see what is in them.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/

This is for one cup of chopped peanuts, roasted with salt:
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...roducts/4357/2

I'd watch the salt, if you have high blood pressure.
Unsalted almonds are also good for magnesium.