I am 38 years old and have been a T1 since I was 6. I have had terrible pain in my shoulders, hips and groin for over 2 years now. My Dr. finally sent me to a Rhumatologist who told me I have tendinitis because of my diabetes and it would be there for the rest of my life. I went through 2 months of PT and am now taking an herbal called silica which has helped a little bit. Anyone else have this problem? As if diabetes isn't bad enough, I just can't bear being in pain for the rest of my life.
Sorry you're dealing with this. Frozen shoulder, tennis elbow and trigger finger are more common for diabetics. Guess that makes sense that diabetes can affect hip and groin tendons too.
I haven't experience what you have, but have had frozen shoulder a couple times in the last 10 years when my blood sugars were higher than usual. And I got trigger finger for a couple months after my son was first born (think all the diaper changes and buttoning tiny buttons contributed). Each time I would tighten up blood sugar control and after a few weeks it would stop hurting. It also helped me to do range of motion exercises in the shower, since heat loosens up tissue.
I'm 38 (will be 39 next month!) and have had D since I was 4. My A1c with a 6.5 without many lows, so my control is decent but not great.
Thanks, I think I'm going to have to start doing my physical therapy exercises again. They told me to swim to put less stress on my body. Haven't thought about my blood sugars affecting it, I will have pay more attention to that. I've been on a pump for ten years, but I think I'm starting to get some scar tissue which leads to some infusion sets just not working as well as others, so some highs.
I know 2 people with frozen shoulder from type 2 and both of them got better after about a year or so. It usually does get better on its own.
Hey Cheryl,
I had an extremely painful case of Dequervaines tendinitis in both of my wrists 1-2 years ago. It started in one of my wrists and then I began to feel it in the other too. It was so painful that I would wake up from the pain in the morning and cry sometimes. I went to physical therapy for a month or two before they discharged me as a patient because the therapy wasn't helping at all. I also saw a rheumatologist and got an injection in one of my wrists. It felt better for about a week and then went back to being just as painful as before. At this point, I had had the problem for over a year and I just couldn't deal with it anymore. I had mentioned the pain to my family doctor before, but I made an appointment with him again and went in specifically to talk about the pain. After telling him that yea, I tried physical therapy AND injections and nothing is helping, he said, "Well, you're a Type 1 Diabetic...diabetes causes inflammation in the body. Maybe you need more antioxidants."
I asked him if he meant just eating more foods high in antioxidants, and he said "No, I think you should try a supplement." I really didn't think it would make a difference, but I was desperate for help with the pain, so I immediately went to the health food store and got an antioxidant supplement. I took it for a few weeks and started noticing the pain seemed to be a little less... About a month in I had received significant relief, and eventually (not sure exactly how long it took, but it wasn't long) my tendinitis was completely GONE! This was after having it for over a year, maybe even two years.
I'm not saying this will work for you, but it's something to try if other therapies haven't helped you. Just be careful and discuss with your doc if you decide to try it, as some of the vitamins in the supplement are fat soluble, so you can potentially develop a toxicity (I think the Nutrition student in me is coming out lol.)
Good luck and here's a link to the supplement I took: www.amazon.com/.../B000Z8X96E
Oh, and for reference, I'm 26 and have been T1D since I was 4. :)
Molly
Wow, thanks. I have an appointment with my endo next week, I will as him about the antioxidents.
Cheryl-
You're like my diabetes twin! I've been using the pump about 10 years too.
It is a struggle to find infusion sites. Are you using thighs, arms and rear end? I got the Silouhette infusion sets, which allowed me to try more areas. The absorption isn't always as good in legs and butt, so I take more insulin when my site is in a less absorbent spot. It's allowed some of my other favorite spots to heal and be useful again.
Hope the antioxidants help with your tendon problems.
Take care.
-Jenna
Its really cool to talk to people like me. It can get really lonely being a diabetic. Thanks guys.
anytime! <3
Hi Ladies,
I know this was posted awhile back but I am just coming across it today and its very helpful! I am in my late 20's and have had diabetes for 20 years, pumping for about 10.
I have tendonitis in my elbow, shoulder and hip. I have had a carpal tunnel surgery and 2 trigger finger. It typically doesn't hit all at once thank goodness. When speaking to my endo, he said it is common in people with diabetes but also people without diabetes have this happen all the time. I find it hard because I have pretty good control A1c's in the 6's and as you know I work hard at it. The endo said the best thing to do is to keep up the good control.
Have either of you had any other complications? This may be a complete myth that I chose to believe because I hope its true, but someone told me that people who have more of the musculoskeletal problems do not see nerve issues as much?
Once again I am so happy to have found you both and have people understand.