Diabetic nerve damage

[PastelPompoms]

My dad is late 70s. During lockdown he developed what was thought to be carpel tunnel - Tingling and numbness in one hand but not the little finger. It has slowly progressed to numbness all the time in that hand. He now can’t carry a cup, do up his buttons etc. the gp referred him for surgery but after seeing the specialist they did some scans and said it’s diabetic nerve damage and that surgery won’t help.

My poor dad is already In poor health and has depression and is now even more depressed. He doesn’t know how he can carry on forever more like this.

Is there anything that can be done to help regain some feeling in the hand? Any alternative treatments?

I feel so sad for him and wish I could do something to help.

[LeGrandBleu]

I think there is an option you could try @PastelPompoms
I have a genetic condition and I keep up to date with the research, and in the last years, a supplement called Acetyl L- carnetine was shown to improve our symptoms.

While researching the supplement, I remember a lot of articles about diabetic pain and damage.
Here are a couple of articles on L-Carnitine and diabetes
care.diabetesjournals.org/content/28/1/89
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6498091/

Read also this one
www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetic-neuropathy/in-depth/diabetic-neuropathy-and-dietary-supplements/art-20095406

L-Carnitine is quite a safe supplement but I would still talk to your dad's endocrinologist. For more than 10 years, it has been known to help
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18940920/ the dose in this paper is 2g/day.

In my condition, the improvement was reached in 4 weeks.

[Eloisedublin123]

Do you mind if I hop in here to ask something please? My op is 47 with T1 diabetes and a cluster of autoimmune diseases. He’s been going downhill the past year. Being a man he wouldn’t really do independent research but tries his best to keep on top of things! I will read those links closely and thank you. Is there anything else that I should read too please? And sorry OP for your dad 😰

[Eloisedublin123]

My DH!!

[Montybojangles]

Have they checked his B12 levels? Low B12 can worsen neuropathy, and correction may give some improvement.

[PastelPompoms]

He has a b12 injection every 3 months as his levels were too low.