Hello Everyone, Happy Autumn. The world did not end on Sept. 23, so I guess I still need to watch my health. I have a question…I am not at all familiar with arthritis, what the types are and what the symptoms are. Is it a contender for a complication of diabetes? Can the people who have it please give me a bit of education about it? Please say the kind, the symptoms, the way it is treated and how much it affects your life. Do you think that it is related to Diabetes? If so why? Thanks so much.
It CAN be generally because of compromised immune systems. Before my diagnosis (LONG before), I was diagnosed with psoriasis. There is an arthritis associated with it (surprisingly, it’s called Psoriatic Arthritis).
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Autoimmune and inflammatory issues often manifest in clusters.
I think that T1D, Rheumatoid Arthritis are both autoimmune diseases … with a few others as well.
Having been a T1D for about 45 years, I got the DISTINCTLY BETTER end of the genetic stick than my younger brother who has suffered with severe RA for the past 30-35 years. Of course, there are widely differing severities to virtually all diseases. There are also many more drugs available now to help with RA …
Good luck, John
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I have psoriatic arthritis as well as T1D. No psoriasis though. Both autoimmune things.
The arthritis gives me far more grief than D does. I’d quite like a break from it for a while. It’s been very active for the past 3 years. I’ve had exactly 3 non painful days in that time.
Before that, I had 7 year break from symptoms. Bliss!
V VI think many arthritis types are autoimmune too and they come in clusters. My grandfather had ra so I’m worried about that. He is the reason I got type 1 which is the worst for me hands down. Also the reason my father and I have hashimotos. He had Graves’ disease. I think graves was much easier for him than ra. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis at the same time as osteoporosis. No one really explained what that was-the osteoarthritis or what to do.
I have had chronic pain for years from three car accidents which also started fibromyalgia. Now I’m told I have arthritis in my knees from the way they are constructed which makes them turn inwards and wears down the cartilage. All I know is I have days when my joints ache and my whole body aches. And my knees have been bad for years. I can’t kneel at all now unless on a soft surface with knee pads too and even then it hurts. Not on the injured knee at all now.
It is much worse with the diabetes and fluctuating Bg. My pain is definitely worse and my whole body is being affected. I think my tendons are being affected. On top of all this I now injured my knee-torn meniscus which isn’t getting better. That is the worst thing other than d right now.
After 24 years or so of pain I’m so sick of this and done with it. I think high pth and hashis are affecting it too. My tsh just went up a lot and antibodies for that were up too.
- so I just looked up osteoarthritis and it is no longer considered to be caused by simple wear and tear. It is maybe genetic.
http://www.arthritis.org/about-arthritis/types/osteoarthritis/causes.php
I have osteoarthritis, which is usually found in us older people. Unlike rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatric arthritis, it doesn’t come under the category of immune responses, as far as I know.
My lower spine is affected, but I’ve had great success for that with chiropractic, especially the Activator Method. I’m also now facing two knee replacements. My blood glucose levels have been well controlled for years, and I have no other complications.
I used meloxicam and cymbalta daily for pain, and when it gets really bad, I use vicodin. I’m VERY careful with the use of vicodin as I don’t want to get addicted and, besides that, the more you use it, the more you’d have to take, and eventually it stops working altogether. I have a strict protocol for myself and for nearly 20 years, I used it for fibromyalgia, and only on days when I was in enough pain AND I had to get up extra early, so I’d take it to be able to sleep, OR, on occasion, when I had to do something very physical but was having a flare-up. A 60-pill prescription would last me for 1 1/2 to 2 years. Recently, due to knee pain, I’ve had to use it much more frequently, which is why I’m now contemplating knee replacements.
As said by others, auto-immune arthritis is not un-common with type 1. Our system just doesn’t stop at the pancreas, it doesn’t say, well I’ve done all I can… in some cases, it continues on attacking and often it can lead to several forms as mentioned of auto-immune arthritis. These can be called poly-arthritis (signs of arthritis, but no blood work yet supports it). RA is usually found on both sides (i both wrists, hands, elbows) and PA usually found in one side, though not always… your form may differ.
