[yannah]

I am back. so, the occasionally numb toe, and twitching legs,
not neuropathy, so good. but both the podiatrist yesterday and the neurologist today feel I have a inflamed, irratated nerve in my foot. He said diabetics have all sorts of nerve problems besides neuropathy. the twitching legs I have to get an EMG for on the 19th. Due to my ridiculous weight loss and ridiculously low carb diet he is do a nutritional work up to see if that is the problem with my legs. since metformin, I just never have an appetite, not even a little. anyway, my PCP had thought the nerve problems were from simvastatin, neurologist says no.

The podiatrist had to dig out an ingrown toenail, really stressed about that.

and the HUGE blood pressure change, who knows? how wierd is it that my blood prssure is up 15 to 20 points from normal two weeks ago? I have to log it for a week, It is staying around 140/90 pretty consistantly for 5 days. why?

as for the diarrhea I had for 3 weeks....thought it was the met
but I took some fiber and havn't pooped since, 3 days, no poop. is that too long?

I still don't know why I am having periods more often than not.
I am going to ask the endo on Monday.

and that is my update on health problems that have occured scince bringing my blood sugar down. I was fine and symptom free before dx. does that suck or what?

[yannah]

oh and the podiatrist prescribed oxaprozin Oxaprozin Official FDA information, side effects and uses.

for the nerve thing. but I don't think I am going to take this ****, would you?

[BlueSky]

Sounds like you have a number of issues. The first thing I would do is stop the Simvastatin to see if there is an improvement.

[yannah]

I stopped the statin about 10 days ago, the doctor took me off of it. no improvement.

[Scrabblechick]

Well, I do know the Met can mess with your cycle. Actually, it supposedly helps normalize your hormones. I had a similar problem until I changed my birth control to a lower-estrogen formula. Now I'm much more regulated. Dunno if that could play into your issues or not.

Actually, the diarrhea could have resulted from the Met. My experience was that it happened about twice a day like clockwork, then it was like turning off a faucet (for lack of a better simile. LOL.) Nada.

I know it seems counterintuitive that your problems should START once you get your BG under control, but that happens occasionally, I'm told. Our bodies are weird mechanisms.

[Subby]

Originally Posted by Scrabblechick

I know it seems counterintuitive that your problems should START once you get your BG under control, but that happens occasionally, I'm told. Our bodies are weird mechanisms.

A bit of a broad statement, but in some ways it is very salient. Aches and pains and pins and needles and nerve problems can all become exacerbated - thing is the pain is often because the nerve endings are re-awakening, regenerating, repairing after a stretch of dying off and being numb.

I'm not sure about each particular issue and symptom, but it should be kept firmly in mind that this is a period of intense re-adjustment for your body in general, Yannah. I'm not suggesting necessarily being passive especially with issues like control and Hba1c, cholesterol or BP - but keeping in mind that it's a transitional period and that systems both inside and on the outer may be re-adjusting, and this may be a very useful thing to keep at the front of your mind.

As for the foot nerve issues, if it were me I'd see if I could avoid meds and at least try and give the body a chance to correct itself. Investigate the avenue that your nerves may well sort themselves out with time and good glucose levels and the right activity. If the specialist nay-says this point blank, be sure to get a second opinion that you trust.

If you are not doing it, I think that a certain level of daily exercise would be one of the single best things you could do for your physical and mental health right now. A 30 minute brisk walk every single day is a good starter and you will start to see huge benefits within 3 weeks if you stick to it each and every day. I hope your foot is up to something like this? If not there will be other options. The benefits are so many but in particular this will likely substantially help bring your stress down naturally.

Take care Yannah.

[yannah]

thansk so much for the imput people! I am takin 8 freakin drugs right now, 9 if I take this evil antiinflammatory drug. All but 2 of them I was put on in one month. and the actos makes me as nervous as heck, menstrual problems is a side effect. so in a way I do just want to stop everything but the lithium and see what happens. just for awhile, but I need a dr to help me with that. no takers so far. I will be interested to see what happens with my cholesterol without the statin. It was 227 to begin with B4 the statin, before low carb, b4 lossing all this weight. I am glad I see an endo on monday.

thanks for all the support. I feel pretty alone.

[Psycho Penguin]

I had the twitching leg problem when I first got diabetes, it was really annoying but it magically went away, I don't know if my neurontin I was taking helped, or the nerve blocks I got in my back.. but after about six months, I can actually sleep again now.

[yannah]

Ya know what Phycho? I think I have peripheral nueropathy.
That is what I think I have. but I have been told by a number of people to quit diagnosing and doctoring myself so whatever...... twitching, numbness...sound like peripheral neuropathy to me plain and simple.

[Psycho Penguin]

I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, so you're probably right. Is neurontin one of those 8 medicines you are one?

[yannah]

no, because my PCP, my podiatrist, and my nuerologist all say I do not have peripheral nueropathy. so the only drug I have been prescribed for it is the anti inflamatory linked in this thread. that is from my podiatrist he thinks I have an aggravated nerve in my foot. the only normal symptom I have is 1 toe that has gone numb, while I am on the treadmill - counting yesterday 4 times over the last couple months. then I have the leg twitching, which all 3 doctors say is something seperate from the numb toe. They seem to want me to say I have pain, or prickling, pins and needles, tingling, or something like that, and they seem to feel it should be bilateral, not just one toe on one side. but I don't have any of that, and my left foot is fine. I think they are all full of ****. and this is costing me a fortune. and I now have to have an EMG done for the twitching. oh, oh I am getting pissed off again.....sorry.

[mazea]

I was diagnosed with inflammatory neuropathy by the neurologist when I was first diagnosed with diabetes. The neurologist said it was a temporary condition when you start the insulin. All the nerves in my feet and legs and hands swelled up and couldn't walk for 4 months. There was water retention, paralysis of toes,swelling, feet wouldn't fit into shoes, skin color going blue to red in a matter of minutes and unbearable pain.

The thing that changed it was switching from Lantus to another long acting insulin. Then the problem went away. My feet are almost back to normal.

I suspect diarreah might be a symptom of the inflammed nerves too, as I haven't had a problem for 3 months.

I'm glad I don't take the anti-inflammatories anymore as they aren't all good for kidneys.

[Psycho Penguin]

Neuropathy can affect one leg or both. Any doctor worth a plug would know that. I had to go to 3 different doctors before getting one to even consider listening to me, so I know how it goes.

Also, mazea, I just realized my problem also went away around the time I went off lantus. =O I never made that correlation before.

[mazea]

Lantus is a dangerous drug for new diabetics- especially 1.5 where the high blood sugar levels can last for a year before diagnosis. I was just looking at my feet- they are still slightly blue occasionally and I think the inflammatory neuropathy/Lantus caused permanent damage to my nerves in my feet.

I thought about taking action about it, like complaining to the medications thing, or to the hospital about my doctor who should have realised that I was having a Lantus reaction, but not really a complaining type person. It took 5 months for me to have an appointment with the neurologist, by then it was a bit too late to reverse any damage I think.

Then the neurologist was with the hospital and wouldn't say it was the Lantus that caused it, so no point going to the medications safety tribunal thing I think.

[Psycho Penguin]

I was a new diabetic and given lantus, when my problems started. I had bad pains in my legs. Like really bad "omg I wanna die" pains in my feet also. Then, I got taken off lantus and put on neurontin and had nerve shots done. I assumed it was the last 2 reasons, but maybe it was the lantus all along too. That is good to know, mazea! Thanks!