Hi Melody! I have been around Neurotalk for a while now but have been away for a while. I post in the diabetes forum...it is a shame it is so quiet there....and have read many of your posts. You are amazing to me and when I finally get my head screwed on and get a grip on the diabetes I would like to be like you! You seem to have such a dedication to your own wellbeing....I want that for me too! I do have a question. I have wondered for a while if I may have a problem like PN. My left hand and occasionally my right go numb, for no reason at all. It is quite irritating and keeps me up at night, however happens day or night. I THOUGHT it may be carpel tunnel, but I had CT in my right hand 7 years ago. This is not quite the same. I do not know if this is PN or not. I also get the same feeling in my back/neck...where they connect. Sometimes when I am sitting...other times I am standing?? My feet used to go numb as well...just before I was diagnosed with type2 diabetes. I have not had a problem with them since. I also wonder if the burning sensation I hear of must be present for this to be PN? I do not have the burning that others speak about. I will eventually get to my doctor. Is there a particular test I should be asking for....a particular specialist maybe?? A little advise would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much, Melody!!!

--I'm sure Melody will come along soon, but since I'm here at my usual ungodly AM hour . . .

The most typical presentation of diabetic neuropathy is of a length-dependent, "die-back" kind, with burning, lancing pains prominent. But it's not the only presentation; numbness can be almost as common, and the process does not necessarily have to start in the lower extremities.

See:

http://www.neuro.wustl.edu/NEUROMUSC...r/diabetes.htm

It's interesting that you mention the back/neck connection. Many people with neuropathies, diabetics prominently, are prone to what is known as the "double crush" phenomenon: the conditons that are compromising their nerves make them much more prone to additional compressive effects (such as in carpal tunnel, ulnar neuropathy, radiculopathy of spinal nerve roots) than "normal" people would be. In fact, the original condition might not produce noticable or constant neural symptoms without the added "crush" of the compression. Take a look at:

http://www.tifaq.org/articles/double...bert_kane.html

http://www.spinalinjuryfoundation.or...new/double.htm

http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/TOPIC214.HTM

Hi Dorrie:

Glen hit it right on the money. I could never be as eloquent medically as he can be. He knows his stuff, and he knows his links. You'll learn lots of things when you click on those.

And I do thank you for your kind words. It took me many years go stop self-medicating with food and acknowledge my diabetes for what it was. And now I do my darndest to maintain my health to the best of my ability. I mean, that's about all we can do right??

So here's a nice picture for you. It's how I imagine you and I are....fighting our diabetes. Killing the bad stuff and conquering it all!!!