Hi, I accidentally posted this in the wrong forum yesterday!

I have uncontrolled diabetes. A few years ago, my feet began to tingle with that "pins and needles" feeling every time I stood up. It was very painful to walk those first steps. Then, the feeling went away. Last year, I had some off and on pain in my right calf. Now, the pain is also in my thigh. Not a bad pain, just an ache.

Is this diabetic neuropathy? Diabetes runs in my family. I do not have medical insurance to get this checked out.

Do you have any suggestions?

Also, are there resources for diabetics without insurance?

Thanks!

If you google "Diabeties" a ton of sites come up that may help you.

Hey friendlygirl,

Sounds to me like you may be experiencing diabetic neuropathy, which is basically a nerve disorder caused by diabetes. About 70% of all diabetics have some form of neuropathy. Currently, I have some tingling in my face at times, almost like a tic. But it can happen in any part of the body, even your organs like your kidneys and your heart.

Even though you don't have insurance, it's definitely something you want to have checked out. It can be very serious. If you are having trouble trying to keep you blood glucose levels under control neuropathy is more likely to happen.

You need to check out the National Diabetes Clearinghouse website it has a lot of good information about finanical resources for people with diabetes and it gives very clear and easy to understand definitions of neuropathy, what the causes are, ways it can be treated etc etc.

http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/financialhelp/

Thanks so much for this. I will check it out.

Hi friendlygirl! My husband has recently been diagnosed with diabetes - & has awful neuropathy with it. So Lots of looking online for helps. Here are a few: evening primrose oil, L-carintine, alpha lipoic acic, B-6, B-12, biotin (another B vitamin), which he is now taking. A friend loaned him some information on reversing diabetes written by a Dr. Julian M. Whitaker, and we have since purchased his book "Reversing Diabetes." VERY inciteful! By dramatically changing his diet, and adding supplements encouraged by Dr. Whitaker, my husband has lost @ 35#, gone from 340+ glucose level to @ 120-140 in @ 2 months & is not taking any prescription medications! AND his neuropathy has improved a lot - still has some, but not so much as before. Also, there is an ointment with some odd ingredients (lemon oil & ammonia!)"Penetran +Plus" which has also helped a lot. Also, if you've not already googled supplements for diabetic neuropathy - I'm sure you'll find more information. BEST WISHES! I sure hope some of this helps you - from my husband's experience, I KNOW it is extremely painful.

Hey friendlygirl! I just re-read your original post about not having dinero to pay for a test. I don't know what you normally eat, but try this for a couple of weeks: don't eat ANY flour or bread of any kind, no potatoes, carrots, rice, peas, sugary foods, or sodas. EAT a LOT of green veggies both cooked & raw, can eat beans of most sorts, tomatoes, yellow veggies, etc. - basically all LOW glycemic index foods, which does of course include meat and cheese, but should be low-fat. Use mostly olive oil & butter (very sparingly), & perhaps not a lot of salt. You can google the glycemic index of foods and find foods are considered low. The supplements I mentioned in my previous post shouldn't hurt you to take anyway. You SHOULD begin feeling better. If you can go to a health fair, they often do diabetic testing there free, which would be a really expensive way to find out. Another consideration, do you have a low thyroid? Often this is an underlying cause of diabetes, which won't ever really be right until the thyroid condition is taken care of. Just some more thoughts. Sure hope you get feeling better.

You might want to be part of a diabetic discussion board like this oneBellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

You might want to be part of a diabetic discussion board like this oneBellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

I take neurontin for this (gabapentin). It helps me sleep too without waking up with all those shooting pains.