Hi, Linda, yes, you've described the peripheral neuropathies I used to
have very well.  It's the result of nerve damage from excessively high
blood glucose over time.  That's the bad news.

The good news is that I got rid of mine (high blood glucose and
neuropathies) and you should be able to do the same, or at least improve it.

The first step is to get your blood glucose down into a much healthier
range.  If you follow this advice, you'll quickly see what things to eat
and which to avoid due to sugar spikes:

 http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/NewlyDiagnosed.htm

Something that worked for me, very fast and completely was time released
alpha lipoic acid, which has been well studied and found to reverse
peripheral neuropathies; it acts as an insulin sensitizer and an
antioxidant.  600-1200mg per day are the dosage ranges studied.

Exercise is an important part of managing diabetes, as much as you've
time and ability to do.

Susan

Susan gave you good advise, but you should definitely make sure your
doctor is aware of this situation as soon as possible. You may need to
increase your diabetes medication.

It's called neuropathy, or nerve damage and it's caused by high BG (blood
glucose/sugar).  I don't know that it ever goes away, but you can lessen the
symptoms by getting your BG down and keeping it down.  Your numbers are
still too high.  My neuropathy symptoms usually kick in around 150.

If you have it, you should never go around with no socks or shoes.  I was
told to always wear socks and either slippers or shoes.  Reason being, that
you have decreased sensation in your feet now.  You might not realize it
because that comes on slowly.  I think it is easier to notice the pain and
not the numbness.  I once had really high BG and fell asleep in the car.
When I woke up, I had to look down to see that my feet were still there.
That's how bad the loss of sensation was.  I couldn't feel them at all.
There was just sort of this cold sensation down there.

Sounds like it's time for you to go the extreme low carb route for a few
weeks to get your BG down.  Aim for <110 fasting and <120 at two hours after
eating.  Once you've kept it at this level for a while, you can experiment
with carbs, adding them slowly back into your diet.  But keep in mind you'll
probably never be able to eat carbs like you used to.  And there may be some
foods you can't eat at all.

I'd also suggest that you get a different Dr.   One who will take your
diabetes seriously.  If he or she allowed you to have high BG for some time
before putting you on diabetes meds, then he or she is remiss in their
duties!  You should also have been referred to a dietician.

Two years of high BG's, and the doctor finally put you on a sulf drug.
Something doesn't make sense.  Why did the doc wait so long?  And,
since a Type 2, why aren't you on metformin also to reduce the insulin
resistance?  See Sig to record your weight loss and BG progress.
_____________________________________________
http://wave.prohosting.com/ugleeeee/
Health Diabetic Software - Free

bluemaxx wrote in message ...

    See Hi_There and Julie's posts.    I too am very annoyed at your
doctor.   Two years of high blood sugar before he/she does anything?
That's disgraceful!

 I think your doc is using an old-fashioned approach to your diabetes.
The more modern docs will:

    a.  More often use metformin as the first med
    b.  Send you to diabetic training courses at your local hospital
    c.  Schedule sessions with dieticians and the like.

Sorry,  but knowledge = life with this disease.    You would best be served
if you learned as much as possible,  as soon as possible about this disease.

Some tricks:

   a.  Call your local hospitals and see if they offer training courses.
Pester your doc to write a referral or whatever it takes to give you
insurance coverage.    If you don't have coverage,   ask the hospital for a
scholarship or whatever it takes.

   b.  Go to your local library and start reading their books.   One of the
better books around is Gretchen Becker's book:

       "The First Year—Type 2 Diabetes "

   c.  Keep coming back.   The folks who post to this group have seen the
best and worst doctors worldwide;  and the best and worst of the therapies.

Some more modern stuff to pester your doc about:

   a.  Cholesterol:  Diabetics must manage our cholesterol.   We have
horrible odds for premature heart attack:   Some targets:

           Total cholesterol less than 200 mg/dL
           Triglycerides less than 150 mg/dL
           Triglycerides/HDL ratio less than 3.0
            Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio less than 4.0

Those are bare minimum targets.  Aim lower.    Low carb diets and lots of
exercise really help.

   b.   HbA1c.    That's our blood sugar control report card.   You want a
reading less than 6.5    Many of us aim for a value below 6.0

   c.  Blood pressure:   Most of us have problems with blood pressure.
Your target is 120/80 but lower is better.  We diabetics do much better with
the ACE or ARB inhibitor type b.p. meds.

