This is exactly what my PCP prescribed when I last had blood work done showing my VitD level was very low. I just finished the 8 weeks of 50,000 and am now taking the 2000 D3 daily.
Sir Iām in the same boat but iām not in recovery just yet.
Did you try gabapentin up to 3600 mg a day or Lyrica up to 300 mg a day ?
Any opiod pain meds ? Caspian creams? How about a pain management clinic?
No sir here Bumpkin, just Randy. Love the dog by the way. I did not take any prescription medications for pain at all. I had so many digestive issues and other problems that mirrored possible side effects for most of these drugs and I did not want to deal with that possibility. Also, I wanted to understand exactly how I was actually feeling so that I could more accurately evaluate my approach. Occasionally I used aspirin and ibuprofen. I worked full time at my normal job throughout this entire period so I did not want to have further issues with medication that might interfere with that. The one thing I did do that truly did help immensely was that I used marijuana in the evening after I got home. It did not remove all the pain, but it did dial it back and allow me some level of relaxation even though the spasms of pain continued.
After my experience with turning my blood sugars around and talking with other people who have been in a similar situation, it appears to me that the initial process of lowering long-standing high BG to normal or near normal levels (which is absolutely necessary) is actually a form of withdrawal. It is much like withdrawal from herion. I definitely had pain and discomfort before I started that process. But, as I went through that period of lowering my BG all of my issues were magnified. For me, and at least one other person I have talked with, this lasted about eight months before it began to subside.
There is nothing fun in any of this. But there is a very satisfying reward for enduring the process. I cannot give you any advice as to what pain meds might work best or exactly how any of this might actually affect you. You just have to do it. Find your best way through the challenges and keep your eye on the goal of normal blood sugar levels. If you can get to that point I have no doubt that you will find improvement. I started this just over six years ago. I have consistently had an average A1c just below 5.5 that entire time. It was hell to get there and the improvements in my complications were very slow. Like surfing a glacier. Many times I would find myself feeling better only to have what seemed like a setback. But every time that happened the apparent setback would end after a few hours or days and I would find that it left me better off yet. The whole process was two steps forward and one step back, time and time again.
I know this is very long, but I hope you find at least some of the information helpful. No one can give you a straight up answer for any of this. The specifics are yours and yours alone. I am more than willing to help you in any way I can. Feel free to contact me at any time.
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Iām not sure if the local preference is to revive dead threads or start new ones, but Iāll just add my question in here.
I was diagnosed last April/May (2016), and only lately have noticed isolated incidents of sharp, excruciating pain. The incidents are isolated in location (the tip of my big toe) and duration (a few seconds). Since dx, my numbers have been pretty good (A1c 5.7 - 5.8), with more Bg fluctuation that Iād like.
I plan on bringing it up to my GP in May, but thought Iād come here to the DOC in the mean time. Is this likely neuropathy, or just something random? Iām not overly concerned about the pain: while itās sharp and strong, itās short lived and bearable. If itās a sign of neuropathy, however, Iām a bit concerned.
(personally I like it when an older topic comes back up, esp if it was a good one like this. one thing that happens is all the people formerly involved in the conversation get notifications that a topic they had contributed to has new comments)
Iām no expert on neuropathy, I luckily donāt have it after 50 years of T1, but I would think it would be rare to it to develop so quickly, esp since your a1c looks great.
Do you have any signs of numbness? Have you ever had the test where they touch your feet in many places with the pin thing and ask if you can feel it?
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Hi Adam. I donāt know that I would call myself an expert, but I do have a lot of experience with neuropathy. Marie B is right in what she tells you. It would be very unusual to develop neuropathy so quickly. However, neuropathy can be caused by many other things besides diabetes such as certain medications and toxins along with other health issues.If all you are experiencing is some short lived pain in your big toe, and not having any other signs of neuropathy, then you probably do not have neuropathy.
I have had similar pains as you describe that I know were caused by my neuropathy, but they were just one of many painful issues. The other condition that I have found causes many of these pains (at least for myself) is sciatica. A pinched nerve will give you the type of pain you are talking about. Here is a link to some information about that and some exercises to help.
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Hi, @Adam_W ā
Do you experience the pain in only one great toe?
The frequency of neuropathy in prediabetes suggests that complications begin long before a T2 diagnosis is made. (Which also explains the high rates of complications in LADA.)
