Getting worse
 

Hi everyone,

Just need some encouraging words, I have this neuropathy everywhere, it is now in my face, so I literally have it from head to toe, I have been trying to keep my blood glucose under control, but it's not going well, in the last 4 days I have had 2 hypoglycemia attacks, I really think this hypoglycemia problems are what is wrong with me, I have to get this under control, the Doctors do not agree with me, but they could be wrong, I have an appt. In 3 weeks at UCLA neurology I hope the can help I am losing hope fast. :( thanks for all of your help here, I have started high dose of VitB12 I also am on B1 and 100mg of r-lipoic and a multiple vitamin as well as juice plus. I also am on nortriptylene and gabapentin, mrsD or anyone else out there please any comments. Blessings, Jan

Ask your doctors for a fasting INSULIN test. This will show high if you are insulin resistant, and in extreme cases can show an insulin secreting tumor of the pancreas.

Eat small meals throughout the day. 5 if you can. Make sure some protein is in each one.

Large meals lead to more insulin secretion. Sugar and starchy carbs also spike insulin.

Also some liver testing may be helpful. The liver makes glucose for you when you are not eating...and if this is not happening, you will be low.

Lipoic acid may lower blood sugar in some people. Drop that one and see if you are better. I certainly would be investing in a glucometer and strips, and testing several times a day to see where your metabolism is going.

Stay away from juices as they spike insulin. I'd add in acetyl carnitine. This supplement helps the mitochondria when glucose is not available. Carnitine transports fatty acids to be burned for energy instead.

Can it get better?
 

Dear Friends,

I am so miserable right now with all this numbness I wonder if it can ever get better, MrsD thank you for your response above, I am doing the 5 small meals a day and am planning on purchasing the other supplement you mentioned, i have a question, if I get the hypoglycemia under control can the numbness get better or under control, I just don't know how much longer I can stand this, it seems the more I try with the supplements and diet the worse I am getting. Thanks, Jan

Yes, it is possible. But you know, I am worried, because this seems severe.

Get that fasting insulin test ASAP if you can.

I am worried too!
 

Is there some other conditions I should be looking at that could cause these symptoms, I'm not trying to diagnose myself but I am having some truly big problems here. Thanks, Jan

I think the only way to know for sure (and convince doctors) is to have a glucometer at home and test all day long.

fasting, 1.5hr after breakfast, before lunch, 1.5hr after lunch, before dinner, 1.5 hr after dinner, before bedtime, and wake up around 1am and test then if you can.

Keep a corresponding log of what you eat at those meals when you are testing.

If your A1C is low, and your INSULIN high, that would point to a specific tumor of the pancreas that secretes insulin. There is a further test they can do but usually it is done in the hospital.

Low blood sugar spells can have confusing symptoms, and the only way to know for sure is to have a blood test to confirm it with your glucometer. Do you have low blood sugar symptoms in the night? Nightmares, or night sweats?

Again low blood sugar
 

MrsD, yesterday I did as you suggested and took my blood sugar all day, arou d Lu ch time which I ate late around 3:00pm took blood sugar at around4:30pm and sure enough I was at 50 and not feeling well of course 50 is very low, I was blessed enough to get an appt. With my endocrinologist tomorrow morning and I am going to ask for a fasting insulin test, my appt is at 9:00am tomorrow so I am not going to eat past 9:00pm tonight and will ask him if he can do the test in his office tomorrow, I am again hoping this might be my problem, if there is anything else I should ask him please tell me what that would be, I am at the end of my rope with all of this so tired of feeling sick, thanks again for all of your help, oh and also how is your little kitty doing? I hope all is going well. Blessings, Jan

Very low thyroid can also lower blood sugar.

I hope your meter is not low in the battery, and your strips are
fresh too. That matters to get accurate readings.

Let us know how the appointment goes. I'll be thinking of you.

Thanks for asking about Oreo....she is on steroids now (Prednisolone) for a two week pulse and taper, and is now pretty active and frisky. The vet said she would feel better on them.
They may help her gain some weight (she needs 2 lbs to get back to how she looked in the picture in my siggie).

She is enjoying the weather outside, so at least I can watch her have these last days in a happy mode. (If I had gone thru with the invasive surgery, she would be a mess right now and in pain.) We can't expect her to live much longer, but perhaps she will at least enjoy what she has left.

I too am a diabetic.
I don't think hypoglycemia can cause nerve numbness. The recognized symptoms are:
nervousness,
sweating,
intense hunger,
trembling,
weakness,
palpitations, and
often have trouble speaking.

The trembling and palpations are the opposite of numbness. So, your doctor may be correct about that. Certainly, if treatments used for hypoglycemia aren't alleviating the numbness, you need to return to the doctors.

It can be serious. It can be a symptom of several disorders, including an impending stroke. Please return to the doctor.

Persistant and repeated low blood sugar can damage nerves...
They in a sense starve.

One serious low in a diabetic is now linked to onset of dementia in some recent studies.

http://forecast.diabetes.org/news/lo...risk-diabetics