An Unscientific Survey about Neuropathy and Triglycerides

I have very high triglycerides and have neuropathy of feet and legs. Don't know what I can do about it as I am already on Zocor double strengthen but I am sure open to learning more!

I am not diabetic, but have moderate high triglycerides (283). I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy one year ago. A cause hasn't been found. I started taking Gemfibrozil this week. Although too early to tell I had less neuropathy pain today than in a long time.

Approximately 17 years ago I went for my annual physical and had a blood test. My doctor informed me that my triglycerides were 750 and my total cholesterol was 230! I was no more than 5 lbs over weight and feeling great!! Scared the daylights out of me. My doctor wanted to put me on statin drugs and told me my condition was genetic in nature. He also said that with medication my triglycerides would probably stay around 300 to 400 at best. I didn't want to accept that medication was the only alternative. Up till that point I had excellent health. I went to 3 other doctors for their opinion and they all agreed with the first. They also said I was pre-diabetic with slightly elevated bloodsugar. Well folks, I admit sometimes I am stubborn and somewhat bullheaded but I am also openminded . With alot of searching, digging for information and within 6 months I got my TRIGLYCERIDES DOWN TO 85 and my total cholesterol down to 160 without medication!!! My total cholesterol is currently (17 years later) 130 and my triglycerides stay between 100 and 150. I currently take 10 mg of Lipitor and thats the only cholesterol medication that I take! Originally, four doctors told me it couldn't be done without medication!!! My primary physician's jaw dropped (16 1/2 years ago) when he saw the excellent results of my blood test. He said keep doing what you are doing! I did become diabetic 16 years ago! I have managed to keep fairly tight control of my blood sugar. So far I have no neuropathy or any complications from my diabetes!!! Is it luck, I'd like to get your opinions!!! You tell me!!! Of course I am more than willing to share my belief and the way I accomplished my success and it was with professional advice and the help of mostly one doctor in particular!

I have slightly elevated triglycerides, and mild neuropathy… but my neuologist believes the Lyme disease I was recently treated for is the cause for the on-set of neuropathy in my case… now that Lyme has been treated, the symptoms of neuropathy is barely noticeble. Thanks for sharing the study… it will be interesting to see the corelation…

Ever since I joined the Navy in 1963 my triglycerides have been over 300. About three years ago, I became type 2. Now I am going to ask about neuropathy at my next Dr appt because I think it has caught up with me. Must be my fault as I don't take care of my feet. Seems like it would be too feminine to me. All that washing and oiling and rubbing and such. I wouldn't mind trying that new thing of letting the little fish eat the dead skin though; sounds like fun!

Why does dibetis cause high trigs

Very intresting!

Do you have neuropathy? I have not been dignosed but I do notice tingling funky feeling in them at night.

Do you also have high triglycerides? Yes I have been on meds for years.

Do you happen to have high triglycerides but no nerve issues? ???????

No neuropathy and trigs are low.

I have both neuropathy and high Tri's

I have neuropathy from a back injury, aggrevated by diabetic neuropathy. Some days it is so bad I can't walk across the room or put my shoes on. I take Lyrica 4 X a day and sometimes it helps a bit and others not at all. My triglycerides are not high.

John something to add to survey is how often do we massage ore bodys, reason is there finding we can slow down or avoid neropothy even if our numbers on triglycerides are high.

Also it helps to heal areas that are damaged because your bring the blood flow back into a area,

It is a thought to add or a new topic.

hehe!

huggles

Catherine

I have both. My doctor prescribed Lovaza, a prescription Omega-3, for the high Triglycerides. It seems to be working quite well.

I am Type 2.

I have had diabetes since '92 or earlier. I have had neuropathy for the past five years in my feet. my triglycerides are okay I think. I know I am lacking good fat and have more bad fat.

Yes I do have high triglycerides. I am having tingling in my toes, ring finger and pinkie on my left hand.

Diabetic,high triglycerides, no neuropathy! I have been diabetic since age 5 (most of my life!). I have had high triglycerides for years and have been on medication for this. Recently, my neurologist insisted that I do have some neuropathy based on the length of time I have had diabetes! I talked to my endocrinologist, and he agreed with me that I do NOT have neuropathy!! Thank God! I have enough other issues, including MS.

Yes I have neuropathy

Yes I have high triglycerides

Hi e1 this is interesting… I have been dx with neuropathy but my new endo doesnt think I have it. He is going to do more testing at my next visit in 3 mths and change a few meds… having neck surgery on the 18th so he is going to wait. Now my triglicerides are at 49… so I cant tell if the 2 are connected. All my cholesteral numbers are good. I will definately ask both my cardi and my new endo what they think the next time I visit.

