Leg And Sometimes Mild Hands Pain Especially At Night

[elie1102]

Hello, I have been diabetic type 1 since 2011. My last hb1ac is 7. I usually have some high blood sugar sessions during the day. Lately i have been feeling a mild pain in my leg that doesnt let me sleep. Sometimes pain moves to my hand. I have asked my dr about it but said blood results are good so no need to worry but i am actually worried. Anybody can give a hint if this could be neuropathy?

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @elie1102,
The following is from my own experience and reading and is not to be taken as medical advice or treatment.
My understanding is that pain that keeps you awake is significant.
I do not understand why your doctor would ignore such a symptom. And HBA1C gives an average of one's BSL over 3 months, it may not rule out high BSLs some of the time, as you mention.
If you google diabetic neuropathy e.g. via Wikipedia, Mayoclinic.org etc, the pains described are usually in the legs, shooting (lacinating is the term), electric shock type feeling, buzzing, tingling, not relieved by pain relievers in general.
I have had hand pains which woke me at night. They would affect mainly my thumbs, index and middle fingers and partly my ring fingers and there was also numbness in these areas at times. Later on the pressure exerted to hold the steering wheel when driving would also set off pain and numbness. One hand was worst that the other.
For my hands I had a neck Xray to help rule out a pinched nerve in my neck and a nerve conduction test to check for compression of my nerve at the wrist. It turned out that I had the latter, the median nerve travelling in the middle of my wrist goes through a tunnel into the hand and was being pressured by excess tissue growth, something that happens with diabetes. The condition was called carpal tunnel syndrome. An operation was needed to fix it. One hand and then the other.
I was told that there is a sort of equivalent problem that can occur in the legs but is less common than carpal tunnel syndrome.
But also diabetes neuropathy as a more general problem (see above) and lower back disc problems (pinched nerve(s)) could also cause nerve pains in one or both legs.
Perhaps write down what symptoms you have, and then revisit your GP and describe them and ask whether the above conditions or any other might apply. Also consider describing what the interruption to your sleep does to you and that you need this sorted in order to work, drive, etc etc.
Best Wishes and I hope your troubles are listened to and sorted !

 

[elie1102]

Hello Kitedoc,
First let me thank you for your kind and detailed answer.
I will add some details and ask some questions if you don't mind.
The pain i feel is like someone pressing on my leg with their hand, not too strong but enough to keep me awake.
Questions:
-could diabetes cause carpal tunnel syndrome?
-if my pain is caused by diabetic neuropathy, could i get better if i have better control on my glucose level? Should i always take medication dor neuropathy?

That said, i will see another doctor tomorrow. I hope nothing serious.

Thank you!

 

[Alison54321]

Seven years isn't very long, though if you were diagnosed as an adult you could have had blood sugar problems for longer. It could be something else, lots of people who aren't diabetic get pains in their hands, and legs, but seeing the doctor is a good idea.

How is your diet, the bioactive compounds in fruit and veg are protective against neuropathy, so if you aren't eating too many it would be worth increasing your intake.

Here's some research showing this, but it's full of doom and gloom, and lots of data, so you can just believe me if your prefer. Think anti-oxidants when choosing food.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4997385/

 

[kitedoc]

Hi again @elie1102,
Not sure what the pressure type pain in your leg might be. The area affected might be relevant to your doctor plus as much description of the pain as you can manage, e.g. what might relieve the pain, what makes it worse, does it vary, what about the pain keeps you awake, does changing the way you are laying help etc ?
From my experience and reading of carpal tunnel syndrome I gather there can be many causes or associations with it. Diabetes is one of them. My surgeon said there was a lot of extra tissue around the nerve which meant the tunnel area was under pressure.
To relief nerve pain, depends on the cause I think. So pressure on the nerve might be relieved with say surgery ( I had a steroid injection to try and relieve pressure but it did not work. Sometimes a pinched nerve needs an injection or surgery as some people with the problem have told me.
If the neuropathy is from diabetes some claim to have reversed it or improved it with better control, others needed medication to ease the irritation of the nerve. Sites like Mayoclinic.org talk about this.
The choice of whether to take medication for nerve pain, where no other treatment exists, depends on how much the pain is affecting you , so loss of sleep, inability to walk , sit, lay down easily etc might be improved with medication. Or so my specialist back then said.
Best Wishes for tomorrow's appointment !

 

[elie1102]

The doctor found that blood flow to hands and feet is normal. He said its unlikely that I have diabetic neuropathy since i have been diagnosed 7 years ago and most of the times hb1ac was between 6 and 7.
Also found that heart is good. He also told me that i have good bood and urine test results. He prescribed a med called gabatrex that I didnt start to take yet.
Tonight I woke up around 3:30 am to a pain in right hand and leg. I am beginning to get worried that it may be some other serious conditions since i am reading many things on the web. I am also reading about the effects of air conditionning since most of the times I sleep with ac on and with low temperature.
Conclusion: i feel lost and worried. I am thinking of doing more tests and scans. Would this be a good idea?

