Hi @A DiabetesTeam Member, and all you warriors.
My Bride uses gabapentin pills, 300 mg 2x a day.
She uses Voltaren gel for relief.

She also uses lidocaine stick on patches.
My Mom swore by Salonpas pads.

Neuropathy medications like Lyrica help many people.

Talk with your doctors. Ask for help.

Control your blood glucose numbers to below 139(7.8), to prevent further vascular damage. You don't want the neuropathy to get worse.

Baby steps. I wish for you more good days than bad and have many exceptional days too.

Never give up, never surrender, never ever.
You got this.
Have a wonderful day.

Mentioned Users

A Diabete...

@A DiabetesTeam Member in Diabetics Claudication is caused by exactly the same thing that causes Peripheral Neuronopathy - restricted blood flow due to arterial damage caused by high blood sugars

The difference being that Neuropathy is the result of the nerves dying due to restricted/lack of blood flow which is needed to keep them alive

Claudication is muscle "pain" caused by lack of sufficient oxygen getting through those damaged vessels that would get the oxygen to the muscles

It would first show up as pain during exercise (initial warning sign) and would be exacerbated by muscle fatigue caused by reduced blood sugar transport, again, restricted by the damaged vessels

Muscles need oxygen to (work) and they are also "sugar hogs"

Muscles store glucose for energy and can go for a while on that stored sugar before they need to "suck more" out of our blood (which is why exercise can drop our sugar level rapidly particularly if it is more strenuous exercise) - when runners talk about "hitting the wall" that is (physiologically) the point where their muscles have burned up all their stored sugars and there is insufficient amounts in the blood that can replace the depleted stores fast enough to continue at that activity level so they effectively start burning up the muscles themselves

(when we do a blood or urine test that tests Creatinine levels, that is measuring muscle waste and a Creatinine Kinase test will check to see if we are actually "damaging" the muscles)

So yes, decreased arterial flow, whether caused by high sugar damage or some other arterial disease/condition can result in both peripheral neuropathy (nerve pain) and Claudication (muscle pain under physical stress) They are not "unique" to Diabetes but it is a leading (cause) of either condition

PS - if anyone has jumped out of bed in the middle of the night with that wicked cramp in the Calf Muscle - that is a "classic" case of Intermittent Claudication - your calf muscle was starved of oxygen and cramped up in response - this occurs without any vascular damage and is simply the result of some electrolyte imbalance combined with reduced blood flow while sleeping (the heart slows down while we sleep and the calf muscle is "pretty far away")

@A DiabetesTeam Member there is a number of (medicated) creams and ointments out there and probably the best you can do is try one and see if it works for you - most of them have some merit

My father suffered from extreme neuropathy in both legs/feet for almost two decades (he was diabetic for 28 years before it took him down)

He used a product (that he swore by) called Watkins Medicated Ointment (Petro-Carbo specifically since there is a few options in their product line).

He also wore the calf-high diabetic compression stockings if he had to spend any time on his feet.

Mentioned Users

A Diabete...

Thanks for the information
My blood sugar numbers are well controlled
My neuropathy got worse due to a severe lack of vit B 12 and folic acid
I am waiting on a doctors appt to get some meds. I have been on gabapentin and Lyrica several years ago but have not needed drugs until now