Some toxic, inflammation-based forms of peripheral neuropathy can develop rapidly over days or weeks, while most other conditions can take months, years, or even. The symptoms may be subtle or occur very rarely. You may have brief episodes of unexplained foot pain, but weeks or even months may pass between them. When you control your blood sugar properly, the progression of type 1 diabetes can often slow down significantly or even stop.
Diabetic neuropathy can progress at different times depending on the type of damage the person has. It can progress rapidly over days or weeks, or more slowly over many years. If you have diabetes, you can develop nerve problems at any time. Sometimes, neuropathy may be the first sign of diabetes. Significant nerve problems (clinical neuropathy) can occur within the first 10 years after a diagnosis of diabetes.
The risk of developing neuropathy increases the longer you have diabetes. About half of people with diabetes have some form of neuropathy. While neuropathy can take months or even years to progress to a more serious stage, there's really no time to waste. In many cases, chronic nerve damage isn't fully reversible.
The condition will only worsen if you don't seek help, so don't wait. In some cases, the symptoms of neuropathy quickly go from being asymptomatic to being in a wheelchair within a year or two. For others, neuropathy evolves slowly over many Years. Sensory motor polyneuropathy is a generalized (systemic) process that damages nerve cells, nerve fibers (axons) and nerve covers (myelin sheath). Damage to the nerve cell cover causes nerve signals to slow down or stop.
Damage to the nerve fiber or to the entire nerve cell can cause the nerve to stop working. Some neuropathies develop over the years, while others may start and worsen within hours or days. The diagnosis of diabetic neuropathies is based on history, clinical examination, and supporting laboratory tests. This can cause different types of diabetic neuropathy, such as peripheral, autonomic, focal and proximal neuropathies.
