What does diabetic neuropathy feel like?

[aqua39]

Hi. I'm 39 years old. Been type 2 diabetic for ten years. What does peripheral neuropathy feel like? How is it different from standing in your feet all day, or walking in new shoes that hurt your feet? Does your entire foot hurt or is it just the skin?
I read that neuropathy is more common in people over 40... Since I'm turning 40 next year, I'm a bit panicked.
Please describe what the tingling feels like.
Thanks.

 

[Shar67]

Constant pins and needles or total numbness

 

[Deleted member 229490]

I find it like I am standing on hot pavement, it burns, I often wear a plastic shoe to feel more cool on bottom of foot. Parts of my feet are numb so that even if they have feeling mostly on the sole of foot of burning, in truth they are numb in places. If you keep BS in range, below 200 is good, below 140 is perhaps great, might be remote for some of us who inject our insulin. I am age 71, when I eat too much my sugar can approach 250 to 300, but my doctor would not like this. My last a-1-c was 6.4, but sometimes I am 7 to 8 on a-1-c. I was on pills for 25 years, sugar got too high too often, insulin now 5 years.

 

[DeejayR]

Odd feeling, can't decide if numb or not, but like walking on pebbles under my toes. With bare feet off the ground (no pressure at all) it feels as if paper or cotton wool is stuffed under my toes. Occasional brief stabbing pain in one big toe. The rest of my soles & heels feel normal. Also my feet are always warm when out walking, which is nice. So far.
None of this registers on my surgery's list of tick boxes for PN. My toes do pass their pointy meter test though.
I'm at the top end of prediabetic atm and have just finished a six-week course of alpha-lipoic acid tabs 600mg daily (one of the treatments recommended by some on here) but without noticeable effect.
I'm not worried (yet) and suggest you try not to be. But do tell your GP/nurse and tell us what they say. If anything.

 

[Celeriac]

I have a feeling as if I've got a large plaster stuck under the skin on the ball of each foot. GP says that's plantar fasciitis. It's better than it used to be. Doc is a terror for tickling my feet with that wand thing and smirking. I don't think I have any numb patches because I squirm when he does it.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[Sucre Bleu]

I sometimes get stabbing shooting pains down to my toes, they make you jump
Afew years back I had very painful swollen knuckles and begun investigations with a rheumatologist.
Eventually the pain got better. Afew years later when my blood sugars were much better controlled I started feeling the painful knuckles again, and mentioned it to my specialist. He said you probably have/had neuropathy in your hands and it numbed up your hands, now you can feel them again. Weird huh

 

[aqua39]

Thank you everyone for your replies. I really appreciate it.

 

[numan43]

I can feel tickles but cant feel pain on my numb feet which has led to several ulcers of varying seriousness. Was hospitalized for a week with one infection and close to amputation.

 

[DeejayR]

@aqua39 As you can see, many of us are aware of this, the symptoms are similar but not identical, and none of us knows precisely how to fix it. Nor does the NHS as far as I know. And even when someone says they found a cure, it appears to have been good for them alone, like taking various supplements or a particularity in their diet.
I do think it's worth pursuing through our GPs, nurses and any specialists we are lucky enough to get to see, and pooling our results. because of the warning sounded by @numan43 above.

 

[bohemicus]

I have read what others have written so far, and I have to say that in my case, the periferal neuropathy is a combination of all the symptoms.

I am taking Pregabalin 300mg twice daily, also Amitryptiline Hydrochloride 75mg one daily at night, and it helps a bit.

Sadly, because of silly drug wars*, it is still difficult to come across something which would help in most cases - a cannabis extract as described in www.hempcures.work (This is no joke, this chap, Jindrich, who is a friend from University times, dedicated his life spreading the message.)

If I have to try and explain it, "the active ingredient in cannabis, THC, binds itself onto a pain receptor nerve in the brain, effectively making it not transmit the pain message to the brain either completely or partially". The difference could mean an improved quality of life for someone living with chronic pain. For more, please see the work of an amazing Czech-Israeli scientist called Lumir Hanus http://j.mp/lumirhanus

*silly, because ineffective yet costing tens of billions of USD. Exactly as I've always predicted. Let's end up this fallacy of spending tens of billions on failed 'war on drugs' - totally stupid because it's unwinnable. Let's educate people of dangers connected with drug use: hard-hitting, real life stories of someone each of us can relate to, work best... Please see http://j.mp/cannabistradehit

 

[Phub]

Odd feeling, can't decide if numb or not, but like walking on pebbles under my toes. With bare feet off the ground (no pressure at all) it feels as if paper or cotton wool is stuffed under my toes. Occasional brief stabbing pain in one big toe. The rest of my soles & heels feel normal. Also my feet are always warm when out walking, which is nice. So far.
None of this registers on my surgery's list of tick boxes for PN. My toes do pass their pointy meter test though.
I'm at the top end of prediabetic atm and have just finished a six-week course of alpha-lipoic acid tabs 600mg daily (one of the treatments recommended by some on here) but without noticeable effect.
I'm not worried (yet) and suggest you try not to be. But do tell your GP/nurse and tell us what they say. If anything.

