Pins and needles at first & its progressed. Point of no return?

[BrockED]

I've been experiencing pins and needles on the hands and feet. This would happen when I eat certain foods like pizza, crisps, or orange juice.
I went to get tested for diabetes and the test came back all clear. Still I would get this wired sensations of the hands and feet along with fatigue and after eating salts and sugars. It usually goes away when I stick to brown break and non sugars. I had this on and off when I relapsed. Eye test came back normal later that year.

Last year the doc dismissed it and said adamantly there is no such thing as pins and needles after eating. I've never felt so embarrassed and left.

This year I eat something and it sends my body into such a state. I can't eat anything without getting symptoms like this burning sensation, creeping hot and cold feeling on hands and feet upper leg and pins and needles under armpit and upper arm. And I also get upper abdominal pain as well as wired cramping of the lower stomach region. I get so fatigued and I go to sleep and on waking, my fingers and thumb feels really numb and the upper arm feels like blood runs cold.

I've seen a different doc and got tested for diabetes and something else, I'm not sure of. That was a week today and its flipping bank holiday so can't get results now.

Two weeks ago, I read that these symptoms could be hypoglycaemia or something. It could be a result of gluten allergy? I've seen an out of hours doc and I've had breakfast before I went and she told me my blood sugar was normal.

I'm 30 years old and I've had these symptoms for just over two year on and off.. Is this the point of no return? Will these sensations get worse like they have been doing, despite keeping to a low carb diet?

Sorry for writing so much, I needed to get it all out and I have no one to talk to who understands. I've never felt so vulnerable and I hate it. I'm really desperate to know and it's bank holiday. I feel like I'm loosing my mind.

 

[Arab Horse]

Sorry to hear your health issues. Hopefully you will get something done soon. If you don't get any further with your Dr you are entitled to ask to be referred for a second opinion.

I can't offer you any advice as it really needs a good Dr to either find what is wrong or refer you to someone who can.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

 

[Indy51]

Have you been tested for B12 deficiency? If not, that would be my first suggestion.

If you are concerned about gluten, why not try a 30 day experiment of gluten free for yourself to see how it affects you?

 

[BrockED]

Sorry to hear your health issues. Hopefully you will get something done soon. If you don't get any further with your Dr you are entitled to ask to be referred for a second opinion.

I can't offer you any advice as it really needs a good Dr to either find what is wrong or refer you to someone who can.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Thank you for your comment. I'm seeing the other doc now. He seems more competent and he's easy to talk to. I'll let you know when I have the results.

Have you been tested for B12 deficiency? If not, that would be my first suggestion.

If you are concerned about gluten, why not try a 30 day experiment of gluten free for yourself to see how it affects you?

Thank you for your comment. I'm not sure if I was tested for B12 deficiency. I will know tomorrow morning. The nurse took 3 blood samples when I went to the clinic. I'm going for an eye test tomorrow and then I'll make the call to the GP. The doc said something like "I'm going to test it against everything". Not sure, I couldn't take it all in.

I'm a week into the low carb diet. I really should do more research on it. I do miss Chinese chicken wings though.

 

[BrockED]

Hi everyone.

I called front desk at the GP today and I got the all clear. I shouldn't ignore what I've been feeling though. I've gotten use to the new diet and I'm going to stick with it.

 

[Arab Horse]

Glad to hear that you have got the all clear. A low carb diet with plenty of fresh fruit and veg is good for anyone so worth eating for your health.

Hope the symptoms go soon.

 

[Mariav1011]

I have had the same thing happened I couldn't figure out if it was my blood sugar going down or the fact that I was dehydrated I would get pins and needles in my hand so bad that my hands would close and I couldn't open them. I was low in sodium magnesium and I started to take magnesium and it helped it so today it happened again ... And I hadn't taken my magnesium in a long while so I drank my magnesium which absorbs faster and I felt better then after a few hours it started to get worse again and so I said myself some ice cream and it went away I'm wondering if this has to do with people who love sugar and eat too much sugar and desserts and then one day they don't have It... Body misses it and the blood sugar drops ....they get the pins and needles and their hands plus the hands get very cold anyway my concern is I want to stop eating sugar and so did my sister so she stopped cold turkey she said that she used to have that problem as well now if she doesn't eat she's OK she doesn't feel those pins and needles anymore it's very confusing and as soon as they have a little bit of that sugar it goes away but I want to cut down the sugar so is this how ****** I'm going to feel when I stop eating sugar and is this the beginning of a diabetes of some sort

