My dad has foot ulcer...

I'm sorry to hear of your dad's foot ulcer.

As your dad is a type 1 diabetic he really needs to have his foot examined by either his doctor or a podiatrist/chiropodist, and he will need to have it examined fairly frequently until it's healed up.

Dependent on how deep and how large the ulcer is, there are different types of dressing that will need to be applied, and these will need to be changed every few days.  (I've presently got a foot ulcer myself that I've had since May 2012, so it MAY take a long time to heal, though the majority of foot ulcers that I've had in the past have healed within weeks.  I've been receiving district nurses twice a week to change the dressing, been seening a podiatrist every four weeks for reassessment, have seen a vascular surgeon, who requested full leg doppler testing ... that tests how efficiently the blood flows through blood vessels in the legs, been fitted with new orthotic shoes that have pressure relieving insoles, etc. etc.)

I'm relatively sure that you're already aware that foot ulcers, if not taken care of appropriately, COULD lead to your dad developing gangrene (necrotic or dead tissue).  It's this that can lead to the amputation of feet, lower legs, etc.

Is your dad's diabetes control good?  I ask this as higher than 'normal' blood sugar (glucose) levels can be very damaging to the body's organs, blood vessels, and nerves.  It also provides a source of 'food' for fungal infections as they thrive in moist conditions where there's a ready supply of sugar (glucose).

Either your dad's doctor or poditrist SHOULD really carry out such testing as a doppler scan ... where they test blood flow, and various types of sensory tests, to see whether diabetic peripheral neuropathy (nerve-ending damage) is contributing to what's going on.

I certainly do hope that your dad's ulcer clears up quickly.

Thanks for your comment, sir.

It's difficult to say, without testing, whether the pain you're experiencing is due to your diabetes or not.

Pain due to diabetes is the result of neuropathy ... nerve-ending damage ... in the majority of cases.  This is normally due to chronic elevated blood sugar (glucose) levels. i.e. it would normally take several years to develop before it became a significant problem.

As you say that your blood sugar levels are "9 and over", you MUST be talking about mmol/l (millimoles per litre) ... we use a different measurement system to the United States of America.  In fact, the United States of America needs to catch up with the rest of the World in that respect.  At those levels I'm hazarding a guess that you're a type 2 diabetic.  Type 1 diabetics tend to have higher blood sugar levels, particularly when they're newly diagnosed.

The bad news is, with type 2 diabetes you MAY have had higher than 'normal' blood sugar levels for years before it became noticed, and all the time your blood sugar levels were higher than the 'normal' range, damage was slowly being caused to your internal organs, blood vessels, and nerves.

I'm afraid the reason it's taking the NHS such a long time to get to see you is because the type of testing is a 'special' type of test that can't be done by just anyone.  (I'm hazarding a guess here that your doctor has requested nerve conduction testing to be carried out.)  Arrangements would need to be made for you to attend a clinic/hospital where this specialist equipment is held, and where a specialist neurologist would be in attendance.

If it is nerve conductivity testing that your doctor has requested, tiny needles are inserted into nerve(s) and a small electric current is sent along the nerve(s).  It's a tiny current, and the only thing you'll feel is your limb making movements that you're not controlling.  The cables are connected to a computer, which measures the amount of time taken for a response from the initial input being made to the time it takes for a reaction.  It is NOT an uncomfortable test, sir, so don't worry about it.

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy tends to affect the extremities first. i.e. fingers/hands and toes/feet.  Having said that, it MAY not be peripheral neuropathy that's causing the problem.  There are different types of neuropathy, and it would take a specialist neurologist to work out exactly what's going on.

Your doctor MAY be right in believing that in your case it's more to do with a trapped nerve than actual neuropathy.  The good news is, as you're not, apparently, getting relief from either Tramadol or Lyrica, that s/he's doing the right thing by referring you for further testing.

To be honest with you, I'm not sure why your doctor didn't increase the dose(s) of Tramadol you were taking.  I was taking 400 mg of Tramadol a day plus Gabapentin, which is a anti-seizure medication for my painful neuropathy, and it was next to useless.  All it did was make me sleep all day AND all night.  (There MAY be medical reasons for your doctor not prescribing larger doses, just as there MAY be reasons that you can't take such large doses, perhaps due to the type of employment you do, or there MAY be drug interactions with other medications that you take.)

Unfortunately, you can't repair damaged nerves, and if blood sugar levels aren't controlled very well, the damage increases.  I've now reached the stage where I don't actually feel anything from just below my knees down.

My advice to you, sir, is to keep going back to your doctor if you're finding it difficult to cope with the symptoms that you're experiencing.  If s/he has run out of options with regards to medications s/he can try it MAY give them the impetus to get on to the hospital to find out if they can hurry things along with regards to your appointment with a neurologist.

I wish you well, and I certainly do hope that you don't have to wait for too long.