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Tingley feet and fingers

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M

Mini

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Type 2
can anyone help, I have a tingling feeling in some of my fingers, and in my feet with a tight sensation around my ankles, the dr keep telling me it is artheritis, but we have a 6 month waiting list at my local hospital, but I am not convinced this what it is, i am type 2 which I was diagnosed with 3 years ago, my sugar control hba1c is 67 trying hard to get this down any help would be much appreciated, I take 1000mg metformin and empagliflozin 10mg
 
Mini said:
can anyone help, I have a tingling feeling in some of my fingers, and in my feet with a tight sensation around my ankles, the dr keep telling me it is artheritis, but we have a 6 month waiting list at my local hospital, but I am not convinced this what it is, i am type 2 which I was diagnosed with 3 years ago, my sugar control hba1c is 67 trying hard to get this down any help would be much appreciated, I take 1000mg metformin and empagliflozin 10mg
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It could very well be arthritis Mini but when I has similar symptoms, I went through all the tests on my back, spine, MRI scans etc. and it was only getting my BG levels under control and losing some weight that helped. I do have issues with arthritis, but those symptoms were different and I think you sense yours are too. I hope you can manage to improve your overall control because although I know it's hard (and I find that too), it's so worth it. If he thinks it's arthritis, have you been given anything to help like anti-inflammatories?
Good luck!
 
Would any of your symptoms be due to lack of vit B?
 
It could also be B12 deficiency. If they have not done a test they should do so. Ask for a copy of the results because even if you are right at the bottom of the range (something like 180 - 800) they will still say you are OK but if it is nearer 180 than it is 800 then you know it is probably that.
 
That's a point - and Metformin can actually cause a deficiency/make it worse.
 
I know a lot of people who get thee symptoms with arthritis. Might also be peripheral neuropathy (which isn't always painful) or carpel tunnel syndrome. If you need more reassurance go back to the doctor and have a chat and tell him you are worried.
 
Your symptoms, particularly in the feet, are absolutely typical neuropathy symptoms. Yes, very low B12 can cause such a neuropathy, but looking for that is kind of ignoring the obvious. You have diabetes, you have symptoms of neuropathy. The cause is almost certainly the diabetes.

Do you have a diabetes nurse who could advise you on getting that HbA1c down?
 
If it's within range, you can't be getting any signs or symptoms of B12 deficiency, and it cannot possibly be the cause of your problems.
 
MikeyB, that is a problems with doctors thinking like that. I have diabetes and everything is put down to me having diabetes. Any symptom I have - it's diabetes. It is all too easy to take it for granted that it must be the diabetes. However it has been discovered that I have Pernicious Anemia and also hypothyroidism both of which have similar symptoms to diabetes but it was just by luck that these things were found, if not they would still be blaming the diabetes.
 
I wouldn't disagree with that Lillian, but with a b12 in the normal range, and an HbA1c significantly raised, which would you think might be a cause? Medicine is, after all, about probabilities, not speculation.
 
Mini said:
can anyone help, I have a tingling feeling in some of my fingers, and in my feet with a tight sensation around my ankles, the dr keep telling me it is artheritis, but we have a 6 month waiting list at my local hospital, but I am not convinced this what it is, i am type 2 which I was diagnosed with 3 years ago, my sugar control hba1c is 67 trying hard to get this down any help would be much appreciated, I take 1000mg metformin and empagliflozin 10mg
Click to expand...
Hi Mini, I'm sorry to hear this :( How long have you been having the tingling sensations? There is a condition known as 'transient neuropathy' which people can get from time to time if their blood sugar levels have been running on the high side - with improved control, the symptoms often disappear. Are you able to test your blood sugar levels at home so that you can monitor the ups and downs yourself?

Regarding the B12 test, when was it last tested? Don't let your GP brush you off without offering a way forward - if necessary, see a different GP for a second opinion 🙂
 
Up to a point I agree with you Mikey. It does seem obvious. Don't the doctors say if you have the symptoms of a horse don't look for the Zebra (or something like that). However in my case it was the Zebra. I had the most awful tingling and numbness in both hands every morning. It was very distressing. I ended up seeing a private doctor who did tests that the NHS very rarely do, especially as my TSH was at a very good number. It looked like it just had to be the diabetes. However the private doctor found I was lacking in a certain thyroid hormone (NHS very reluctant to prescribe as it is costly) and once he prescribed it the numbness and tingling went. A few years later my GP told me to stop taking it. Within days the numbness came back (amongst other symptoms). Obviously I went back to taking the hormone again. I am just saying although it is most probably diabetes and in maybe 99 cases out of 100 it would be, not to rule out other things that have similar symptoms. I once asked my GP if I had a certain condition. He dismissed it with the words that he did not think so because it was very rare. I pointed out to him I have a rare blood group, but I have it, that it is rare to win the lottery but someone does. He changed his mind and tested me. He was right of course, I didn't have it.
 
mikeyB said:
You have diabetes, you have symptoms of neuropathy. The cause is almost certainly the diabetes.
Click to expand...
This is just playing percentages. My GP and other doctors have tried this several times, sometimes he's right but more often he's wrong and there are too many variables to trust the logic behind it.

I don't know what tests you need Mini but I wouldn't just accept it is neuropathy caused by the diabetes without having them first.
 
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