My name is Mikael for ten years i have been complaining of numb feeling in my big toe and little toe but they emg me and say it was normal, last fall they put me on metformin for my type 2 for years a1c was between 5.5-6.4 last fall it shot up to 7 , gp sent me to a neurologist for the feet and he diagnosed me with neuropathy, my sugars have been very much in control since my visit w him 2 hr post meal are no higher than 120, do suffer from dawn phenomena (which my neurologist doesn’t know about) 110 fasting. Neuropathy has gotten very tingling since I’ve gotten into line, even hitting back of thighs and knee and sometimes my fingers. Now the neurologist did some blood work on me to test immune system that was normal , but my b12 and b6 were twice that of high normal, now also i am on a station drug for the last ten years, can the neuropathy be from a combo of things like the glucose , statin and the high b6( I don’t take supplements accept for milk thistle because of the station) stopped it now the b 6 is almost Normal but still high, i love walking and tend to do 4-5 miles a day, any suggestions would be greatly appreacited. Especially since I don’t think the neurologist is very good, looking for a new one
I know that B-12 deficiency can cause neuropathy. But I have never heard of high levels causing problems. I might do a google search on this for you. There is a story of a man who became wheelchair bound from taking Statins. The best thing you can do is try the process of elimination. Maybe you can discuss with your doctor the idea of stopping your statin meds for a time to see if your symptoms improve. Also, give the B-12 and B-6 levels a chance to go back to normal as well and see if that helps. I could very well be the statin though. I hope this helps some.
Here is an article that states that Statin drugs can increase the rick of Peripheral Neuropathy: https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/home/PressRelease/82
Here is another article that states that either too much B-12/B-6 or too little can both cause neuropathy. I thought that only low levels of these vitamins could cause neuropathy. I think your neuropathy will get better once your levels normalize. I hope these two links give you some guidance.
I have numbness in one large toe due to arthritis,not diabetes. There are other causes of neuropathy besides diabetes. Nancy
Thank you for the replies , very helpful. Having a spine emg tomorrow
I have read that it could take a year after my levels came within normal range for the neuropathy to get better if its from b6 levels in my blood
blizzard–
From what I’very read up, you’re dead on. (I’m not the person your referring to in a wheelchair but people thought I should’ve been due to statins, another time/story of endos refusing to check for autoimmune addison’s disease).
Good sources of b12 have been shown to slow and in some cases slowly reverse neuropathy. Don’t use the everyday over the counter b12 as it can contain cyanide (cyanocobalamin) and harmful for the kidneys – Methylcobalamin & Adenosylcobalamin are the more “pure” forms. They’re also a little bit pricier because they use folate or other formulas to stablize it (cyanide is cheaper). Hence some studies that are researching it for nephropathy have found it was beneficial & harmful (harmful study mentioned the bad sources as a possibility for the reason of it being harmful to the kidneys).
Work with any doctor to check your b12 and folate levels. Having diabetes, unless you’re already taking it, you’re nearly guaranteed to be low. B12 and folate go hand-in-hand. They require one another to do their work. Too much b12 will just elevate your b12 and lower your folate. Diabetics use/need more nutrients than the common person without health issues. Folate is the same as b12, look for a good source.
Also talk to doctors about zinc, add no more than the daily allowance of zinc. Doctors steer us away from red meat which is one of the few good sources of it. It exists in other foods but it’s very limited. The ultimate source of zinc is oysters. Grains and legumes take it away and your body doesn’t store it in the liver, juse the blood and cells. If your body doesn’t use it, it’ll stick around in your body for about 4 years (~200 days half-life), hence, do not take too much. its needed for cell repair/building. Some products, not all, have it but not for consumption like dandruff shampoo and sunscreen which your body can get too much of – good portion of it gets absorbed by the body.
More and more doctors are realizing and telling their patients that balanced diets are best but they also tell their patients to not eat some critical foods for that “balanced diet”…
zinc and diabetic neuropathy
https://www.google.com/search?q=zinc+diabetic+neuropathy&oq=zinc+diabetic+neuro&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j33.6462j0j4&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
Without actually knowing how long you’ve had diabetes for, and if your controls always been that good, assuming your levels have always been in that range I’d be surprised if this was diabetic neuropathy. Not to say that you might be an outlier, but generally speaking you need far worse control, for far longer to cause the damage that leads to neuropathy.
i have had 200 points above normal of b12 in my blood along with twice the high of b 6 in my blood, i appreciate all your suggestions, i tended to take too much zinc in the past, mostly from zicam. today was a depressing day at the neurologist and after the emg the leg he electrocuted hurt all day and i stand for a living at my job.
hi, looking back at my glucose since may 2007, i have had 37 glucose fasting test. 11 of them under 126 the rest all above , highest was 165. so that is ten years of it. i think i most likely should of been on medication ten years ago but you know how the v a is, now i do mostly private drs.
It could certainly be diabetic neuropathy if you’ve had over a decade of fasting BGLs constantly around 165, but everyone is different. One thing that does seem to be commonly discussed is if you have diabetic neuropathy, and you improve your control, its often reported that the neuropathy gets worse for a period. I don’t believe there is much proper research to back any of this up outside of anecdotes, but the theory is that the nerves are repairing now they aren’t being damaged by consistently higher glucose levels.
Given you’ve said since you’ve improved your control, the tingling has gotten worse, it sounds like this may be the case?