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Permalink Reply by Brian (bsc) on June 9, 2011 at 5:54am

Well, I will give you some perspective on my situation. My problem is not in my feet, but in my hands. I have suffered from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) for more than 15 years. I have had ulnar nerve and shoulder nerve compressions. And make no mistake, high blood sugars inflame the nerves, they expand and make the compression problems even worse. And compression is above and beyond typical diabetic neuropathy. I have spent a lot of effort with physical therapy and tight blood sugar control. Initially, I was able to manage the CTS with therapy and I have been able to pretty much get my other problems under control. But I have spent a lot of effort with building flexibility and strength, far beyond anything you would get going to a physical therapist. And in the end, even those efforts proved to not be sufficient for the CTS.

In the end, by the time I finally admitted defeat and saw the neurologist, I had lost pretty much all the feeling in two fingers in my right hand. I had release surgery on my right hand last August. I got immediate relief from most of the symptoms, but I appear to have suffered more lasting damage on my index finger. Long-term compression can cause scarring.

Bernstein and others beleive that you can heal from neuropathy with tight blood sugar control, but it takes a long time. I supplement, as suggested here and I still hold out hope that I will heal. But I also accept that I may never fully recover.

So keep your blood sugar tightly controlled. That is number one. And supplements and physical therapy may help. But in the end, be open to surgery. It may offer you the only hope for relief and remember, if you delay for far too long like I did, you may suffer some more permanent damage.

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Permalink Reply by mnkid on June 9, 2011 at 7:16am

Thanks, bsc! After finding this wonderful community I've felt so much more hopeful and I'm facing the fact that I've been totally in denial about my blood sugar control. I'm going to give it the old college try (again) and with better support in place see if I can be consistent with tighter control. If I can't do it with ALA, diet and taking my meds as prescribed, I'm preparing to be open to whatever helps, be it insulin or, as a last resort, surgery.

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Permalink Reply by heather mallett on October 6, 2011 at 8:36pm

i seem to have symptoms of neuropathy- ive heard from more than one person not to "wait" to treat it. if i keep tight BGs and take the supplements for example, how would it benefit me to treat it sooner than later?? (other than pain relief) sorry for my ignorance!!

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