AAFP - Evaluation and Prevention of Diabetic Neuropathy
BTW: By the time most diabetics can no longer feel a 10āÆg monofilament, the nerve damage is moderate-severe and most likely not reversible.
@MarieB, you must be blessed w/ protective neuro genes. 
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Yes, itās only one toe. Itās really only happened a couple of times, most recently a couple of days ago. Iām assuming itās just random pain, but figured Iād check.
I have the āfoot testā done every six months, and thereās been no signs of numbness. It seems like Iām fine for now (pending follow up tests with my doc.)
I think I was lucky, in a way, with how my dx played out. Throwing myself into dka (rare, I know, for type 2) by loading and unloading 3 small moving trucks full of household goods and going into the hospital, I skipped any āpre-diabetesā denial and went straight to āholy-crap-I-need-to-figure-this-out-nowā mode.
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I bypassed the whole āHoly Crap!ā part and went straight to āHair on Fireā.
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Hello Friends,
I really like when old threads are revived, because people posting in the past have often shared a lot of relevant and wise knowledge and experience.
I can only speak a little to this issue. Iāve had the same kind of infrequent but surprising pains in my toes like what Adam describes. It may not be relevant for anyone else, but I started noticing that they usually occurred when I was dehydrated. Just maybe a factor for others to consider.
Best wishes to all!
marty1492
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Iād agree with what the others said. Iām not an expert on Neuropathy, but it would seem unlikely that you would have any form of it after only being diagnosed for a short period. Unless of course you have gone years with undiagnosed diabetes.
One thing I have noticed in myself is an increased tendency sometimes to focus on things more when Iām aware of them. When I really started paying more attention to my diabetes a few years ago, and with that my health more broadly, I started to notice an increased amount of pains and aches and weird sensations around my body.
Was there something going on? Perhaps there was, but I also wonder if just these things always happen and now due to my increased awareness I was focussing on them.
I wonder if that is the case for you? Most diagnoses of diabetes really emphasis the importance of looking after your feet, perhaps that has lead you to really focus in on specific sensations in your feet that youāve had in the past but never paid attention to.
Ever try magnesium supplements? I like them.
Hello Anne,
I am sorry to take so long. I just saw this today and Iām not quite sure why it took me so long.
Your husbandās A1c is pretty good for sure. How long has he had diabetes? Your A1c is just an average for 90 days. Normal is between 4.5 and 5.4, so he is close to normal. She is pretty much where I have been since about this time six years ago.
I use a meter to check my BG on average 4 to 5 times per day. Since I am a type I I must do this every day in order to safely use insulin. By keeping my BG in a normal range (my average A1c for that time period has been just under 5.5) I no longer have ongoing pain. I still have a fair amount of numbness and occasional pains and cramps. But, they are nothing like before.
I have never used anything more than aspirin or ibuprofen for pain. I donāt like pain medications and I did not want to mask what was happening since I was trying to reverse the neuropathy. Plus, all the medications had side effects that were similar to problems I was already having. I did not need more of the same.
I personally did these things in particular to treat my neuropathy and the associated pain and discomfort. First, I was tenacious about my blood sugar control and I still am. That is the most important.
The second thing was that I took RāAlpha Lipoic Acid (NOTE: these R is critical, donāt buy anything without it in the name). I highly recommend this. In fact I canāt say enough about it in regards to helping neuropathy. I started out at 200 units per day and ended up at 1200. There is a lot of information about this supplement. It is something that you already have in your body and it is a very effective antioxidant. It gave me a small measure of relief almost immediately.
The other thing that I found quite helpful for something you may or may not be open to. The thing that I found which helped the very most in curbing the pain and calling some of the cramps was marijuana. Obviously I did not use this all day long, but I found it was about the only thing that could help me relax a bit and sleep. I still had pain and all of that but these things helped.
Regarding neuropathy itself; according to what I have learned, primarily through Johns Hopkins, it takes two years for the nerves to begin repairing themselves at the extremities. This is because it requires that new mitochondrial must travel from the spine where it originates. But I found that two years is pretty accurate. I did notice a change for the better about eight months into fighting this. But it was at about two years when it all seem to become closer to normal.
