PVD/PAD or 'just' Diabetic Neuropathy

Hi,

I am a 41 year old male that has type 2 diabetes and a collection of benign arrhythmias (PVC's 1000's per day everyday) since diagnosed with diabetes last year I have lost 100lbs in weight and need to lose a further 100lbs to be at my ideal weight. Losing the weight has been easy as I have managed to gain good sugar control (99mg/dl for the last 9 months) and have in general been in better health than previous years which I now understand was due to diabetes.

However my current problem is that I think I have peripheral arterial disease/arteriosclerosis. My feet and hands are constantly cold with crawling pins and needles sensation that also extend into the lower legs and lower arms as well as the hands and feet (I constantly feel my hearbeat in my finger tips and sometimes my toes). I also have numb thighs and get cramps in my calf and arch of my foot and pain in my toes. I have hardly any hair on my upper legs and what there is is brittle there is no hair at all on either of my legs below the knee. I can still walk a fair distance (2-3miles per day and a 20 min step session) and to be honest the more I walk the less it seems to hurt (on some days, apart from the step sessions that always hurts/aches). Standing still seems to make the cramps worse.  At my last diabetic foot inspection no circulation problems were noted and since that time I have gone to my GP practice and been examined 2-4 times but told that I have a good leg pulse and just to walk and exercise more as well as keep my good diabetic control which is excellent. All the pain patterns are symmetrical in both hands feet and legs and the pins and needles is almost a 24/7 thing. Its more noticeable at night and has woken me a few times. I always awake to pins and needles/numbness.

My Dr's seem to think because I have a good pulse in my foot that I am OK. With all these symptoms is it possible that it is not PAD ? I understand Diabetic peripheral neuropathy presents with burning rather than cold hands and feet (I think) but since my control is good I would have thought this would remove any diabetic neuropathy? By the way my feet are almost always cold unless I have been walking/doing step.

Thanks in advance and the best of health to you.