I've had neuropathy, but didn't know what it was, for long before becoming a type 2 diabetic. Drs. didn't have a clue what was going on, but finally someone I knew told me what it was. I told my dr., & she put me on Gabapentin. She said that since I had it before becoming a diabetic it wasn't diabetic neurpathy. Anyway, the gabapentin helps. I take 1800mgs a day along with advil usually. My triglicerides are a little high, she says, but I don't remember what the #'s were.

hi Joan,

I just went to a specialist yesterday to go over the results of my MRI. I fell last year and fractured my back… the fractured caused a disk to compress… and not long after I started getting symptoms of neuropathy… so the tests and doctors visit grew in number as we explored treatment… yesterday the doctor told me the same thing… that I had neuropathy prior to diabetes, and the bike accident only trigered it to manifest sooner than it other wise would have… She took time to educate me about the condition… which I really appreciated… and she prescribed gabapentin for mine also, 900 MG daily with the intention of increasing the dose as I can tolerate… She said that without the stress of the accident trauma, the nervous system may have coped for some time longer before signs of neuropathy presented… My understanding is that neuropathy can be present long before symptoms are noticable… She said it was really important for people with diabetes to pay particular attention to minor symptoms and seek help sooner than later… If I had known what the symptoms were, I'd have presented this issue to my doctor sooner… but I thought my feet were just tired and I needed to rest… So anyone out there… if you have burning or tingling sensations going on, or your toes or fingers feel numb, but they hurt… let your doctor know right away… Getting treatment sooner can slow down the progressive deteriation this disease causes… take care…

I got a call from my doctor Thursday that I needed to come in right away for a fasting blood labs. I had just had one two weeks ago, and my A1C was 5.9 so I thought everything was fine. I should have gotten the results for my cholesterol levels at the same time, but they had not been included… then the call requesting another test. I asked why and the receptionist didn't know and said she'd make a note to the doctor. When I got the call, I arranged to go in the next morning to have the fasting labs done. That afternoon the nurse called me and said the reason they were taking another test was that the results that came back were either wrong or a medication needed adjustment, and they needed a second test to make sure the it was not an error at the testing

laboratory. my levels had been in normal and close to normal range for cholesterol, and even though my triglycerides had been a few points high, I was gradually lowering those numbers. the labs two weeks ago came back with extreemly high readings, 421 for Cholesterol, 55 for HDL, which is in the normal range, and 419 for triglycerides… this is a huge jump from the 197 from three months ago, and the triglycerides had jumped nearly 300 points. weird… so I'm hopeful it was an error at the lab… The nurse said one reason could be that the statin I've been on for a number of years no longer works for me… so maybe I need a different one… as of now, we don't know the cause, but when I find out, I'll check in and let you know… just in case others are, ore have experienced this, please share… this really has me stumped. I haven't added or removed anything from my routine, so don't have a clue what is causing this… Jocelyn

I have neuropathy in my feet and hands the left is the worse.

My last blood test I had high triglycerides (500)

Cara

Definitely not good. Are you on a cholesterol lowing medication? Hopefully you are, altho it appears it may not be the one you need. Talk to your doctor about Niacin, too. Works wonders!

A lot of my med's have been changed and I'm feeling a lot better. Cara

I am glad you are feeling much better. You need to get those triglycerides levels lower now! I worry about that. I care…Debe

My Triglycerides were 386 at dx, I had tingling and shooting pains in my feet at dx as well. I was losing my balance and I fell more this winter as well, couldn't catch my balance.

It is much improved, the shooting pains and tingling have gone although my feet still get cold. Won't have any new numbers until the 18th.

Hope your numbers are good, when you go to the Dr.

Good Luck!

Thanks Cyn, actually doc said to wait until November so I'm going to the meijer clinic they only charge 25.00 I just really need to know whats going on with my numbers.

Keep us posted! I understand the anxiousness to find out. I would probably do the same. Good luck !

did you know that processed meats cause the bad cholesterol to go up? My Triglicerides were really high, and then I stopped eating Costco hot dogs… god I loved those things… anyway, my numbers got better within a three month period… Some foods realy make a difference… particularly processed foods will kick the numbers up… Good luck on lowering yours… When I first started taking meds for Cholesterol, my numbers with over six-hundred… now, they are practically normal.. just a few points high… and my bad cholesterol is getting closer to normal every new test… It took me three years of changing my eating choices before I began noticing the numbers change… so don't give up.. just hang in there and do the distance… yeah!!!

This is very interesting. My mother-in-law has high triglycerides and neuropathy. Now her son, being tested, every 3 months for T2, has high triglcerides and is getting neuropathy in his right foot! Is there a connection?

I will address this to his Dr.!

Thank you John, for the very important info!

I just had blood work done this past week and won't know my numbers until my dr's appt. on Tuesday. So, I'll make sure to take note or get a copy of my numbers and see how they compare with this study. Thanks for sharing this info.