The other thing about this is that it could be nothing to do with diabetes. Neuropathy can be caused by a number of different health issues as well as some medications and toxins. In any case they all end up being the same thing. You have to remove the causation which is inflammatory and corroding the nerves casing.
I didnāt mean to write a book here, but there is a lot to consider with neuropathy. I hope this helps. Donāt hesitate to contact me if you want to know more and I can be of any help.
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Hey bumpkin, sorry I took so long for you too. I just saw this today as well. I hope that you are improving and have found answers. But I will answer your question here anyway.
No, I did not take any prescription pain medications at all. I donāt like pain meds. I was working at the time and it just was not something that I wanted to do. My primary weapons against my neuropathy was tight control, as close to normal as I could possibly stay. And the use of R-Alpha Lipoic Acid. Even if you are doing better you should check into this. I realized some help almost immediately after taking it. Research it for yourself and let your doctor know about it. All of my doctors were quite okay, and in fact pleased, that I was taking it. However, none of them recommended it.
Hi Randy,
My hub and I really appreciate your thorough reply. He has some questions for youā¦
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Is your neuropathic pain in your feet? Are they sensitive to cold temperatures? How about pressure ā for example, can you wear standard shoes with no pain?
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What do you think of using Gabapentin and Nortriptyline to reduce pain? My husband uses these per his neurologistās recommendation. 1200 mg 3Xper day for Gabapentin, and 25-75 mg at night for Nortriptyine.
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What was the source of the information that something like 1200 mg per day of r-alpha lipoic acid is a proper dose? Do you believe that this reduces pain only, or does it also help heal nerves?
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What type of marijuana are you using? By this I mean is there a particular strain or type, or medicinal/pharmacological preparation, that you find most effective in relieving nerve pain?
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Hi Anne. You are very welcome I know what it is like to face this stuff not knowing anything about what might become of yourself. Believe me I have been there.
There was a lot of pain. Different kinds of pain. Some of it was constant and some of it came out of nowhere, from time to time. I had it in both my feet and my hands, but my feet were by far the worst. They were highly sensitive to cold, to the point where it was virtually unbearable. It has only been in the last year or so when that has pretty much disappeared. And it was uncomfortable to wear shoes, but I couldnāt go to work barefoot. I got some very soft socks (called The Worldās Softest Sock) and made sure that all of my shoes fit well.
As far as using prescriptions for reducing the pain, I did not do this as I mentioned. I am not a big fan of this sort of thing for a couple of reasons. Keep in mind, these are MY reasons. I donāt like how they make me feel. I did not want to mask the feeling that I had because I wanted to be aware of changes. And lastly, they are a Band-Aid. They are simply meant to help you be more comfortable. I did not want to only treat symptoms. I was determined to make this go away. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking these meds if this works for you.
Do not recall where I found the dosage information for ALA. I read an awful lot about this in many different places. I recall finding that there were cases where people used 800 or more units per day. As I mentioned, I started out at 200 and gradually went up 100 units per day at a time. I did this over a period of months. I ended up taking 600 units morning and dinner time. This was the level that seemed to provide the best results. I gradually brought that back down and eventually stopped taking it altogether due to the cost. Not so much that it was too expensive, but I had to quit work and I had a lot of other new expenses that took precedent.
And yes, it did ease the pain. But more importantly, it is one of the only things I ever discovered that helps to repair the fatty shield which surrounds your nerves. Essentially, neuropathy occurs when that shield is deteriorated and must be repaired in order to get better. It is a very, very slow process.
I did not use any particular type of marijuana for this. Iām sure that now there are isolated elements and compounds that may even work better. But, it helped relieve some of the pain and a fair amount of the overall soreness and discomfort. The pain never stops, so it makes it very difficult to sleep. The marijuana helped greatly without.
I hope this helps. If you need to find out more and would rather do it more privately you are welcome to message me.
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Thanks for such detailed information and suggestions, Randy!
Best wishes,
marty1492
Did you try following Dr Bernsteinās solutions? To normalize blood sugars?
I always feel better moving with my neuropathy, i pace the house sometime. Itās really is depressing.
Thanks for sharing Mikael. I have been noticing that the burning feeling comes for a while and then goes for a while. Its a bit scary to think I might have a diabetic complication already. If I understand my doctor correctly even if my sugars are under control the Diabetes can still be progressing and I could be getting some complications?