That said, we also tend to lack vitamin B12 (another auto-immune is pernicious anemia)and this can cause arthritis like symptoms. Some docs look at the numbers differently than others - usually we say symptoms with levels of B12 <400 should have some supplementation and possibly other testing as well…as said before our systems sometimes just don’t stop.
I, too, wondered about a connection. As of February 1, 2017, my diabetes status became LADA. In June, my right hand started to have problems: swollen joints that freeze into a curled position and hurt all day. I that some sort of arthritis is to blame. It is worse at night and morning. So, arthritis issues was one of the questions for the Endo doc when I finally got to see her last week. She said she hadn’t heard that insulin and joint problems are related. I know that there is no cure for arthritis and I surely don’t want to have to pay for another overpriced medication, but I would be OK on blaming it on diabetes! (sarcastic laugh)
I am sorry to hear that some of you are having really serious pain. I have chronic pain and I know what you mean when you say that you are sick of it @mee and Ruth4. Pain sucks and now we have this weird situation going on with pain medications and doctors not wanting to prescribe them or taking them and finding out that they really don’t work that well… I found out that pain medication doesn’t go well for me so I am using Neurontin and get some relief from it but I am always wanting to cut back on it because it is so sedating.
A while ago I got a Fitbit and I was really excited about starting a walking program. I started walking 10,000 steps a day and during the first week I was so sore that I got up at night and couldn’t walk or bend over. It was awful. The next few walks I started feeling like I was having to drag my legs as opposed to my legs taking me for a walk. It was hideous. I have had cervical stenosis in my neck for a while and my hands get numb and I drop everything after I walk because walking compresses the spinal cord. My knees are weak and I am having a hard time walking up the stairs in a townhouse full of stairs. I had an ex-ray of my lower back and stenosis was found there too.
Everything, all my joints hurt. I can’t sleep very well either. I have decided that if you stop moving all, including the diabetes, gets worse so I am walking 8,000 painful steps 3 days a week and have started doing Tai Chi. I found these really excellent videos on YouTube with Dr. Paul Lam. They are for people with arthritis, in fact he started Tai Chi at 17 due to an arthritic condition. I can feel that it builds the middle of the body, the core. I am starting to do that every morning. It is really a different kind of exercise experience. I think I am going to do it often. I hope you check out his videos too.
I remember I had the sweetest dog, Blackie. He was a beautiful black lab. I got him as a puppy and he was just the nicest, funniest, well behaved dog in the world and a great addition to the family. He had the shiniest coat and he absolutely loved swimming. We had a power boat and he went crazy jumping into the water and swimming between the docks and the boats. We would call him but he would just paddle away faster until my husband yelled and then he swam back.
At the age of eight he got diabetes and then hypothyroidism and then started limping really bad with arthritis. It seemed to happen all at once, really fast. One day he was laying in the living room and I looked at his face and it was filled with pain and depression. We had to eventually put him down to get him out of pain. I am still sad today when I think of it but now I am feeling the same way. I seemed to fall apart a couple of weeks ago and I am doing my best to hold what I have. Getting older is not easy with several chronic illnesses but it is kind of a challenge just to keep going in spite of all the troubles! Yeah, this arthritis is something new that I am trying to learn about and understand.
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So sorry about Blackie and that you’re in so much pain. I’m using aspercreme lydocaine gel and arnica as well as everything else. This sucks👀 I’ll check on those videos. Right now I think I have to let my knee rest to let it heal I think. SO frustrating because I want to strengthen my core and legs/ butt too.
@lotsofshots - pain is a pain in the … 
I have been T1 for 53 years. I was diagnosed with RA about 4 years ago. I had pain in my feet, joints, and muscles. I took methotrexate which helped the pain (other than feet), but it negatively affects the liver. I’ve now gone to Orencia, and the join pain has subsided totally. Gabapentin corrects the feet pain.
