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Diabetes and feet problems

I

Iain77

Member
Hello

I am a type 2 diabetic 4 x 500mg metforminSR and 2 x 10mg injections of Byetta
I weigh 24 stone 5 lb haveing lost 3 stone I have a new found confidence and i am much more mobile.
The problem is --

3 years ago i broke a bone in my right foot ,done as i was told by the doctors ,told it had healed ,went back to work and within 2 days was back in plaster with the same bone rebroken ,I was 27/28 stone then,maybe heavier
a few months ago i got pain again in my right foot was put in plaster again, suspected break ,went to the specailist just pain coming from my old break...Told to loss weight ,which i am still activley trying to do.
Yesterday i slipped on ice and never thought anything off it ,woke this morning and my left foot is very swollen and very painful just like my right was.
I have been to hospital for an x-ray and have been told it is not broken,rest heat rubs and painkillers should solve the problem, I had this type off pain in my right foot for months before it broke.

I know diabetes effects the nerves in the feet and you can loss the feeling.
i am wondering if the pain in my feet is caused by the diabetes and is there anything i can do or is it my weight and i need to keep working to loss more of the weight.

Thanks for any advice

Iain
 
hiiii,

first off poor you for all those breaks to your foot!! what a pain in more ways than one that must of been!!

the problem with diabetes and extremitie is that as the nerves get damaged and loss of feeling occurs you dont feel things when you bang around causing bruising cuts and breaks which also because of diabetes can take a while to heal sometimes causing infection which takes even longer to heal sometimes causing loss of limbs in extreme cases!!!

im no expert so i cant tell you how it is but i can offer my opinion and i think without being offensive due to your weight has possibly lead to your joints and bones weakening therefore easier to break, and healing slowly due to diabetes and easily re-broken and you enter a cycle you can't seem to break :(

if your foot doesnt improve make sure you go back and have it re-x-rayed as fractures and breaks can eaily be missed and due to your history thats the last thing your poor feet need!

i think you should carry on with acheiving good weight loss... theres more confidence to be had!!! and im sure you may find as you do your medication will go down.. youll have less stress on your bones and feet and of course any other health problems go down and allsorts of good things will come!!... three stone is a hell of an acheivement in my eyes from the weight you mention you wre at so well done it can only get better.. (as your foot does im guessing!)

good luck.. hope it really isnt broken :)
 
Here I can add something helpful, which no-one has brought up.

Bone, when healthy goes through a cycle of demineralisation and re-mineralisation. This process is very Vitamin D dependent, but doesn't work properly in cases of diabetic neuropathy. Feet are very complex in structure and if bones break repeatedly, can heal up very distorted. Making it necessary for the NHS to provide the shoes.( about £550 a pair) This is the basis of Charcot feet.
Anyone diabetic suffering repeated breaks should see a specialist. One good sign here is the pain. In severe neuropathy, that might not be there.
Ask to see the orthopedic department. If you get no co-operation on this, the refer yourself to the podiatrists( you have this right. So just call them) and they can put you in to the right chain of events. In the meantime, a top up of vitamin D3 wouldn't hurt.
Good luck and conratulations on the weight loss, It will help.
 
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