I will start by saying hello. I am new to this board and like most newbies I have some questions.

I have just found out that I am diabetic. It appears that I may have been diabetic for a while now. My A1C (blood sugar average for 3 months) was 8.9 which means my blood sugar average has been around 240.

I started having "tingles" in my hands and feet a few months ago. They have now progressed to SEVERE electric shocks. It is soooo painful. I also had repair for a ruptured disk last December. I have numbness in my left leg and the dr. said it is from the disk problem. I don't really know if I think that or not. The numbness comes and goes in severity so I wonder if it could be connected with the electric shock feelings. I just to call these pins and needles but I have never felt a needle like that! It is more like lightening strikes. And the itching is awful too. It is not a skin kind of itch like with a rash. It is deep and painful.

My question to all of you is this: How are you tested for peripheral neuropathy? Is it painful like this? Does this sound like anything you experience. I was dx with diabetes by my general doctor but go to see an endocrinologist next week. I also have Lupus.