diabetes Neuropathy Versus Carpal Tunnel

[intruder_mech]

I was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes in approx 2000, and was being treated and cared for at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital, at tis time I am still on active duty. I was also complaining of pain, numbness, tingling sensation on both my arms, I was diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy and was placed on Neurotin. the pain seems to go away at times. then I was placed on elavil. when i retired from the navy in 2003, I filed a Disability claim for diabeted and Diabetic neuropathy, the neruopathy was denied by the examiner also said, I have early stage of neuropathy. Now 2009 comes and I'm still having pain, so I have my PM checked it and referred me to a neuroligist and they did the EMG testing, they came out with bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, I filed a claim but VA denied the claim as not service related. so, can someone help me out and figure out what to do next. by the way neurotin is a drug the would relieve nerve pain (researching it on the webmd site). the medication they gave me relieves the pain but didn't fix the cause. all of this is in my medical record.

[Pete53]

I have the same conditions that you have and my experience is gabapentin works a lot better than a tired old anti depressant aka elavil. Just my opinion but since I have been on gabapentin I have had little or no major problem with neuropathy

[john999]

If you have CTS there is surgery that can fix it. If you have neuropathy nothing can fix it. You can only treat symptoms. I bet you do have CTS as PN usually shows up in the feet first. What was your MOS? That might explain the CTS. If you spent ten hours a day at a keyboard in your MOS that would be a cause of CTS, but you still have to connect it via medical records to your service. Since you had symptoms that might have been CTS in service I think you have a claim. It may be hard since 7 years have passed. You have a nerve problem, but you might want another opinion as to what it is.

[intruder_mech]

If you have CTS there is surgery that can fix it. If you have neuropathy nothing can fix it. You can only treat symptoms. I bet you do have CTS as PN usually shows up in the feet first. What was your MOS? That might explain the CTS. If you spent ten hours a day at a keyboard in your MOS that would be a cause of CTS, but you still have to connect it via medical records to your service. Since you had symptoms that might have been CTS in service I think you have a claim. It may be hard since 7 years have passed. You have a nerve problem, but you might want another opinion as to what it is.

I was in the Navy as an Aircraft/ aircraft engine mechanic. What i was saying was, the internal med DR. diagnosed it as Neuropathy in 2000, but VA denied that claim, its in my record but i keep having the same pain and keep taking pain meds, finally my PCM determine that an EMG is needed and sent me to a neurology. and that's how I found out that it's Bilateral CTS. so in short. i was misdiagnosed n 2000, there was no further testing or evaluation done during that time, I was prescribed neurotin/elavil which both drugs are for nerve pain and it did relieved some of the pain that's why I take motrin with the meds. I filed a claim for bilateral CTS but VA again denied the claim. so now am lost and don't know wether I should appeal and request a hearing so I could explain my side better. thanks for taking the time to answer me. Best regards

[Pete53]

Yes you should appeal and also put it in writing and ask for a hearing. I had several hearings over time and always got something positive from them.

Good Luck