Regards
   Old Al

You need a new doctor who is more up-to-date with diabetes treatments!

No doctor should have allowed your blood sugar to get to your present
level without starting a  much more aggressive treatment regimen. The
drug you are on now is not the one that current practice standards
believe to be best for people with Type 2 diabetes. You should have been
started on Metformin unless there is a good reason to avoid it (like
liver or kidney disease.)

Read

 http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/NewlyDiagnosed.htm

and take it seriously.  Hundreds of people who have followed its advice
have restored their blood sugars to normal or near normal levels.

Then find a new doctor. Recent research shows that the older the doctor,
the more out-of-date the treatment.  My family doctor considers it
important to treat fasting blood sugars over 120 mg/dl.

With your family history, your doctor should have done something about
your blood sugar years ago. The nerve damage you have now took years to
occur.  Fortunately, by getting your blood sugar down and keeping it
down, you can reverse this damage to some extent and prevent further
damage from occurring.

--Jenny

http://www.geocities.com/lottadata4u/  Type 2 Diabetes info
http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/  Low Carb info

sorry about what you are going through.
while some may feel they have enough info to tell you to change doctors
I can not at this point. even if you answer the questions below if there was
a doctor
here - there probably still wouldnt be enough information to treat you
better than a doctor
can in person.  you dont have to answer the questions below just pointing
out there is not enough information.
I will tell you you if you want a second opinion you should
go to another doctor.

how hi is hi?

how long did you fast? what was your last meal.
if i fast for too long or dont enough carbs I can get a liver dump and have
numbers around 190.

i did not find anything saying this drug is out of date
the ADA does talk about it but makes no mention of it being out of date.
I also looked at other places.  you can ask your doctor why that drug and
not metformin.
i did find this info on Glynase on the link below.
http://google.diabetes.org/search?q=Glynase&ie=&site=my_collection&restrict=main
_site%7Cstore%7Cvgs&output=xml_no_dtd&client=my_collection&btnG.y=0&btnG.y=0&lr=
&btnG.x=0&btnG.x=0&proxystylesheet=my_collection&oe=&Search.x=17&Search.y=14

thank god i went to a dietitian.  in 6 months I went off all medications.

what is your bed time snack like?  i look for around 110 fbs.

funny thing about this is i didnt start to get that feeling in my feet until
after
my blood sugar levels came down.  i think it was due to poor circulation
not from the foods i was eating but from not being active enough.  JMHO

my feet felt cold.

That's it exactly.  It started awhile ago, but it

my feet are fine now.

for me 3/4 cup is not a small portion ( now that I am diabetic )
i try to eat 45 carbs 5 times a day.  for me i would go with 15 carbs ( not
sure how many carbs are in 3/4 cup of mashed.
15 carbs from a mix of low carb veggies and perhaps 6 baby carrots.
3/4 cup wouldnt give my any kind of feelings in my feet. you make no mention
of
your numbers for that meal.
also depending upon how active I am also determines how much I can eat.

you can also try asking some questions here.
the American Diabetes Association's Message Boards
http://community.diabetes.org/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=amdiabetesz&nav=index

Linda, you should really discuss this with your doctor.  It sounds like
neuopathy to me.  Your numbers are still too high for fasting but as
they come down, you may find that the symptoms disappear.

Please have your feet checked.

Welcome to our group.

Loretta

--
In tribute to the United States of America and the State
of Israel, two bastions of strength in a world filled with strife and
terrorism.

Thanks for explaining so clearly the problem I have had with my feet
for a long time. I have lowered my BG numbers with Glipizide and they
are now 85 fasting, 5.3 A1c and average110 - 120 1 hour PP. BUT my feet
still burn. The reason I worked so hard to get my numbers down was
because my feet hurt so much. I read in one of the replies about ALA -
I bought the supplement but had no idea how much to take. So now I will
give that a try and see if that helps - here's hoping

Barb in NH

PS - the only Diabetes books I found worth reading were Dr. Bernstein's
Diabetic Solution and Gretchen Becker's First Year Diabetes. Also ADA
does not have a clue as to what low carb really means IMHO. Of course,
YMMV.

Would suggest you inform your doctor(s) about your symptoms which
suggest diabetic neuropathy which is a complication of having diabetes.

You are welcome, Linda :-)

In Christ's love and service forevermore,

Andrew

--
Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Board-Certified Cardiologist

**
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