burning feet?

Hi m_cooper,
Burning feet for diabetics usually means peripheral neuropathy.
Do you have good control of your blood sugars?

There are other causes, tight socks, walking in ill fitting shoes etc. but as a diabetic you need to investigate the neuropathy. Even if it is it can be halted and your feet should get back to normal with good control.

Hope this helps,
Catherine.

Well, with some help from the forum we may be able to get you on the right track.

It is vital that you test your reaction to foods to see what suits you. Have you got a meter and test strips?
Tell us an average day's menu and what your results are.

When is your eye test scheduled for?

What advice has your nurse given you?

Sorry it seems to be all questions but once we have the answers we can help.

Catherine.

m cooper ............ From what you say it does sound like the start of Neuropathy. Left un treated it eventually gets a whole lot worse. The cause being high blood Sugars over a long period.
Your imediate priority has to be get the BS levels down. As a prospective T2 your first line of defence is Knowledge then control of your diet. At this stage you will be taking in a lot of info. Read the threads on here you will find pretty much all you need to know for starters, Ask questions ..........its how we all learned.

Welcome to the club
Dave P

This site is very useful. http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes and you do need to test. Buy yourself a meter and this will usually come with 10 test strips. If you can convince your Dr. that you are keen to manage your condition he may decide to supply test strips.
Carbohydrates such as potatoes, bread, rice pasta and cereals are the ones that raise your blood sugars and you may need to eat smaller portions of these or cut some out of your diet altogether.
Sadly most newly diagnosed are left in limbo in the early stages. Educate yourself and then you will be able to see what works best for you.

Hope this helps,


Catherine.

Hi m_cooper and welcome to the forum.

If your test showing an average of 9 was an HBA1C then the figure is a percentage, not your blood sugar level. An HBA1C of 9% equates to an average BS of around 12mmol, which is very high. As an HBA1C measures your BS over the previous 3 months, it is quite likley that you have had pretty high blood sugars for quite some time before diagnosis without realising it. What this means is that it is more likely that the burning sensation you are experiencing is the early signs of neuropathy (nerve damage). However, early stage neuropathy is usually reversible by reducing your blood sugar levels. So it is important that you concentrate your efforts on this as soon as possible.

Looking at your diet it does seem a bit heavy on carbohydrate, which of course is what creates blood sugar. If you are ok with eggs (i know some people can't stand them) then substitute your breakfast cereal for a couple of eggs (boiled, scrambled, poached, fried, in an omelette) perhaps with some mushrooms and tomatoes. For lunch either drop the beans, or at least ensure they are sugar-free (half the carbs of standard baked beans), and for toast use Burgen, WeightWatchers or Nimble bread (half the carbs of normal bread). If your evening meals includes potatoes as one of the veg, then drop them and have a different veg instead. Try this for a week and you should see a big difference in your BS levels.

That will help reverse the nerve damage and get rid of the burning feet, unless of course you want to rent yourself out as a patent hot water bottle!

Oh, and get yourself a blood test monitor. Trying to control your blood sugars without one is like driving a car wearing a blindfold! Ask the nurse at your surgery if she has one she could give you. If not then they are available at any chemists and are not particularly expensive (anything from £6 to £20 depending on the make and model). It is the test strips that they need that are costly and you may have to fund them yourself as surgeries are reluctant to prescribe them on cost grounds. One idea is to check with your chemist which model needs the cheapest test strips.

Make sure your bed isn't on fire.

There was an excellent site on peripheral neuropathy but unfortunately the owner died and the site has been suspended.

#1 plan is to get and keep your BG down, my neuropathy is now nonexistent but comes back whenever my BG goes over 8

a combination of Alpha Lipoic Acid and Evening Primrose Oil may also help, the nerves can regenerate given the opportunity so long as the damage doesn;t continue

Can recomend the Alpha Lipoic Acid as i dont get the symptoms any more.

Dave P

it is from poor circulation


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been a sufferer for ages with 'hot feet' they are always out of the covers in the cold air, its a fact of life with me.

