Nope, not that kind, the other neuropathy.
We are taught to fear peripheral neuropathy, the kind that can cause us problems with our extremities. But I had never heard of autonomic neuropathy before digging into some other diabetes literature long after my diagnosis.
One of my favorite bloggers, Lee Ann Thill at The Butter Compartment, posted today about her experiences with autonomic neuropathy. It is a quick and informative read, and nicely colored by Lee Ann’s talented writing and storytelling (as usual).
I think the first I heard about this type of neuropathy was reading Bernstien’s “Diabetes Solution” book (which is a fascinating read, even if you don’t plan to jump on board). In it he talked about it really messing around with a person’s ability to feel the symptoms of low blood sugars. It is clear that it hurts way more than just that though.
I don’t think this complication of diabetes is talked about enough, and I think we need to be more aware of it. After reading Lee Ann’s post today I started thinking about how my ability to play basketball would be much different if my heart rate couldn’t increase…
I’m not posting about this to scare anyone, but like everything else around our diabetes, the more we know the better equiped we are to manage.
And subscribe to Lee Ann’s blog if you haven’t already, I promise it will be worth your time.