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Type 2 Neuropathy in feet

C

chevy57

Member
Messages
19
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi, I’m a type 2 and have always struggled to control my blood sugars. I have now developed some neuropathy in my feet and wondered if any one has any advice. Also does anyone use a foot massager/vibrating pad and does this help. I would appreciate any advice, thank you
 
I had neuropathy post diagnosis in both my left thigh & mild in both feet.
Getting my BG under control resolved all issues but it took nearly a year.

How bad are your numbers ?
Taking medication or using devices for pain may only delay further deterioration.

What is preventing you controlling your blood glucose ?
 
I've just purchased a RENPHO Hand Held Deep Tissue Massager from Amazon UK because I have arthritis, and so far absolutely love it. It was on offer to Amazon prime members for slightly under £26. It is a bit heavy but I manage to reach the base of my spine and work on that, and also use it on my legs and thighs, and it is definitely helping with pain levels. I also was experiencing tingling in my legs when in bed and that appears to have improved.

For an outlay of £26 it is definitely worth a try. Look it up on Amazon and read all the reviews.
 
I was going to start a thread about diabetic neuropathy and saw this. I'm getting itchiness in my left foot and the lower leg which is starting to make me feel very down. I'm also getting random itchiness in the right foot as well as occassional random itching on my head and body. The left foot is itching nearly all the time and is driving me crazy. The random itchiness elsewhere is only occassional and I can't work out if it is real or psychological.

I've been on Metformin since 2015 but had my dosage upped to 2000 mg earlier this year as my hba1c was 81. I have now reduced that to 51 (blood test 2 weeks ago) and am looking to get it even lower. My blood sugar is usually between 6 and 7 on my meter. I test every day but need to get that reading down.

If I get my blood sugars down to 5 to 6 is there any chance that the itching will stop? It seems to have worsened in recent weeks but maybe I'm just noticing it more. It is on my mind all day. Ronancastled, above, indicated he had a similar problem which is now resolved. I had thought that once you got itching or pain that it would never get better.

I had a heart attack earlier this year and have been walking a lot to lose weight. I wonder if this has caused some of the foot problems? I've lost 1½ stone this year and had hoped my health in general would improve. I've not walked much this week and it hasn't really made much difference.

I've got an appointment with my diabetic nurse on Monday morning but is there anything she can actually do to help?

Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
Robbie64 said:
If I get my blood sugars down to 5 to 6 is there any chance that the itching will stop? It seems to have worsened in recent weeks but maybe I'm just noticing it more. It is on my mind all day. Ronancastled, above, indicated he had a similar problem which is now resolved. I had thought that once you got itching or pain that it would never get better.
Click to expand...

Mine started post diagnosis & regularising of BG.
It manifested as tingling then a sensation I can only describe as feeling my feet were in buckets of warm water.
I published my symptoms on another forum where someone suggested it was the growth of new nerves that was causing these sensations.
They were able to link to a study where recently diagnosed T1s had regularised their BG with insulin & this kicked off their neuropathy.
We don't feel the gradual numbness which is slow & incremental with elevated BG.
It's the return of sensation that can be a shock to the system.
In any case the candidates in that study took 18 months for the neuropathy to heel.
Body is an amazing machine that can repair itself once things haven't gone too far.
 
^
thanks for the reply. I'll just have to wait and see what the diabetic nurse says on Monday.
 
chevy57 said:
Hi, I’m a type 2 and have always struggled to control my blood sugars. I have now developed some neuropathy in my feet and wondered if any one has any advice. Also does anyone use a foot massager/vibrating pad and does this help. I would appreciate any advice, thank you
Click to expand...
I had severe neuropathy in both feet - this was before being officially diagnosed and still in "pre-diabetic" territory. Too painful to sleep, that sort of thing. I was taking naproxen for gout around this time, about five years ago, and it seemed to help a bit with the neuropathy as well, although I think it only masked the pain rather than dealing with it. Since getting back to normal BG levels, the tingling has reduced by about 95% - to the point where it no longer really bothers me.
 
Thanks Kenny. That's given me some hope that I can reduce the tingling / itching by continuing to look after my BG levels. Today the itching is not as bad but it is like this sometimes but at other times the itching can get very troublesome.

The strangest thing is that the itching became a problem when my BG levels dropped to more acceptable levels. In fact the itching became a problem around the exact same time my BG levels fell. Hopefully as a result I can keep the problem in check.

One thing that I'm curious about is that the problems also really started when I started going for longer walks as the weather got warmer. At first I thought I was just walking too much as my feet were aching and felt tired / hot rather than itching. Many years ago I had a similar problem caused by problems with the arches in my foot (plantar fasciitis) and I had to rest up my foot for a while until the problem eased and swelling went down. This time I rested up and started itching like crazy after a couple of days. I can't imagine that walking would bring on or make worse diabetic neuropathy so it must have been a case of incredibly bad timing.
 
Can vigorous exercising for the first time in your life also cause the insides of legs to feel itchy? I have noticed I feel like my muscles itch after a hardcore spin session (noticeable in the nights).
 
