Peripheral Neuropathy

[Augusttpitts]

Hi all. Yes I am new here but unfortunately not new to type 2 diabetes.

I have fairly good control with Metformin, Pioglitazone , low carb diet and moderate excercise.

My biggest headache is peripheral neuropathy . I seem to have tried all sorts of medication over the past years but to no avail.

The burning feet, aching legs and general discomfort are sometimes intolerable.

So really I'm just looking for anyone who is experiencing the same problems or indeed someone who has greatly relieved this problem.

[Gambit62]

Augusttpitts - have you had your B12 levels tested recently. There is a huge overlap between the symptoms of diabetes and the symptoms of B12 deficiency and metformin is known to potentially inhibit B12 absorption leading to deficiency in about 40% of patients but this is frequently missed due to the overlap of symptoms and the fact that the normal test for B12 deficiency - serum B12 - isn't gold standard and can miss 25% of people who are B12 deficient if taken as a single indicator. To make things worse doctors can be very confused about how B12 deficiency works and think the other symptoms - such as peripheral neuropathy - are caused by macrocytic anaemia - where as the anaemia is caused by the lack of B12 in a completely different process and isn't present in 25%+ of people who first present with B12 deficiency. B12 deficiency also builds up very slowly - over years and even decades which means people put it down to just getting old as well.

Would recommend asking for test - and possibly for on-going monitoring as that is more likely to show up if B12 is involved (as levels would show significant drops over time) than just doing a single test. If it is low in range then worth looking at some secondary tests - MMA and homocysteine but they are also affected by other factors (including kidney problems in the case of MMA) which could further complicate things if you have any degree of CKD. Supplementing with B12 may help but please talk things through with your GP .... and if you need help then take a look at this forum on HU

healthunlocked.com/pasoc