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @elie1102, Glad to hear your doctor has done some examination and prescribed some treatment.
Is it always the same hand/arm/leg?
The fact that it seems to happen at night when laying down raises the question of whether the way you are laying is putting some pressure on parts of your body to cause the pains. Just a thought to consider with your GP.
Did you GP say how long before the Gabtrex might begin to work ?

 

[elie1102]

Hi @elie1102, Glad to hear your doctor has done some examination and prescribed some treatment.
Is it always the same hand/arm/leg?
The fact that it seems to happen at night when laying down raises the question of whether the way you are laying is putting some pressure on parts of your body to cause the pains. Just a thought to consider with your GP.
Did you GP say how long before the Gabtrex might begin to work ?

Hello Kitedoc,

Thank you!
It is not always same hamd and leg. It is mostly right hand and leg, or left hand and leg.
I don't remember how long did GP said before Gabatrex might begin to work but i think it was working from first night i took it (3 days ago). But i am afraid that pain comes back if i stop taking Gabatrex.

 

[kitedoc]

Hello Kitedoc,

Thank you!
It is not always same hamd and leg. It is mostly right hand and leg, or left hand and leg.
I don't remember how long did GP said before Gabatrex might begin to work but i think it was working from first night i took it (3 days ago). But i am afraid that pain comes back if i stop taking Gabatrex.

Thankyou @elie1102, Again my question for your GP would be is it a positional thing.? According to the frequent questions section of 'tabletwise.com Gabatrex capsule', people reported onset of beneficial effects at between 3 days and 2 weeks. It is usually prescribed for nerve pain. I hope your troubles stay gone !! But please keep posting !!!

 

[Crocodile]

@elie1102
There has been some study on the effects of glycemic variability in people with well controlled HbA1c. Short duration, high level surges have been found to be a significant risk factor for neuropathies for this cohort. You may or may not have this condition but it is unwise to dismiss it completely. One such study can be found here:

https://dmsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1758-5996-6-139

I understand that you're a T1, but I would have thought that the effects would be similar. Worth mentioning to your medical team.

Good luck with it.
Glenn

 

[elie1102]

Thankyou @elie1102, Again my question for your GP would be is it a positional thing.? According to the frequent questions section of 'tabletwise.com Gabatrex capsule', people reported onset of beneficial effects at between 3 days and 2 weeks. It is usually prescribed for nerve pain. I hope your troubles stay gone !! But please keep posting !!!

Hello Kitedoc,

I havent taken gabatrex for the last 2 daysand today i am experiencing leg pain again. Do you have any data on how many days Gabatrex should bw used? So far I have taken it for thefirst 3 days.

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @elie1102, You would need to check with your prescriber/GP. It sounds like for whatever reason it works for you.
For nerve pain the people I know who were prescribed medications like Gabatrex, were on the medication indefinitely.
Please see what the doctor says.

 

[elie1102]

Hi @elie1102, You would need to check with your prescriber/GP. It sounds like for whatever reason it works for you.
For nerve pain the people I know who were prescribed medications like Gabatrex, were on the medication indefinitely.
Please see what the doctor says.

Tonight I couldn't sleep even with the Gabatrex pill. The mild foot pain especially in the ankle joint area is always there and doesn't let me sleep. I felt a lot of stress at night and was afraid i have heart problems because sometimes I felt my heart is beating fast. I went to the hospital and saw a doctor in the emergency room. She did some tests on me. I told her all the details about my foot pain. She said my heart is fine and for the foot pain I should see a neurologist. Now worried that I could have neuropathy or other nerve problems. Also checking the multiple sclerosis symptoms since also worried about that.
I will search for a neurologist tomorrow and schedule a meeting.

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @elie1102, Have you had the usual Xray and bone scan of your ankle joint to look for bone and joint troubles ??
I hope things sort out before too long !!

 

[nicey1958]

Neuropathy seems to be pretty easy to diagnose for a trained podiatrist. They can do it from using a tuning fork, to simple prod test with a piece of stiff but flexible plastic. I gathered I had it when I couldn't differentiate between hot and cold water.( I found this out for the very first time when I stuck my big toe under the hot tap while in the bath.. and couldn't tell :-( . Neuropathy didn't seem like a progressive thing at the time, it just seemed to happen all of a sudden.
Keeping your sugar levels under control seems to be the only method of stopping progression of nerve damage.
good luck.
Geoff.