Robbie64 said:
Thanks Kenny. That's given me some hope that I can reduce the tingling / itching by continuing to look after my BG levels. Today the itching is not as bad but it is like this sometimes but at other times the itching can get very troublesome.

The strangest thing is that the itching became a problem when my BG levels dropped to more acceptable levels. In fact the itching became a problem around the exact same time my BG levels fell. Hopefully as a result I can keep the problem in check.

One thing that I'm curious about is that the problems also really started when I started going for longer walks as the weather got warmer. At first I thought I was just walking too much as my feet were aching and felt tired / hot rather than itching. Many years ago I had a similar problem caused by problems with the arches in my foot (plantar fasciitis) and I had to rest up my foot for a while until the problem eased and swelling went down. This time I rested up and started itching like crazy after a couple of days. I can't imagine that walking would bring on or make worse diabetic neuropathy so it must have been a case of incredibly bad timing.
Click to expand...

I’ve had itching when I’ve walked for an hour…I thought maybe it was because I’m not used to walking but maybe I’m showing signs of neuropathy
 
HurricaneHippo said:
Can vigorous exercising for the first time in your life also cause the insides of legs to feel itchy? I have noticed I feel like my muscles itch after a hardcore spin session (noticeable in the nights).
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if we are allowed to post links but I did a google search (not always the best thing to do!) and found something called "Runner's Itch" which is described as "Runner’s itch is a sensation that occurs in people who run or do strenuous exercise. There are several causes of this itchy feeling on the skin when exercising. Typically, itchiness and allergic symptoms appear on the stomach and legs, though they can show up on any area of the body.". If we are allowed to post the link I will (it is to a reputable site) but basically it happens when people aren't used to exercising.

If you don't exercise for a few days, does the itchiness go away?
 
Robbie64 said:
I'm not sure if we are allowed to post links but I did a google search (not always the best thing to do!) and found something called "Runner's Itch" which is described as "Runner’s itch is a sensation that occurs in people who run or do strenuous exercise. There are several causes of this itchy feeling on the skin when exercising. Typically, itchiness and allergic symptoms appear on the stomach and legs, though they can show up on any area of the body.". If we are allowed to post the link I will (it is to a reputable site) but basically it happens when people aren't used to exercising.

If you don't exercise for a few days, does the itchiness go away?
Click to expand...


Yep, I don’t have it today (fasting today) and I didn’t have it yesterday when I took it easy on the bike. Not sure if that’s just a coincidence or if neuropathy can come and go as well?
 
Fingers crossed that it's just the exercise. If it keeps coming back when you exercise maybe it is something you can mention to your GP or nurse?
 
Robbie64 said:
Thanks Kenny. That's given me some hope that I can reduce the tingling / itching by continuing to look after my BG levels. Today the itching is not as bad but it is like this sometimes but at other times the itching can get very troublesome.

The strangest thing is that the itching became a problem when my BG levels dropped to more acceptable levels. In fact the itching became a problem around the exact same time my BG levels fell. Hopefully as a result I can keep the problem in check.

One thing that I'm curious about is that the problems also really started when I started going for longer walks as the weather got warmer. At first I thought I was just walking too much as my feet were aching and felt tired / hot rather than itching. Many years ago I had a similar problem caused by problems with the arches in my foot (plantar fasciitis) and I had to rest up my foot for a while until the problem eased and swelling went down. This time I rested up and started itching like crazy after a couple of days. I can't imagine that walking would bring on or make worse diabetic neuropathy so it must have been a case of incredibly bad timing.
Click to expand...
This is all part of the wonderful world of diabetes. For example: my symptoms started over ten years ago, and were pretty bad - oedema, neuropathy, weight gain, etc. Despite this, doc told me I certainly wasn't diabetic as my BG wasn't high enough. OK, I thought, if I'm definitely not diabetic then there's no point to doing anything related to diabetes. Roll forward to 2019 - suddenly I am diabetic after all, because I've passed the arbitrary 48 reading. So I cut carbs and in four months my BGs were normal and most of the current symptoms gone or reduced. But along come several completely new symptoms - sticky mouth was one, heavy night sweats another - known diabetic symptoms that started only after I was back in normal range. They lasted a week or two and then faded away. The night sweats annoyingly recur every so often, don't know why. The moral of the story - I think - is that it takes quite a bit of time for your system to adjust and settle into a new level, and the fact that things like BG levels are changing (even in the right direction) sets off some symptoms.
 
I had athlete's foot, tingling in hands and finger extremities and leg cramps, amongst other complications. I walked through the pain of that and the lower back pain.

The reward with better eating, is 100% resolution of all complications in my case. It may not work for everyone, but Sarah Halberg was right, do the opposite of what "they" advise. Outside of the scope of this thread, I have done the opposite in many areas and been pleased with the results. I did go all in, on some days I was doing 2 static bike sessions of 45 mins at high intensity to get the sugar out, any such levels should be advised and monitored by a health professional (I had my wife).
 
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