Burning Pains in Hands & Feet

[Joshman]

Hi Guys

A week ago I started experiencing pins and needles in my fingers on both hands, intermittent at first and then more constant. By the third day I went to see my GP who said it was a sign of Neuropathy. She explained it's usually caused as a result of poor diabetes control. Then she looked back at my last few hb1ac blood tests and said my overall control was good. My last test was in Dec 2012 with a result of 5.8 which was slightly up from the previous 5.5.

As she thought my blood sugars were fairly well controlled she put it down to my blood pressure being higher than usual, although I felt it was higher due to the stress of the constant pins & needles in my fingers. She advised me to book myself in for another blood pressure test and if it was still high then they'd look at throwing some more tablets at me. I'm due to see the nurse this coming Wednesday.

I'm currently on 500mg x 3 Metformin tablets and one 100mg Losartan Potassium tablet, and also a statin for my cholesterol.

The pins and needles have almost completely eased off now but instead I'm getting little random burning pains in my hands, fingers and feet. Is this a sign that things are getting worse? I'm worried that it's doing permanent damage. At the time the doctor didn't seem too concerned as I hadn't lost any strength in my hands or loss of movement, which is still the case.

Admittedly last few months I haven't controlled my diet as tightly as before. I had started eating bread and potatoes again but not all the time. I'm back to low carbing again. Last night a couple of hours after my evening meal, my blood sugar was 6.5. First thing this morning it was 5.2. That doesn't seem too bad to me so why am I getting these pains? I was thinking of getting myself back to the gym to help with the blood pressure but worried I might make things worse in my feet.

I've been diabetic about 3 years now. I thought neuropathy was something that happened to people with poor control of their diabetes and even if it was going to happen to me, it'd happen 10-20 years in the future.

Has anyone here had anything similar themselves? How was it treated? Did the pains eventually stop?

Thanks
Josh

 

[BobCornelius]

Hi Josh,

Diabetes, whilst a chore at times, is not always the cause of every ailment!

If things don't improve, have a chat with your GP about nerve function tests and MRI looking for trapped nerves or similar!



Bob

 

[Nichiwk15]

Hi Joshman

You can have painkillers specifically for nerve pain. I didn't know what it was either to start with. I've been diagnosed with type 2 for about 4 years now. Initially I'd thought it would greatly affect my life but it hasn't. Going back to the nerve, it didn't click that it was connected to my diabetes. it didn't even click that it was nerve pain, initially I was worried it was cardio- vascular but I went to my GP and the diabetic nurse at my practice. That was when I found out it was neuropathy. I felt rather daft once I was told. I was already on Gabapentin 300mg tds for nerve unrelated to my diabetes, it was due to an old injury. I noticed when I stopped taking the Gabapentin that the pain was in fact worse. Basically my neuropathy affects mainly my feet, when I'm bed, either sitting up in bed or lying down. It starts immediately, I find a hot water bottle helps, I even had the water bottle during what little summer we had. I do get numbness in my hands but I have other medical ailments that mainly cause that.

Try not to worry too much, as it won't help but I can understand that you are. Basically if you have good circulation and sensation in your feet then that's good. It doesn't mean your feet will fall off but you do need to pay more attention to your feet, such as cuts or grazes to your feet. As for your hands speak to your doctor or diabetic nurse but to be honest if I think if they had concerns you would be the first to know. Good Luck.

 

[HpprKM]

As. A Type 2 sufferer also on metformin and losarton I notice one difference in your medications and that is statins, as only slightly raised cholesterol my GP kept nagging me to try them, I held out on the grounds of research and data in the use if statins, last visit to DN she confirmed I didn't really need them. I would not presume to tell you what you should or should Not take, but cannot help pondering side effects of statins.

 

[MCMLXXIII]

Re: Burning Pains in Hands & Feet

You're so right.
I feel so sorry for anybody on the bloody things.
They do a job for obesity and Diabetes sure, and they work fast but the doctors are so quick to putting you on them without considering the needs,lifestyle or diet of the individual.
In my experience, there's lots of natural and supplemental methods that can do the same job.
I've got my dad (also type 2) diagnosed just before me off them, (statins) and he's cut the metformin right down too now with a view to stopping that as soon as if he can.
His hb1ac and cholesterol keep getting better as do mine.
We had a scary instance of gestational diabetes with my last child and we got through that too.
Like i said before, i raa at it! (Diabetes).
Best wishes to you .

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