Just my two cents: it makes a bunch more sense for the front-line medical folks seeing the diabetic regularly to do the basic sensory foot tests, than it does to wait until things are obviously wrong and only at that point sending them to a podiatrist.
Maybe I’m old-fashioned, or maybe I just hate the thought of seeing a bunch of specialists for some common-sense tests. I would truly begin writhing if the endo wouldn’t help me with basic stuff and insisted I see a specialist for every single thing rather than doing simple basic screenings himself or by his staff. And again maybe me being old-fashioned but when the doc starts actually poking and prodding me himself I get a lot more respect for him than if he just looks at lab tests and never touches me. (Not that I like being touched and probed and etc. but… that IS HIS JOB.) I know I’m 900% more likely to listen to his advice when he’s actually poking and prodding me than if he’s sitting behind a desk looking at lab results.
Not that all the frontline folks are equally qualified. I’ve seen some truly lousy endos ever the years who wouldn’t know which way to point the sparkies, BTW 
Elavil is good - I take 100 mg every night. Generic amitriptyline 100 mg. at night works too. For nights when it is really painful I take an Ambien.
I am curious. How much R-ALA are you taking? I think having a A1C below 6 is perfectly fine as long as you don’t have a lot of highs and lows that feed into that low A1C. If your numbers are pretty steady then why not have a good A1C below 6 say in the 5’s.
Hi Alan -
I just want to say I’m sorry.
Maurie