My appt. was yesterday and my tryglcerides are still high but working on lowering them. I also found out that I now have neuropathy. It is mild at the moment, and I have ordered diabetic shoes. I still have good blood pressure in my feet, so that is good. The neuropathy is not hurting, and is very dull and only located at the balls of my feet. I still can feel some there, so the numbness is not full blown. I will be having some tests done for B12 and the neuropathy before my next dr's appt. So, that's it for now. Will keep you updated if you want me too. All of my other tests were good, blood pressure, thyroid, temp, blood sugars, etc. I even lost a couple of pounds. So maybe I'm doing better than I thought.

I myself have neuropathy problems in both my legs and feet as well as high triglycerides. finally got them down to the upper 200's but there still a bit too high according to my dr.

I find this just the best information ever! Thank you VERY much. Like Gabby said, IF lowering, will it help?? I have TERRIBLE numbers for years, and TERRIBLE case of neuropathy as well. I take Lyrica 200mg 3x day for it and it REALLY helps. But its been an ongoing thing for over 15 years even though I was only diagnosed about four years ago. *sigh* ANY more information you get please pass it on. I am VERY interested in this! Thank you very much! Sheila

So Sheila, do you have high triglycerides then? Just wondering.

Last time I knew they were sky high, I dunno this time..the nurse just called about the cholesterol and upped my medication. I go Monday to see him so I will get the actually numbers then and find out how they read now.and let ya know. Shiela

hey kegler… nope, my toes are still tinglings… could you try again… lol kidding aside… I think you've made a point… I think that side affects are a big problem for people taking perscription drugs… maybe one day in the future it will be revealed as a major scam perpetrated by the Pharmasuitical Corporations… kind of like the political apects of higher education has been revealed as the biggest scam of the twentieth century… If they build it, we will come… ha ha

now that we're hooked… and we're invested…??? Thing is, I do feel better taking the meds than I do without them… go figure… maybe our bodies are just collectively wearing out… we've collectively treated the earth pretty carelessly… guess we'll get it figured out eventually… hopefully …

This is very interesting. I never had elevated triglycerides until I was diagnosed with diabetes. The thing that prompted me to test myself was the tingling in my feet. The article didn't really say if the aggressive lowering of the triglycerides helped reduce the neuropathy. Now that I have lowered mine, thought still in the 200's, that is way better than before. I wonder if I continue to reduce that number if I will get rid of some of the annoying tingle in my feet.

I wonder if that could also be why my husband's triglycerides are thru the roof. He is paralized…I am curious now. I will have to print this article and take it with me to his next visit.

Gabby, My personal opinion and may not mean much to many is: Get those BS lower and get those triglycerides down and the tingling if it is at its early stages will decrease tremendously…

Debe

I am finally on a drug that I think is working to get my numbers down. I had a 110 the other day and I have never had one of those since I have been monitoring my BG levels. My dietitian told me to go low fat, and so I talked to my doctor about postpoing a med for triglycerids until I see if the new diet helps. He agreed to give me 3 months to make it happen.

Plus with all the great things I learned in my TCOYD classes, I am applying a lot of new things to get me going. So I hope the tingle in my toes will lessen. I had reached a point where I don't know if it was improving or I was just getting used to it. But lately, they are kicking up again and annoying the heck out of me. I am hoping that since my numbers are all improving, maybe I am getting some sensation back and that is why they are bugging me so much…but time will tell.

Sorry folks. I've had high triglycerides ever since my teens and it never caused any tingling in my toes. However, when I was diagnosed with type 2 a couple years ago, well it only took a few months on med and the tingling started. At first I thought it was gout (I get that too) but since it didn't turn painful and remained steady, I think it may be a side effect from either one or a combination of the drugs I am taking. Hope this helps.

I have for many years had a slight tingling in the little toe on my left foot, but it has remained the same with no progression. (Thank God.) Also years ago I did have a high triglyceride number. With medication, and particularly since starting Niacin a few years ago, all my cholesterol numbers have stayed right in their appropriate ranges, including, of course, my triglycerides. None of my numbers were ever waaaay off, however. Glad to have them in check. If this connection is indeed true, then hopefully I can keep them in check and avoid any further nerve damage. Interesting.

A year ago, I was drinking coffee made with chicory, one cup daily about a month and my blood pressure dropped from a regular 135/80 to 100/50 (nice). I haven't had my triglycerides tested lately, but do have burning, tingling and sharp pain in my feet and numbness in my hands. It's been worrying me more lately as it's more intense.

Good that you lowered your BP, but are you saying you think the coffee with chicory had some part in that? You do need regular cholesterol checks, of course, and you need to be sure to obtain the results with a breakdown of the HDL, LDL and Triglycerides. Those numbers are each important on their own.