Anybody have any other advise on how to help cope with it
Hi
@artfuldodger my very limited understanding is the brain misinterpreting the lack of input from nerves in the extremities as cold or pain as its trying to replace the lack of information with past experiences and absence of expected signals.
However there are also physical symptoms which fly in the face of this, my fingers are cold because they are cold.
I can measure this with a thermometer, this is empirical. There is no misinterpreting this sensation for pain my brain barely registers any discomfort. I often don't notice it.
My feet on the other hand are often painfully cold although not cold to the touch. Its worse at night.
What makes both of these things worse, both feet and hands, is coming into contact with anything cold. Simply a cold floor even with slippers, holding a cold glass of water, or a cool mattress at night, used to love that feeling.
Your post doesn't mention any issues with hands so some things I find help a little, when ever possible my feet insulated from the floor, not elevated just off the floor. Changing into different pairs of shoes throughout the day & multiple pairs of slippers seems to help
maybe its just a placebo effect or more likely at times I can physical feel the soles of my shoes are cold to the touch perhaps not insulating my feet as well as I think.
Realising I have been sat in front of the keyboard or TV for to long and getting up and moving around for a bit helps. This also
work a bit at night when I have trouble sleeping.
A hot water bottle at the bottom of the mattress to take the chill of, even in summer.
You said your GP issued amitriptyline 10mg for night times to help.
Same here with the instruction to keep upping the dosage until I found a level that managed the pain effectively.
Perhaps that's something you should check with your GP.
You don't say how long you have been on 10mg for it can take month before you feel the desired effects. There are people on here that have had success by reducing blood sugars,
@KennyA has spoken about it recently on a couple of other posts.
For me I didn't like the side effects of amitriptyline, instead I am working on moving around more and simply trying myself out expending some energy , through increased activate through the day, so I can fall asleep more easily at nights.
Seems to be helping.