Short of it is - see a rheumatologist. They can best diagnose what is going on with pain.
How can you have Psoriatic Arthritis without having psoriasis? I didn’t even know that was possible.
I have liver issues as well Timbeak48. I had a resection five years ago for a tumor and now I have another tumor they are watching so I went to my liver doctor. She took a test that shows whether some enzyme is coming from the liver or the bone and my test came back as bone, so she is going to refer me to a rheumatologist. I see her on Nov 7.
What freaked me out was that diabetes causes liver disease. I never knew that and it just totally rocked my world when I found out I had NAFLD. The resection messed up my gall bladder too. Yikes, I never knew a thing about livers or how messed up they can make you feel. I would advise everyone to keep BGs lower just to avoid problems with the liver. I found out there is a great connection between the liver and the pancreas and it is the high sugar that can hurt the liver over time.
I may get it later on. Arthritis can certainly hit years before skin. I think that’s the case in about 30% of people with PsA. My rheumatologist considers my symptoms to be classic for psoriatic arthritis, and I do respond to antirheumatic drugs a bit (unfortunately not completely).
I just thought “psoriatic” meant “comes from psoriasis.”
Dr Robert Lustig points the finger directly at fructose as a primary cause of NAFLD. Unfortunately, fructose is about 50% of both table sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. It’s also concentrated in orange juice and other fruit drinks. According to Lustig, fructose can only be processed by the liver and our standard American diet just overloads it.
So, as diabetics, we need to be careful of all carbs, but specifically of added dietary sugars.
Dr Lustig and Gary Taubes both point the finger at sugar as the villain. You’ll find them both on YouTube as well as in books.
John Oliver does a more humorous, but still serious, take on this with his “Show Us Your Peanuts” campaign, also on YouTube.
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I am trying to figure out if NAFLD can be reversed in diabetics. I have read that if a person without diabetes changes their diet and adds these foods: beets, kale, cinnamon, lemons, avocado, turmeric, dandelion root, garlic and ginger, parsley, plenty of water… low fat diet and exercise.
I’d be very interested in the source and basis for this recommendation. There are so many health claims out there that I need something more than just someone saying so. Over the last 50 years or so, there has been a dramatic increase in NAFLD at least in the US and perhaps(?) in the rest of the world. Have the food choices you list changed dramatically in that time to account for this?
And a second question is, what is it about the chemical makeup of these specific foods that is responsible? What is going on to provide the protection?
I have a liver doctor who recommended these foods to reverse NAFLD, walnuts, avocados, hot water and lemons in the morning first thing and all bright colored vegetables. I also have a GI in the same clinic that said the same thing. I met a person that had liver disease and was feeling much better after eating a diet of only vegetables and specifically beets and eating burnt toast to help the liver filter toxins. I was very ill with a liver tumor and had to have a right lobe resection at Georgetown Hospital in Washington DC and when it was done I was given the advice to eat a low fat and low salt diet and as many vegetables as possible. I also went to a holistic doctor who told me to drink a lot of water and eat vegetables six times a day and get as thin as possible. I was told by all these doctors that getting thin and losing weight will have an affect on fatty liver. I followed the nutritional advice of these doctors and I could actually feel a great improvement in my health. Another thing that is really suggested is cinnamon and green tea. These vegetables have minerals that the liver needs and also vitamins that are depleted by liver disease. Tumeric is also suggested. Going on You Tube I found credible doctors saying the same thing and suggesting the same foods like Dr. Berg and Dr. Bergman.
The protective factors are healthy fat, minerals like D, P and K, anti-inflammatory agents in the tea, cinnamon and turmeric. Lemon has a cleansing effect on the liver especially when taken with parsley. I have done a lot of experimenting and research on this out of desperation. I found these things really do work. I had lost fifty pounds and was miserable with pain and difficulty eating. I slowly added these foods and my health improved and I gained all the weight back. My liver doctor works at Georgetown Hospital and the VA Hospital and has cured over 1000 of Hepatitis C. I really trust her and always follow her advice.