Symptoms

[arries]

I've had an increase of numbing in my legs and arms.  Numbness first started years ago in my left leg ankle area, with periods of numbness that seemed extreme on the lateral side of my left foot.  The severity went away, but some numbness feeling stayed.  Last year I rested my left ankle over my right ankle and I had bad numbness in the right side; the intensity went away, but I still have some numbness left.  Every time I tell my provider, I'm told to tell me if it gets worse.  For the past year I've had left wrist pain from washing dishes, caring something heavy, with it radiating in my left side of my wrist.  I've now had increase of numbness pain in my elbow and forearm.  Sometimes if I barely tap my elbow on something hard I get a severe pain as if I hit my funny bone kind of feeling.  I can scratch my forearm and feel it in my finger.  Sitting at a desk I have pain in both arms and hands.  I'm getting numbness in the left side of my tongue and lip.  I don't know how accurate an accucheck I used to work in a hospital.  One time I was curious, so I had a nurse show me how to do it, and I had a BS of 30, but I was feeling okay.  The nurse told me to eat something, and I eat a box of cookies, that brought it up to 80.  This was about 15 years ago, and my fasting BS from a lab was always "normal," and I was told to just eat something more often, so I usually do.  This year, increased fatigue, so bad that I've noticed that I've had to fight to stay awake at times during the day or take about three naps a day.  Question Diabetes?

[arries]

Thanks everyone for your comments.  
I am waiting on another neurology appt.  I do have many of those symptoms mentioned, I did a fasting BS, but I don't know the results yet.  I'll have to call the VA and push for answers, but I have to say I'm getting tired of it.  I've been more irritable and moody, which does not help, and I do find myself having to stop and think about what I was thinking about or going to do.  Thanks!

[JDRF Team SGG]

It does sound as if you may be hypoglycemic. Signs of hypoglycemic episodes are as follows (the symptoms vary between episodes -- sometimes you may have one symptom, and at another time some other combination of symptoms, so you really need to be aware of ALL of the possible symptoms of low blood sugar):

fatigue
sleepiness
yawning for no reason -- the yawns are ALWAYS a sign of hypoglycemia for me and for some other diabetics I know
muscle spasms
dizziness
too hot or too cold

[JDRF-Team-dm]

Dear arries,

We are all volunteers here and not physicians so I cannot give you medical advice but I can give you my own experience raising a son with type 1 diabetes.

If you have normal blood sugars from testing I would say that you probably do not have diabetes. Normal blood sugars are between 80 and 120 and if anything you sound like you run low. I believe you are probably inquiring about your numbness because of neuropathy which is normally related to type 1 or 2 diabetes. Your symptoms are obviously a cause for concern and I would seek out doctors who can give you a proper diagnoses. I can't believe that you have been going through this for 15 years without an answer. I don't know if it is a circulation problem or something else. You may want to ask your doctor for a A1c blood test to rule out diabetes (I couldn't tell from your post when your last blood sugar test was) and because of your fatigue you may want to look into Fibromyalgia. This is a disease that can present itself with many different symptoms and is a little harder to diagnose.

Please look for further comments from others who may have other ideas. I hope you keep pursuing a doctor who can help you. If you are not getting answers from your provider ask that they send you to a specialist. No one should suffer from numbness for so many years without a proper diagnoses.

I wish I had more definitive information and do wish you the very best. Let us know what you find out.

dm