If you have diabetes, you know how important it is to control your blood sugar levels. If your blood sugar levels remain high for a prolonged period of time, this can lead to nerve damage throughout your body, or diabetic neuropathy.
The longer you have diabetes, or if you consume too much alcohol, the more likely you are to develop diabetic neuropathy. That’s why it’s critical to maintain low blood sugar levels with a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Types of diabetic neuropathy
There are different types of nerves in your body. Peripheral nerves enable you to feel the sensations of hot, cold, pain and touch. They also affect movement and muscle strength. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy most often affects the lower legs and feet, resulting in serious foot problems that get worse in time.
Autonomic nerves control bodily functions such as blood pressure, heartbeat, digestion, urination, sweating, and sexual function. Diabetic autonomic neuropathy can interfere with any of these functions, but most commonly causes hypotension, or dizziness and fainting when standing up. It can also cause urinary incontinence, diarrhea, erectile dysfunction and other conditions.
In the case of focal neuropathy, only one nerve is affected. This type of nerve damage happens suddenly and typically affects nerves in the wrist, thigh, foot, back, chest and those that control your eye muscles.
Symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment
If you suffer from peripheral neuropathy in your feet, you may not be able to feel pain. While this sounds like a good thing, it isn’t. Pain is a signal that something is wrong, and if you don’t feel pain, you might ignore sores, which could lead to ulcers and serious infection.
If you have autonomic neuropathy, you might have problems with your heart and blood vessels, such as low blood pressure and poor circulation; problems with digestion, such as nausea, diarrhea or constipation; problems with body temperature, such as sweating a lot at night; problems with urination, such as incontinence; or problems with sexual function, such as erectile dysfunction or vaginal dryness.
To diagnose diabetic neuropathy, your doctor will rely on your reporting of symptoms and a physical exam to check blood pressure, heart rate, muscle strength, reflexes, and sensitivity to position changes, vibration, temperature, or light touch. Your doctor might also order nerve conduction studies or an electromyogram to help determine the type and extent of nerve damage.
Diabetic neuropathy is most often treated with oral medications depending on your symptoms and the type of nerve problem. Yet the best way to treat the condition, and prevent it in the first place, is to keep your blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible.
Be sure to communicate with your doctor about whether your medications are working. Together you can find the most effective treatment for your condition.
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