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Toe cramps and shin pain

Messages
14
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Non-insulin injectable medication (incretin mimetics)
I could do with some advice on feet I was diagnosed with being diabetic last month with blood sugars in the high 30s Not sure If im type 1 or 2 as I cant seem to get a straight answer from my GP or Nurse they say they aren't sure yet but my BS is down to 5.s now with low carbs and no sugar so the meds and diet are working at the moment but my main problem is I have terrible cramps in my toes almost daily and my balance has got a little unstable and the tips of my toes go numb sometimes is this down to just being diabetic or could it be another problem ?
 
Hi and welcome!

Congrats on getting your blood glucose under such good control so quickly!

There could be lots of things going on, to give you those symptoms, and I can't comment on most of them. However, cramps are a very frequent side effect of going low carb, and are usually fairly easily sorted.

When we cut down carbs, several things happen. Firstly we often dramatically reduce the amount of salt in our diet, because there is lots of salt in bread and potato, etc. Secondly, our body switches the way our kidney's work, and we often flush out any fluid retention - and at the same time, salt gets flushed out too.

The result can be cramps (depending on how much salt you used to eat, and how much is flushed away).

You can test if this is happening to you by doing a few simple things.
- add some extra salt to your food
- or drink a cup or two of Bovril a day (I use a good quality stock cube, dissolved in water and drunk as a soup).

If your cramps disappear, then the salt flushing is probably what is happening.
No need to over do it though. You probably don't need to add more than half a stock cube a day. The ones I use are 4.5 g in 500mls of hot water. So I drink half one day, and half the next = approx 2 g a day, which provides more than enough extra salt.

There is plenty of info (and debate) on salt on LC, all over the forum and the internet, if you have a search. But just bear in mind that a lot of the advice on cutting salt down is aimed at people who don't eat low carb.

I also find that potassium and magnesium supplements (in small doses, bought on the high street) also help, because I have tendency to cramp in hot weather, when we perspire more.
 
I do enjoy a banana and on average have three a day so that should help with the potassium intake never been one for salt so maybe thats why cutting back on some of the things I did enjoy may have stripped my salt intake right down and thank you for the advice x
 
I do enjoy a banana and on average have three a day so that should help with the potassium intake never been one for salt so maybe thats why cutting back on some of the things I did enjoy may have stripped my salt intake right down and thank you for the advice x

No worries! Hope it helps.

But if you are having up to three bananas a day, I would suggest you check your blood glucose after each one - a lot of people on here find that bananas cause our blood glucose to spike badly, due to their carb content.

I used to enjoy them too, but had to give them up for this reason...

It is worth checking your BG reaction to all fruit, actually. Many of us can only tolerate the low carb ones, which are berries, and sometimes apples and pears. Then a few of us are fine with most if not all. The tropical fruits are much higher sugar than the ones that grow further north.

Good luck with getting the T1/T2 question sorted. Have you managed to get them to run the extra tests to confirm which you are?
 
It does spike a little but the Amaryl Meds I take drop me to 3.4 ect so I use the Banana to lift them into the 5s again and as for testing I think that will be sooner then later last month they just wanted my BS down even pushing for a hospital visit but I declined and brought it down with the help of the meds
 
ah. I see.
Maybe you could have a chat with someone about adjusting the meds downwards to match your new carb intake.

But since I am a T2 on diet and excerise, no Diabetic meds, then I am really not qualified to comment on a T1's carb/med balancing act.

Maybe things will be clearer when they give you a definitive diagnosis. :)
 
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