Posted , 2 users are following.
Just wondering if any of you have gone through the Diabetic Frozen Shoulder?
I have been a Diabetic for about 20 years, on Lantus and Metformin.
I have had Frozen Shoulder for about 8 months and it's crazy. Scar tissue grows around your shoulder joints and you do not have much of a range of motion. For example, I can not put my had behind my back or lift above my chest. It is also very painful. They are not sure how to really treat it. I think it this is especially true with us Diabetics. Apparently the scar tissue is much more dense and the issue is more pronounced.
I wanted to know anyone eles's experience here and what did and did not work for you?
Cortizone joint injecitons did nothing and I had 2 and one in the doctor's office, a round of sterroids, anti-inflamatories, pain pills etc etc. lol
(Something for you all to be aware of too. Usually hits woman between 30-60. May be horomeone related, a virus or an auto immume issue. No one is sure.)
1 like, 3 replies
micksmixxx Je_n
Posted
I, too, have suffered with "Diabetic Frozen Shoulder" or Adhesive Capsulitis to give it its medical name.
Like yourself, I had cortisone (steroid) injections, which played havoc with my blood glucose control, plus three times a week physiotherapy. Unfortunately, this had no effect on my frozen shoulder. (I actually had it in both shoulders at the same time, and couldn't raise either arm high enough to brush my own hair.)
It was only with my continued "pressuring" of doctors and physiotherapists that it was decided that something a little more drastic would be called for. I had a general anaesthetic and "physical manipulation" of my shoulders. I do recall 'coming round' from the anaesthetic and stating to the nurse in the recovery ward that I thought they'd 'done' the wrong joints. This was because it was my elbows that were then giving me pain, but the nurse assured me that it WAS my shoulders that were manipulated as she'd been present when the procedure was being given.
This was several years ago now, and although I still have limited movement in both arms I can brush my own hair now.
According to the following webpage:
"Signs and symptoms typically begin gradually, worsen over time and then resolve, usually within one to three years."
I'll have to take them at their word as it lasted, with me, for three or four years before the shoulder manipulation took place.
https://patient.info/health/frozen-shoulder-leaflet
You ARE correct in believing that diabetes IS one of the risk factors for someone to go on to develop adhesive capsulitis.
The following webpage states:
"Adhesive capsulitis has been associated with several conditions. A higher incidence of frozen shoulder exists among patients with diabetes (10-20%) compared with the general population (2-5%). Incidence among patients with insulin-dependent diabetes is even higher (36%), with an increased frequency of bilateral shoulder involvement"
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1261598-overview#a7
Hopefully, you will get some relief sooner, rather than later.
I don't know exactly how much it restricts your movement, but it MAY be worthwhile speaking with your doctor to see if shoulder manipulation MIGHT be a possibility for yourself.
I wish you well, ma'am.
Lots of Love and Light.
Mick
x x x x
x x x
P.S. Please don't be offended, or alarmed, at the 'x's'. It's merely a logo, of sorts, that I've used for some 30-odd years now.
Je_n micksmixxx
Posted
Were you able to work? I can not.
micksmixxx Je_n
Posted
Please forgive me. I'm afraid I have absolutely no idea where I got the name Jenn-J437 from. Either I was experiencing a hypo at the time of my writing a response, I was having a 'brain fart', or dementia has finally set in. (No offence intended if you or anyone close to you has suffered with any form of dementia. That was truly NOT my intention.)
Initially, my friend, I was working, but I was needing to take regular time off as 'sick leave' due to continual hospital appointments for treatments and therapy.
Unfortunately, I had many things 'going wrong' at the time and was hospitalised [hospitalized, if you are, in fact, one of my American cousins]. During that time the so-called caring organisation [organization] that I worked for deemed fit to get rid of me on grounds of ill health. (There were a number of things 'going wrong', and there were occasions when my staff would find me in a state of unconsciouness, needing them to summon an ambulance for me.)
This all started to happen to me more than 25 years ago. Since that time, however, I've come across about 9 or 10 diabetics who have suffered with 'frozen shoulder' ... some of them type 1 and some type 2.
Sadly, since being 'retired' from work I haven't been able to get another job. (That's not really surprising since I now have a hospital bed at home, and can't stay conscious for a sufficient number of hours to gain employment. I did attend a re-emplyment course but on the first day an ambulance had to be summoned for me as I collapsed in front of a computer screen. That, unfortunately, is a rather common occurrence for me nowadays.)
How did you find the corticosteroid (steroid) injections? Did it have as big of an effect on your blood sugar (glucose) levels as it did me? Have they tried anything else since the injections? How are you bearing up with it?
As a matter of interest, were you working when the 'frozen shoulder' hit you? If you were, what type of employment was it? If not, please forgive me for encroaching on your privacy.