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T2: Does anyone have experience of leg pain/tingling

R

Roy V

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Diagnosed with T2 in May. Shortly afterwards had x2 AZ Covid jabs. Before AZ jabs had only 'numb toes'. Immediately after AZ jabs experienced pain throughout both legs but, more recently the leg sensations have become 'tingles' in the shins, ankles and feet only. Simultaneously, I have been following a low carb / high veg / high protein diet. Prescribed 50mg metformin 2x daily.
Are the changes to the sensations in my legs/feet normal for newly diagnosed T2 patients who have been prescribed metformin and who carefully follow a low carb food regime and exercise regularly? OR should I and my doctors be concerned about potential side-effects of AZ Covid jabs?
 
Are you testing? What do your BG levels look like? Seems pretty odd if you’re in range.
 
Hi and welcome to the club you didn't want to join. Short answer is it could be many things. I found that, as my BG came down, some symptoms went away entirely, some reduced a lot, and some new ones appeared, usually only for a short time. I have wondered if there are two things going on: one being the reaction to high BG, and the other a reaction to change (raising or lowering) in BG. I have never been on Metformin so have no relevant experience of that. However I have had 2x AZ jabs for a few months now and, while I have had some unpleasant and recurring reactions, haven't had anything like the tingles you describe.
 
You say your diet is low carb/high protein, but you didn't mention fat? Just a thought that you may have a lack there?
 
Hi @Roy V
It isn't uncommon to get the symptoms you describe as blood glucose changes and the body takes its time in adjusting to those changes, But your symptoms may well be something else, so if they persist consult your GP.

Are you testing tour Blood Glucose? I ask this because Low Carb is a broad church. My low Carb is tailored to the amount of carbs and the specific carby foods that my body can handle (only known by testing with my self-funded BG meter. In general Low Carb could be anything from 130gms of carbs per day at the high end down to 0 carbs per day at the low end. Anything below 20gms per day is known as Keto - though some people get into ketosis while eating as many as 40 to 50gms of carbs per day.

If you don't have a BG meter then I suggest you get one of the most popular ones on the 2 main UK Diabetes forums :
Either the TEE2 from Spirit healthcare (as I did).
Or the SD Gluco Navii (which is a replacement for the older SD CodeFree).

These are reasonably priced and their test strips (the main cost until you know which foods are best for you) cost around £8 for a pot of 50. You will need 3 pots (150 test strips) to get you started on testing before meals and then 2hrs after first bite.

I also suggest you read this (if haven't already): The Nutritional Thingy. | Diabetes Forum • The Global Diabetes Community :
 

I have tingling and tremors Roy. It's been 4 yrs. approx. It's difficult to diagnose because of so many other possible causes. Also, drs. seem as puzzled as I am It started in my lower back, and I suspected nerve entrapment for example, but there are so many other possible triggers. I have inner tremors and tingling in my feet, hands, lower inner mouth, bowel, when I move my body in bed, torso, but not neck, arms, thighs, or face. I take insulin, metformin, and glyclazide. It's a mystery.
 
coby said:
You say your diet is low carb/high protein, but you didn't mention fat? Just a thought that you may have a lack there?
Click to expand...
I’ve not got to the stage of calorie counting yet. Ive cut out fried food of all types, my carbs are restricted to brown rice, wholemeal pasta, porridge and sourdough bread and carbs are ltd to 25% of my plate surface, protein is from eggs, fish, poultry and red meat x2pw. Veg always takes up 50% of my main meal plate. Lunch is a salad & cooked meat or soup and sandwich, only apples between meals, dessert is Greek yogurt and various berries. Drinks ltd to tap water and decaff tea and coffees skimmed milk only. BG is coming down; 5.6 1st thing this morning and 6.4 last night. Exercise is usually about 45 mins static bike and weights p/d. Lost 13 kgs since April.
 
That is NOT a low carbohydrate diet. The nonsense about brown rice and wholemeal pasta is part of the guff pushed on us by the NHS. Brown rice is carbs. Wholemeal pasta is carbs. Porridge is carbs. Sourdough bread is carbs. Even if the carbohydrates are 25% of your plate surface, you are clearly following the standard "balanced macro" diet pushed by the NHS - this has nothing to do with a low-carbohydrate diet for diabetics. Cut all of those things out TOTALLY.

Sandwich - is carbs. Apples - are carbs. Skimmed milk has the same amount of carbs in as whole milk.

Yes, pains and tingling up the leg - are nothing to do with the AstraZeneca - they are a T2 symptom. I have had all of those, and scratching and itching the legs, etc. When I got my FGB down from 11.8 to 7.8, they stopped. Everyone is different, and your blood sugars are under better control, it seems, but yes those leg symptoms are not unusual.