 

[Captain Glucose]

I have had the same thing happened I couldn't figure out if it was my blood sugar going down or the fact that I was dehydrated I would get pins and needles in my hand so bad that my hands would close and I couldn't open them. I was low in sodium magnesium and I started to take magnesium and it helped it so today it happened again ... And I hadn't taken my magnesium in a long while so I drank my magnesium which absorbs faster and I felt better then after a few hours it started to get worse again and so I said myself some ice cream and it went away I'm wondering if this has to do with people who love sugar and eat too much sugar and desserts and then one day they don't have It... Body misses it and the blood sugar drops ....they get the pins and needles and their hands plus the hands get very cold anyway my concern is I want to stop eating sugar and so did my sister so she stopped cold turkey she said that she used to have that problem as well now if she doesn't eat she's OK she doesn't feel those pins and needles anymore it's very confusing and as soon as they have a little bit of that sugar it goes away but I want to cut down the sugar so is this how ****** I'm going to feel when I stop eating sugar and is this the beginning of a diabetes of some sort

Hi maria,

This is weird because I've been experiencing the very same thing since attaining lower blood sugar levels this last week. At first I was concerned of high blood sugar circulation issues but tested and was 4.0mmol. I too wondered if my body has been so used to old habits (carb overload) that it is throwing its toys out of the pram and giving me some unwelcome symptoms such as tingling in my feet/hands and occasional stomach discomfort. Thing is overall I feel quite tired but I'm hoping this will pass. My skin is looking better and I feel much less irritable after meals.

 

[ChrissyB57]

Hi maria,

This is weird because I've been experiencing the very same thing since attaining lower blood sugar levels this last week. At first I was concerned of high blood sugar circulation issues but tested and was 4.0mmol. I too wondered if my body has been so used to old habits (carb overload) that it is throwing its toys out of the pram and giving me some unwelcome symptoms such as tingling in my feet/hands and occasional stomach discomfort. Thing is overall I feel quite tired but I'm hoping this will pass. My skin is looking better and I feel much less irritable after meals.

Looking at your post, how are you feeling now, I was diagnosed last week, and went straight onto low carb high fat diet, on 1000g metformin, I have now been experiencing pins and needles in my hands, would like to understand if this is only going to get better.

 

[Captain Glucose]

Looking at your post, how are you feeling now, I was diagnosed last week, and went straight onto low carb high fat diet, on 1000g metformin, I have now been experiencing pins and needles in my hands, would like to understand if this is only going to get better.

Hi Maria,

To be honest, on the advice of other posters on the forum I haven't posted for a while as I've been making a concerted effort to focus less on my blood sugars and to try to break the cycle of worry as I'm sure that contributes to my symptoms such as tingling and periods of slight light-headedness/dizziness which for me are possibly anxiety side effects.

I've been eating a more balanced diet with less carbs and getting regular exercise, especially after any carby meals and this seems to help a lot. I do still get tingling and have recently had times where my foot/leg has felt rather hot; however my blood sugars at the time are normal so I'm stumped as to what is causing it really.

So not a lot of help really! I think any changes to the bodies usual patterns of eating will elicit some kind of random symptoms but I'd imagine like with most things they even out after after a time. I'd probably give it a bit of time and if you notice any worsening/exacerbation, perhaps get it checked out.

Hope you feel better.

Mike

 

[SunnyExpat]

Looking at your post, how are you feeling now, I was diagnosed last week, and went straight onto low carb high fat diet, on 1000g metformin, I have now been experiencing pins and needles in my hands, would like to understand if this is only going to get better.

I can't comment too much, as I don't particularly LCHF, but lots of water, and more salt in your diet may help.
I'm out in sunny climates, so I follow a Mediterranean diet, (by choice), but a lot of water and salt seems to be fine in the heat at least.