About one in five type 2 diabetics develops a chronic, painful nerve condition called diabetic neuropathy. Nerve tissues absorb sorbitol and cease to function. The exact mechanisms of diabetic neuropathy are hard to describe, but as nerve cells die, remaining nerve cells constantly tell the brain: "We're here! We're here!" by sending signals of burning pain 24 hours a day.
Diabetic neuropathy affects 60 to 70 per cent of all diabetics. Symptoms may range from mild loss of sensation in your feet, right through to constant pain in various parts of your body. Nerve damage may also impair digestion and sexual function, particularly in males, and can also be responsible for a number of other complications.
For 50 years or more, doctors have used antidepressants to treat neuropathy. Antidepressants activate the regions of your brain that can shut out nerve pain. An old-style antidepressant medication called amitryptyline that has been on the market so long it now costs just US $4 for a 30-day supply, and works for many type 2 diabetics who suffer chronic nerve pain. And the antidepressant medication fluvoxamine (Luvox) also can be helpful.
The downside of antidepressants is that they encourage weight gain and they have unpredictable effects on mood. Many type 2 diabetics look at ways of controlling the pain of neuropathy without the expense or side effects of antidepressant medication.
Probably the best non-drug treatment for neuropathy caused by type 2 diabetes, is alpha-lipoic acid. Taken in a dosage of 1,000 to 2,000 mg a day, it acts by first relieving numbness and then relieving pain in most diabetics who take it. An additional benefit of taking alpha-lipoic acid is that it can shore up sagging jaw lines and waistlines, by encouraging the circulation of fluid out of the tissues between fat cells.
If you take alpha-lipoic acid, be sure you also take the B vitamin biotin, as this anti-oxidant depletes biotin. You would need to take 100 mg of biotin for every 1,000 mg of alpha-lipoic acid.
Some natural health products manufacturers also offer R-lipoic acid. This is the alpha-lipoic acid produced by a different process that results in a supplement that is 100% utilized by the body. (About 55% of the product made in traditional manufacture is an isomer of the chemical that is not recognized by human cells). If you take R-lipoic-acid, take half much, plus 200 mg of biotin for every 1,000 mg of R-lipoic-acid.
Would you like more information about alternative ways to handle your type 2 diabetes?
To download your free copy of my E-Book, click here now: Answers to Your Questions ...its based on questions many diabetics have asked me over recent months.
Beverleigh Piepers is a registered nurse who would like to help you understand how to live easily and happily with your type 2 diabetes.
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