It is easier to lose weight following the standard recommended diet (high in carbs), as there are many products prepared for it. I'm trying to follow a lowish calorie diet with few carbs. My favourite meal is prawn rogan josh. Half a bag of frozen veg in the pan, and then a whole jar of Rogan Josh (Sharwoods; lower-calorie than most other Indian curries and pastes), and then a couple of hundred grams of frozen prawns ordered from King Crab. No rice. No poppadums.
 
Oddly, I have found that I get tingles in the feet when my blood glucose level is at its lowest (in the 7s now) - when it's at the highest level for me currently (in the low 9s) the tingling subsides.

I think it's a reaction to either the metformin working, or the blood sugar change (as opposed to pure level) that triggers this sensation, in me anyway.

I've had this from the start (when my levels were very high but there were no tingles until I started to bring my levels down - and when I did start to feel discomfort I blamed the metformin) but it's only been more recently that I've noted the pattern.
 
 
Well I have to say that if I ate what you are eating Roy, then I would NOT feel anywhere near as healthy as I do right now. Just like you, I too also tried the Diabetic advice of switching to wholemeal versions but my tingling got worse (mine was in the hands though) When I came back to this site 5 weeks ago I kicked out ALL carbs apart from a minimal amount, skipped breakfast, ate to my meter to test for rises, and did the intermittent fasts but ranging from the highest of about 20/21 down to 15 hour fasts. I can now get up off the lawn after clipping the edges without a big struggle , walk upstairs without my heart protesting, fit into clothes a size smaller after losing 14 lbs and have no desire for anything sweet or stodgy. But the best thing is that the tingling has completely disappeared as well as my horrible pounding heart sensations
 
Apologies RoyV ... I replied in the wrong place!
 
May I ask why you have cut out all fried foods? We need to seriously reduce our carb intake and increase our natural fats - animal fats unless you happen to be a Vegan. A good breakfast or lunch for us T2 diabetics is bacon, eggs, a high meat content sausage, a tomato and mushrooms. Porridge is not a good idea for most of us, and cereals certainly aren't. The worst foods for us are bread of any colour, pasta of any sort, rice of any colour, potatoes, pastry, and anything made with or containing ordinary flour. There is no need to count calories. It is carbs you must count. It does seem you have been following the NHS advice, which is not the correct advice.

Are you testing before you eat and again 2 hours after first bite? This is the best way to test until you are satisfied you are getting things right. The rise from before to after should be no more than 2mmol, preferably less.

See your GP if you are at all worried about the tingling. I had 2 A-Z vaccines with no reactions such as you describe.
 


Love a curry, that rogan Josh idea sounds divine, I must try this. Kinda assumed Indian food was out of the question with a no carb diet. Yummy
 

I have the tingling and needling and numbness and what have you after being diagnosed less than a month ago with T2 after contracting Covid this April. I have been taking medications for Vitamin D and B-12 deficiency and also Omega 3 supplements. The tingling and needling have become less prominent. I'm not on any meds and trying to maintain a high fat low carb diet. It's been a challenge being a vegetarian though. Two of my brothers also got diabetes after contracting Covid in April with me.
 
HurricaneHippo said:
Love a curry, that rogan Josh idea sounds divine, I must try this. Kinda assumed Indian food was out of the question with a no carb diet. Yummy
Click to expand...

I should be clear in a whole jar of Sharwoods Rogan Josh there are 26g of carbs, but it is the only carbohydrate I have all day (and you could also just have half a jar, with 13g, for a meal).

https://groceries.store.morrisons.com/products/100414569/details

If you have 200g of the following frozen vegetables in the Rogan Josh, then that would be another 6.8g of carbs:

https://groceries.store.morrisons.com/products/104896753/details

Breakfast: egg and bacon

Lunch: chicken leg or slices of lamb

Dinner; prawn rogan josh

I don't do proper cooking, so these are not fancy meals, but it's one way of keeping the carbohydrate count down.

It kind of depends on how many grams of carbs you allow yourself a day. 33g is very low and so you can squeeze in the Rogan Josh meal like that. I think there is room for debate as to how low a low-carb diet is. If you go zero carb, then that is something different again.

Brown rice the OP eats has MORE carbohydrates in than white rice. That's a fact. The reasons the NHS suggests brown rice have nothing to do with cutting carbs. A portion of brown rice has around 45g of carbs in it. Then if you're having a sandwich, apples, pasta, sourdough bread as well, then that easily goes over 200g of carbs a day.
 
Languagelearner said:
Shiraz, getting diabetes and getting Covid are not linked though....
Click to expand...

I have been researching. I don't know. We all got Covid and were in isolation. I'm not overweight and walked 10000 steps every day. It could be the tension that might have spiked our blood sugar. None of us had any history of raised blood sugar.

There have been credible reports of the virus attacking the Beta cells and people getting type 1 after contracting Covid.
 
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