Well I visited the consultant today and there is a firm theory about what is the cause of my pain. Unfortunately it raises many questions. What they believe I have is acute neuropathy. Neuropathy is a condition of the nervous system that causes pain in the legs and numbness in the feet. Diabetic neuropathy is a common condition in diabetics, but only occurs after 10-15 years of poor control. Acute neuropathy is rare and very rare in type 1 diabetics. However, it appears that I might have a type of diabetes called LADA (latent autoimmune diabetes in adult). This is exemplified by later onset diabetes (after age 25) and also slow onset of the symptoms. This makes sense as I had symptoms of diabetes for at least a year, maybe as much as 2. It doesn't really make any difference that I have LADA, I still need insulin. The consultant hadn't seen a case of acute neuropathy in a type 1 before, so quite rare! It results from having high glucose levels for a long period followed by a quick reduction in levels.
The problem with acute neuropathy is that it can last a long time, maybe a year of more, but hopefully less than a couple of months. However the medicine, pregabalin (Lyrica) is a new drug which is effective in treating neuropathic pain. This is lucky as pre-2000, there were no effective treatments for the condition.
Still off work as I am too drowsy to concentrate properly, or even stay awake! Going to the GP tomorrow to see whether I need to be signed off, or should just get back to work. Have taken calls and been logged onto work all day, but hasn't been too busy.
Had a lovely day yesterday. Continued work building the compost heap. The weather was outstanding. Although I couldn't do any physical work, I cooked a full roast dinner for all of us, which we ate on the patio. It was a great success. The cherry tree in the garden is an absolute picture. It seems like the weather conditions must have been just right for them as they are in lovely blossom all over the place. The photograph below doesn't really do it justice.
The problem with acute neuropathy is that it can last a long time, maybe a year of more, but hopefully less than a couple of months. However the medicine, pregabalin (Lyrica) is a new drug which is effective in treating neuropathic pain. This is lucky as pre-2000, there were no effective treatments for the condition.
Still off work as I am too drowsy to concentrate properly, or even stay awake! Going to the GP tomorrow to see whether I need to be signed off, or should just get back to work. Have taken calls and been logged onto work all day, but hasn't been too busy.
Had a lovely day yesterday. Continued work building the compost heap. The weather was outstanding. Although I couldn't do any physical work, I cooked a full roast dinner for all of us, which we ate on the patio. It was a great success. The cherry tree in the garden is an absolute picture. It seems like the weather conditions must have been just right for them as they are in lovely blossom all over the place. The photograph below doesn't really do it justice.
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