Gerald
01-14-2008, 01:30 PM
I am having some muscle issues and I was wondering if anyone has had a similar issue and what sort of treatment/recovery they found worked for them. The issue is confined to my legs and manifests itself as unusual stiffness and soreness, particularly when having been in a resting position for awhile and then going to get up and start moving.
Once I get going the muscles and kinks work themselves out and I can move pretty normally. My legs still feel stiffer then they should and there is definitely some weakness as well but it's not extreme. I am able to walk and run and jog about 1.5 km a few nights a week. After a jog though my legs stiffen up right away like two steel poles and it takes awhile to loosen them back up again. I do stretch quite a bit before and after a jog.
Some background, I am a type 2 that was one of those folks that ignored my diabetes for a few years until I ended up in the hospital with DKA in April, my blood sugar has been under decent control since then (h1AC of 6.7). I did notice my legs getting progressively worse during that time but since it didn't affect my day to day living I ignored it (yes I am an idiot I know). The problem first manifested itself as a burning sensation if my leg brushed up against something, that went away but they slowly built up a tendency to get stiff and sore and got weaker over time.
The condition seems to have leveled off but doesn't seem to be getting much better despite regular exercise. While I find running does help, the stiffness and soreness is less if I run the night before, it hasn't been improving in overall fashion.
I did some reading and was thinking I might have diabetic amyotrophy/proximal neuropathy but looking at the symptoms I am nowhere that severe. For example, I don't have any trouble standing from a sitting position. Also, proximal neuropathy is most often, but not always, asymetrical and I'd say I'm affected equally in both legs making it a less likely candidate. On the pro side I did lose a lot of weight during the three years my diabetes was uncontrolled which seems to be often mentioned and I suspect I do have some muscle wasting but I don't have any pain or severe complications, my day to day living is pretty much unaffected.
Now that my blood sugar is better controlled I am looking at dealing with some of my other ancillary symptoms to make sure things don't get worse. Part of that is regular exercise such as the running I mentioned earlier and I'd like to increase my distance for better weight control but the state of my legs is holding me back.
I am working my doctor on this but am trying to narrow down the suspects on my own a bit in order to have an intelligent conversation with her and not to waste time. Based on what I described could this be proximal neuropathy or are there other conditions I should be looking at? I've searched the net but not found too much so far that fits my symptoms.
Once I get going the muscles and kinks work themselves out and I can move pretty normally. My legs still feel stiffer then they should and there is definitely some weakness as well but it's not extreme. I am able to walk and run and jog about 1.5 km a few nights a week. After a jog though my legs stiffen up right away like two steel poles and it takes awhile to loosen them back up again. I do stretch quite a bit before and after a jog.
Some background, I am a type 2 that was one of those folks that ignored my diabetes for a few years until I ended up in the hospital with DKA in April, my blood sugar has been under decent control since then (h1AC of 6.7). I did notice my legs getting progressively worse during that time but since it didn't affect my day to day living I ignored it (yes I am an idiot I know). The problem first manifested itself as a burning sensation if my leg brushed up against something, that went away but they slowly built up a tendency to get stiff and sore and got weaker over time.
The condition seems to have leveled off but doesn't seem to be getting much better despite regular exercise. While I find running does help, the stiffness and soreness is less if I run the night before, it hasn't been improving in overall fashion.
I did some reading and was thinking I might have diabetic amyotrophy/proximal neuropathy but looking at the symptoms I am nowhere that severe. For example, I don't have any trouble standing from a sitting position. Also, proximal neuropathy is most often, but not always, asymetrical and I'd say I'm affected equally in both legs making it a less likely candidate. On the pro side I did lose a lot of weight during the three years my diabetes was uncontrolled which seems to be often mentioned and I suspect I do have some muscle wasting but I don't have any pain or severe complications, my day to day living is pretty much unaffected.
Now that my blood sugar is better controlled I am looking at dealing with some of my other ancillary symptoms to make sure things don't get worse. Part of that is regular exercise such as the running I mentioned earlier and I'd like to increase my distance for better weight control but the state of my legs is holding me back.
I am working my doctor on this but am trying to narrow down the suspects on my own a bit in order to have an intelligent conversation with her and not to waste time. Based on what I described could this be proximal neuropathy or are there other conditions I should be looking at? I've searched the net but not found too much so far that fits my symptoms.