Numbness in the fingers.?

Alright... Firstly have you had your iron levels checked? That's EXACTLY the symptoms I also get (I have been a vegetarian for 15 years).. My iron deficient anemia was not picked up by doctors for I now believe around a year and a half!! It began with numbness, but still having full function of both my little and ring fingers on my left hand. I put it down to sleeping on my arm wrong. It kept happening, some days worse than others and I finally went to the dr, was told there was nothing to worry about and that was it... It kept happening. After a few months gradually I would notice pain in my shoulder and lateral chest pain sort of under my armpit. Again was told don't worry. Then progressively I noticed a deeper chest pain... Like someone was sitting on my chest. I began monitoring my blood pressure at work (I'm an ED nurse) and was getting some scarily high readings... Anywhere up to 185/115, I naturally spoke to the dr, who checked my BP, the reading was 186/100. He told me it must be "white coat" hypertension (meaning you see a dr and your blood pressure goes up because of nervousness) whatever, I knew that was crap so over the next few weeks, every time I was at work I would check my blood pressures at intervals through the shift and recorded them. It was during these few weeks I discovered by use of our dynamap one machines that I was also tachycardic the majority of the time with an average resting heart rate over 105 bpm. I went back to the doctors who ordered ultrasounds and blood work, a 24 hr urine collection (tmi) and a 24hr ambulatory BP... All a complete waste of time and resources at the end of all that I was basically told that I was a puzzling case. So I lived with it and began my own research, discovered that all of these issues could be attributed to anemia and demanded my levels were checked. Oh yeah I had thyroid function tests and numerous other things while he was in the mood to send me for yet again more pointless tests, all of which came back normal... That is for my iron ;) finally I had something I could manage. I began taking liquid iron supplements an hour before meals and finished each meal with orange juice. Within weeks the chest pain was gone my shoulder improved and the numbness in those two fingers began to go away... It was awesome!! I tend to forget to take the supplement occasionally and after a while without it all those symptoms begin to reappear, so when I notice that numbness returning, I up the iron intake and voila!!! All that bloody drama and all it would have taken was the correct blood test initially.

Good luck

Get checked for diabetes...Soon! Especially if it's also happening in your toes.