If you have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, you better get your act together! This is no time to sit around and feel sorry for yourself because you may need to stay away from the foods you like, and you might not be able to consume as much alcohol as you may have in the past. This is serious business, and if you don’t take charge and get things under control now, you can find yourself in a world of hurt later on. If type 2 diabetes is not managed effectively, it can lead to neuropathy, and that I can tell you isn’t pretty. If you don’t know what neuropathy is, just think of leprosy, it’s affects are quite similar.

Severe cases of diabetic neuropathy can lead to open sores, dead tissue and amputation. Damage to your nervous system causes lack of feeling and numbness, usually in your feet and legs. Eventually the affected area will start to show dead tissue, and discolor, often the only solution is amputation. While neuropathy normally is most common in the legs and feet, it can affect other parts of the body, including both male and female sex organs. In severe cases where a patient has suffered from neuropathy to the sex organ, penile implants may be the only solution. Needless to say, you want to get your condition under control as soon as possible, to prevent development of neuropathy

Treatment & Prevention

In most cases people who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes can manage their condition by changing their diet, and living a healthier lifestyle. Getting regular excersise, avoiding alcohol, and eating the right foods will help you control your blood sugar levels. There are certain foods and spices that are known to be extremely beneficial in treating diabetes, these are known as “superfoods”. If you haven’t already done research on these superfoods, I suggest you get started right away. I will provide you with a link to some valuable information>.

If you make these changes to your lifestyle early enough, you stand a good chance of reversing your condition, and going on to live a healthy and happy life. You will have to make sacrifices, cut out some of the things you really enjoy, like watching Monday Night Football at the pub, putting back a dozen beers and having a bacon double cheeseburger. Instead, you might want to try a round of golf, followed by a nice grilled chicken dinner with a mixed green salad. It isn’t as bad as you think, and I can assure that it is well worth it, you will find that living a healthy lifestyle will make you into a happier person.

Additional Supplements

Aside from changing your diet and getting more excercise, you should also look at some natural supplements. There are a variety vitamin and nutrition products that can be an essential part of treating diabetes, and controlling blood sugar levels. The herbal and natural remedies have in some studies been proven to be even more effective than the drugs normally prescribed by doctors. It shouldn’t surprise you that doctors and hospitals are not in any hurry to promote these natural alternative treatments, after all, the pharmacuetical companies can’t put a patent on them, and therefore there are no kickbacks. If you have diabetes, do yourself a favor and research these proven alternative treatments with natural products.

Approximately 70% of those suffering from diabetes will experience some form of nerve pain due to high glucose levels effect on your nervous system.

Neuralgia treatment is varied and highly dependent on the type and location of the neuralgia that is being experienced yet once numbness or tingling in your feet or hands is experienced you should make an appointment with your physician immediately.

Symptoms of neuralgia include pain, weakness and impaired function of the affected part of the body; sensitivity or numbness in the skin; pain the follows the path of a nerve; movement, touch or pressure causes pain.

Neuralgia is commonly found among the elderly but in reality can occur in anyone at any age.
If you are diabetic and experience any of these symptoms your physician’s first test will be to determine if your glucose levels are elevated. If the test comes back positive the primary goal will be to get your levels back under control.

Normally the symptoms will go away after the cause has been identified and reversed however it may take a few weeks depending on how long you experienced the symptoms prior to diagnosis.

To deal with the associated pain your physician will also probably prescribe pain medications which may include anti-depressant, anti-seizure, and even narcotic medication. Please be aware that these may be addictive, especially the narcotic medications, and will require frequent monitoring by your physician.

If you have numbness in toes my heartfelt sympathies are with you. What you are experiencing is called peripheral neuropathy and is typically a side effect of diabetes and not a very fun side effect either. Peripheral neuropathy occurs when the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord are damaged and can be due to any number of causes including traumatic injury, infection, chemotherapy, and diabetes. However, diabetes is a typical cause because of damage to the nerves when blood sugar levels are out of control over an extended period of time, generally several years. If you suffer from numbness in your toes you need to know that the pain is only temporary and relief is available.

If the numbness in your toes is because of your diabetes the first thing you will need to do is to get your blood glucose levels under control through a combination of a strict, non-starchy diet and regular exercise. This is only the first step however and what you will also want to do is relieve the pain as soon as possible.

One of the following will probably be recommended by your physician: anti-depressant or anti-seizure medication which works with your brains receptors to numb the pain; narcotic pain relievers such as morphine, hydrocodone, codeine, , or oxycodone can get rid of the pain however the possibility of addiction is high so you will want to regularly visit your physician; acupuncture or TENS therapy which are designed to inhibit the pain signals you are receiving through the use of needles or electrical shocks; topical ointments including lidocaine patches or capsaicin cream which will anesthetize the toes.

Further relief can be found in a dietary supplement known as Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA). ALA has been found to not only help reduce pain, burning, itching, tingling, and numbness in people who have nerve damage caused by diabetes but also helps lower blood sugar levels and keep them in the recommended range.

You don’t have to live with numbness in your toes. Relieving your nerve pain must begin by lowering your glucose levels so that your nerves can heal themselves. Once this has been accomplished there are a variety of methods available that can help you deal with the pain of this side effect of diabetes.