Its not burning feet though and having had my circulation checked as superb, I worry less :lol:

My father has been suffering from "burning feet" for years and the Docs can't find why. His circulation is excellent and he is being told is not the problem. Maybe Alpha Lipoic Acid would help but as he is 81 years old I'm a little concerned about the side effects, has any one had any problems with it?

Side effects of alpha lipoic acid may include headache, tingling or a "pins and needles" sensation, skin rash, or muscle cramps.

There have been a few reports in Japan of a rare condition called insulin autoimmune syndrome in people using alpha lipoic acid. The condition causes hypoglycemia and antibodies directed against the body's own insulin without previous insulin therapy.

The safety of alpha lipoic acid in pregnant or nursing women, children, or people with kidney or liver disease is unknown.

Possible Drug Interactions

Alpha lipoic acid may improve blood sugar control, so people with diabetes who are taking medication to lower blood sugar, such as metformin (Glucophage), glyburide (DiaBeta, Glynase), should only take alpha lipoic acid under the supervision of a qualified health professional and have their blood sugar levels carefully monitored.

Animal studies indicate that alpha lipoic acid may alter thyroid hormone levels, so it could theoretically have the same effect in humans. People taking thyroid medications such as levothyroxine should be monitored by their healthcare provider.

Click to expand...

http://altmedicine.about.com/od/alphali ... icacid.htm

EricD said:

My father has been suffering from "burning feet" for years and the Docs can't find why. His circulation is excellent and he is being told is not the problem. Maybe Alpha Lipoic Acid would help but as he is 81 years old I'm a little concerned about the side effects, has any one had any problems with it?

Click to expand...

Personally the only side effect I've heard of is with insulin users needing to reduce their dose (not always necessary)

Best plan with supplements as with "real" drugs is to monitor carefully for any untoward happenings

Mother has been suffering heel pain in bed for no apparent reason, the nurse has ordered her an air mattress as it appears to be a pressure effect rather than anything more drastic.

Might be a plan to get your father a podiatrist appointment, neuropathy usually shows up with impaired sensation - they test around your feet and ankles with a poky filament and a tuning fork. It's the sort of thing where several second opinions would do no harm

Thanks for that trinkwasser, I'm not sure if he has ever been seen by a podiatrist, will speak with him and if not will try and get him an appointment. He is going to speak with his GP sometime this week and ask him if he can take the Alpha Lipoic Acid with the meds he is already on.

Thanks again.

We see one privately in the village - saves a long trip and a long wait at the hospital, I go in annually and mother goes every few weeks (high maintenance feet)

Re: burning feet? - alpha lipoic acid

Trinkwasser said:

a combination of Alpha Lipoic Acid and Evening Primrose Oil may also help, the nerves can regenerate given the opportunity so long as the damage doesn;t continue

Click to expand...

Hey Trinkwasser,

Any other info about alpha lipoic acid?

Hi, don't know if it's relevent but I suffered buring feet, particularly a night a couple of months ago. It wasn't every day but it was really disturbing, as they didn't feel hot to touch.I was told it was more than likely to be neuropathy, after 20 years as Type-1.
I discovered that when I came off the contreceptive pill I was on,Mercilon, the symptoms decreased considerably, one or two days a month now and no where near as severe. My sister, who isn't diabetic, also suffered the same side-effects on the same pill, which reassured me. So whether my burning feet is slightly down to neuropathy, it's certainly improved being off that pill, and I've put the odd day of it down to my menstrual cycle. I guess time will tell.
Jus

I've read the discussion on burning feet with interest, as I have a similar problem. My problem is itchy feet, though, - is this also due to high BS levels ?

i wa diagnosed about 3 months ago and i have burning feet to ,i was putting it down to the job i do as i am always on my feet all day .i wear riggar boots cheep ones . i saw the podiatrists last week and told her that my feet were warm all the time yea she done the tests and were ok even as i write this my feet are burning especially around the toes . my bs tests are usually around the 7 to 9 when i test average for 3 months was 6,8 . confused :?: