T1 for 24 years, burning skin feeling.

[SiGreenwood]

Quick question.
I've been type 1 for 24 years and always had reasonably good control although in the first 10 ish years I probably swung high to low a lot without knowing. As far as I am aware I don't have any Diabetes related problems and i attend all the clinics etc to monitor me. Lately (Sept '09) I went on a pump and my last A1C's have been 5% and 5.5%, previously they were around 6% to 6.5%. It's very rare that I get a BG of more than 8.5 even after meals, my 30 day average is 5.6 and I'm generally quite fit, I run and cycle and my BMI is ideal. I taker Thyroxine and Insulin (Apidra) but nothing else.
Anyway I keep getting this burning problem in my right arm and shoulder. It comes and goes sometimes for a day and sometimes for a week but I can't put it down to anything. It feels just like sunburn.
I have in the past year had a few funnies where I got a pinched feeling in my fingers but that went away and the specialist put it down to slight nerve damage healing due to my better control, I also had the same with my toes but that came and has all but gone as well.
The specialist is at a loss as to what this burning could be and when I asked if it could be Diabetes related he seemed to think not mainly due to my good control, that it was predominantely on the right hand side of my body only and that it would have started at the extremities first. The other strange thing about it is that the better my control, the more I get it.

So my question is does anyone else have this kind of feeling at all and if so is it Diabetes related or something else?

TIA?

 

[joelcam]

Not heard of anything like this before but to quote something I saw on someone's signature on this site "Not everything in life is about diabetes", so perhaps it's something totally unrelated..

Could even be something as simple as using a different washing powder etc?

JC

 

[noblehead]

Si,

There is a condition 'Complex Regional Pain Syndrome' that does sound very similar to the symptom's you are experiencing, although do be warned that gp's knowledge of this condition can be very vague and they are reluctant to diagnose this condition without the intervention of a specialist.

My wife had surgery for tennis elbow in her arm about 10 years ago, after which she developed pain and a burning sensation in the arm, so bad that she could not bear to have clothes touching her skin, after seeing two different consultants she was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome. More often this condition develops when there has been a trauma to the body, or can come about after surgery. The condition effects the nerves in the joint/limb and can get progressively worse over time, but there are drugs available that limit the severity of the pain/burning sensation.

Take a look at the following link and see if this sounds familiar to what you are experiencing:

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/refl ... trophy.htm

Nigel

 

[SiGreenwood]

Thanks for the replies, it's a real mystery as to what it could be. I suppose I do put any sort of funny feeling down to my Diabetes but JC is right, it could be anything. Over the last few days the burning has all but gone but I've been here before, it will flare up again some time soon. I think I'll plan in a visit to the GP and see if we can start looking into it. I did wonder if it could be food related or something like that.

 

[goji]

Hi Si

How are things thyroid-wise?

I have had terrible neuropathic problems related to my underactive thyroid not being properly treated. These manifest as numbness and prickling in my fingers and toes. Better treatment alleviates the nerve problems.

Also frozen shoulder can be caused by hypothyroidism.

Doctors always immediately attribute nerve problems to diabetes - but it is worth considering other causes.

 

[SiGreenwood]

Goji I'm on Thyroxine and have been for years. As far as I know I take the correct amount although I'm due some blood tests soon so they should flag up if my Thyroxine dose needs changing. It's interesting that you raise Thyroid problems as being a potential cause of nerve problems because I went for a nerve conduction test last August when I was getting problems with my fingers and the nurse performing the tests said that Thyroid problems can give similar sensations as Carpal tunnel syndrome and peripheral neuropathy.

As it happenms I haven't had any burning for the last 5 or 6 days so hopefully i'm starting to turn a corner.

 

[squishee]

Hi there,

I experienced a very similar thing about a year ago - incredibly sensitive skin, like sunburn, but mine was on the top of my left thigh. It got so bad that wearing clothes was painful, and my cat got very put out as I couldn't have him on my lap
I went to my GP, and he diagnosed it as a pinching in the nerve that runs from your spine down your leg, and that it would probably wear off in a few weeks. The condition had a name, but I can't remember it now!
It did wear off eventually, took a few months as opposed to weeks though. In fact I think it only started to wear off when the weather cooled down.
Anyway, I'm not saying that this is what you have, but it may be worth mentioning it to your GP? It wasn't diabetes related apparently, but may be worth noting that it started with me around the same time that I started to take control of my diabetes.

I found that rubbing ibuprofen gel into the skin helped a little.