Sounds like my 'Morton's Nueroma'; a lesion on the foot tendons. Feels like standing on a pebble under the ball of the foot. Some numbness that can be relieved by finding the right spot on the foot and manipulating it.

HTH

 

[Keirong]

Hi. I'm 39 years old. Been type 2 diabetic for ten years. What does peripheral neuropathy feel like? How is it different from standing in your feet all day, or walking in new shoes that hurt your feet? Does your entire foot hurt or is it just the skin?
I read that neuropathy is more common in people over 40... Since I'm turning 40 next year, I'm a bit panicked.
Please describe what the tingling feels like.
Thanks.

I'm 41 and have had type 1 for over 30 years, wasn't particularly well controlled for the early part, I've had neuropathy for over 10 years now in fact it's been so long I've forgotten but what I could never forget was the initial period it started, horrible burning feeling in my feet stopping me sleeping and that lasted for well over a year (sometimes all I wanted to do was sit in a corner and cry) after that a numbness set in but not a total numbness, its as if you have thick socks on, sometimes you get tingling other times if your bg goes high theres a horrid pulsing pain but its a good reason to make sure your bg is under control. To be honest you get used to it but it means you need to ensure your feet don't get cut if you've been on long walks etc.. otherwise it could lead to lengthy hospital stays or visits.

 

[unclebigbry]

I've had pn for many years, well before being diagnosed with Type 2. It started with the feeling of a roll of cotton wool under the base of my toes but thinking back now, I used to get a bit of a shock getting into a bath which didn't feel too hot to my feet but when I sat down it was more than uncomfortable. My heels were always cracked and at times bled, but I wasn't aware of any pain. This was soon cured when I was introduced to 'Flexitol Heel Balm' and I use it regularly and my feet are 'like a baby's'.
I always pass the sensitivity pricking test but there are areas of numbness and I can stub my toes sometimes quite hard with no pain. I can't stand for more than 5mins due to other problems so my feet don't suffer from standing as a result. Hope this helps.

 

[numan43]

I used to get a bit of a shock getting into a bath which didn't feel too hot to my feet but when I sat down it was more than uncomfortable

I can empathize with this bigbry

 

[DeejayR]

There may be other threads on here about this, but I haven't found one, and it's comforting to know we're not individually alone, even though there doesn't seem to be a reliable cure-all. So thank you all.

 

[Crazy_lady's]

Hi. I'm 39 years old. Been type 2 diabetic for ten years. What does peripheral neuropathy feel like? How is it different from standing in your feet all day, or walking in new shoes that hurt your feet? Does your entire foot hurt or is it just the skin?
I read that neuropathy is more common in people over 40... Since I'm turning 40 next year, I'm a bit panicked.
Please describe what the tingling feels like.
Thanks.

Just that a pans and needles Tinsley feel I also get a sharp pain in toes like pins p



Edited to remove duplicate quote.

 

[videoman]

Hi there, Well after 55 years as a type 1 I have had neuropathy for a number of years and I have from "hot feet" to numb toes so always watch your feet and once you have it ,its there for good

 

[Clivethedrive]

Hi there, Well after 55 years as a type 1 I have had neuropathy for a number of years and I have from "hot feet" to numb toes so always watch your feet and once you have it ,its there for good

Well it went away after 8 months of lchf and weight loss and HASNOT RETURNED.......mind you i do take care of my bs's typical for me is 3.5 mmols to 4.0mmols am fasting, 4.5 pre dinner 5.7 post dinner,clive

 

[deeds24]

Well it went away after 8 months of lchf and weight loss and HASNOT RETURNED.......mind you i do take care of my bs's typical for me is 3.5 mmols to 4.0mmols am fasting, 4.5 pre dinner 5.7 post dinner,clive

 

[deeds24]

Hi. I'm 39 years old. Been type 2 diabetic for ten years. What does peripheral neuropathy feel like? How is it different from standing in your feet all day, or walking in new shoes that hurt your feet? Does your entire foot hurt or is it just the skin?
I read that neuropathy is more common in people over 40... Since I'm turning 40 next year, I'm a bit panicked.
Please describe what the tingling feels like.
Thanks.