Diabetic neuropathy is a condition that happens in the more advanced stages of diabetes. Neuropathy just means that there are problems with your nerves. This can present as a variety of nerve-related symptoms like tingling, numbness, pain or much more serious problems.
There are two classifications of diabetes. While both are serious, type I is slightly more so. In type I diabetes, your body simply cannot produce the hormone insulin. Insulin is made by the pancreas and its job is to regulate the amount of glucose in your blood. With type II diabetes, your body may produce some insulin, but not enough to regulate your blood sugar.
Type I diabetes means that your body has killed the cells that make insulin. It is also called juvenile diabetes, because it usually presents early in life. Type II diabetes is usually the result of a poor diet or obesity and will usually present as an adult.
In either case, your body has too much glucose in the blood (hyperglycemia) or too little (hypoglycemia), and these can cause diabetic neuropathy. In this article, we’ll cover the major warning signs of neuropathy as it relates to diabetes. Needless to say, if you experience any of these symptoms, you need to make an appointment with your health care provider right away. Diabetic neuropathy can be managed, and in some cases, even slowed considerably, as long as you control your blood sugar and live a healthy lifestyle.
Peripheral Neuropathy
There are four types of diabetic neuropathy, each with their own warning signs and symptoms. We’ll discuss peripheral neuropathy first, the most common type of diabetic neuropathy. You’ll usually notice these symptoms in your feet and legs, and then it may move up to your hands or arms. You’ll may also notice that they are strongest at night and often wake you up.
1. Numbness to pain, hot or cold
One of the symptoms of this type of neuropathy is numbness to pain, or reduced sensation to hot or cold surfaces. This is not the most common type of peripheral neuropathy, but it does happen to some people. The reason behind it is simple: the nerves in your upper extremities are being damaged, and that means that they don’t work as well as they are supposed to. So, instead of feeling sensations like you normally would, you get an insensitivity to temperatures and if you were to pinch yourself, you would notice that you’re not experiencing it like you normally would.
