leg and foot issue, advice please

[CosmicHedgehog]

Hi all, i have been having pain in my leg (mainly my calf and back of ankle) and my foot, I have PN but i think this has progressed in this leg to something more. I just cannot keep my foot warm at all, without some form of outide warmth like a heat pack. I am being careful with the heat packs as i don't want to cause further problems. It really is very painful too. I'm worried about peripheral artery desiese. I have been a type 1 for 30 years (not always with the best control, although much better these days than my teenage years.) does anyone have this and could explain thier symptoms and what treatment they are on please. I wasn't going to phone the doctor due to NHS being under such a strain at the moment but thinking in the last couple of days i really need to as its def getting worse. what do you guys think please?

 

[mark king]

Hello Becky.
WARNING - I'm NOT a doctor
I have had issues with my Right big toe having blistered then ulcerated and took over 6 month to heal requiring weekly visits to have it treated. All is well now.
I would advise you get in touch with your local Podiatry dept., I was able to go direct to them but you may have to get referred to them by your doctor. They are the experts in this field and were able to get me X-rayed have a consultant visit me and are also attached to my diabetic clinic.
I would definitely get your leg looked at as if you are suffering from feeling cold then that is pointing at a circulatory difficulty. Your Doctor would advise on any medication additions/changes, I'm on a variety of tablets myself.

Do go and get checked over the sooner the better.

Best

 

[grovesy]

Hi all, i have been having pain in my leg (mainly my calf and back of ankle) and my foot, I have PN but i think this has progressed in this leg to something more. I just cannot keep my foot warm at all, without some form of outide warmth like a heat pack. I am being careful with the heat packs as i don't want to cause further problems. It really is very painful too. I'm worried about peripheral artery desiese. I have been a type 1 for 30 years (not always with the best control, although much better these days than my teenage years.) does anyone have this and could explain thier symptoms and what treatment they are on please. I wasn't going to phone the doctor due to NHS being under such a strain at the moment but thinking in the last couple of days i really need to as its def getting worse. what do you guys think please?

Contact your Dr.

 

[Flower]

Contact your GP. The high risk foot clinic I attend is cancelled and the advice from the podiatry team in case of emergency is to contact my GP.

 

[CosmicHedgehog]

Update: i contacted my GP after speaking to my dsn, And explained what the dsn said. she spoke to podiatry for advice then got back to me and told me to contact gp for a referal. She said that i would need referal to the vascula team, so i spoke to GP and got shouted at for asking for a referal and that if the dsn wants to make clinical desisions she should send him a letter. I get they are under pressure and i didn't want to make a fuss.. so i appologised for phoning and i will leave it at that i wish i hadn't bothered

 

[mark king]

I'm a bit surprised your Dr is making decisions without even seeing you but I'd at least get your DSN to send him a letter that way something is in writing.

Regards

 

[Flower]

How is the pain in your leg and ankle today @CosmicHedgehog ? I’d go back to your DSN and ask for a letter to the GP, hospitals are running emergency clinics such as vascular, fracture etc . Other problems still need assessing. I hope you’re ok today.

 

[KARNAK]

Hi @CosmicHedgehog I am in a similar position, suffer from DPN in both lower legs and feet. There is no respite from it the nerves are damaged although the blood flow is very good, cold feet is part of the condition as time goes on especially at night in bed. I have a hypothermal blanket issued by the hospital and I use two extra blankets on top of that plus bed socks the bottom of my bed looks like a bunker. I think like other members go back to the DSN and get that letter sent to the Dr and hope you get some response, I have been treated very well over this condition including Neurological and Electrical conductivity tests.

Its very unfortunate your condition has become more aggravated at a time like this and I feel for you, I have been prescribed with a cocktail of capsules and although they don't take the pain away they certainly calm it to an acceptable level. BGL`s are crucial to be kept under control the higher they get the worse it is, I am not a medical person in any shape or form all the info is from my own situation but with a lot of personal research behind it.

I hope this may help you, you can always PM me if you would like more details please take care and stay safe.

 

[Annette&Bert]

I find that I really stress myself over things which I automatically assume are diabetic related, when in fact they may not be.
I think I'm becoming neurotic and I am certainly not enjoying my life as I once used to - pre diabetes.
I find that so many of the drugs I have been prescribed cause for me personally, intolerable side effects which frankly I'm not prepared to put up with, or are a symptom of being diabetic which means in the case of the latter the drugs probably don't do anything.
I rang my GP this morning as they are naturally only doing phone consultations which is fine by me, and explained to him that I had a strangeness in my left leg from about 3 weeks ago but I feel it is gradually getting worse. I initially put it down to a fall, but not for as long as this. There is a redness to my lower limb and a warm feeling around my ankle similar to that you might experience if you had a sprain, but from the ankle up half way it doesn't look or feel right, also the skin is dry and tiny pieces of skin possibly dead skin are easy to peel off, I have never had this in my life.
He has prescribed 3 days antibiotics for an infection, and for the leg an emollient to use for the next weeks.
Life is difficult for us all right now, but of course ordinary medical problems will, and do occur, so I felt there was no option for me to have a consultation this morning mainly because I'm worried.

From what I have been able to gather since 2016 is that diabetes is not an exact science, and seems to vary from individual to individual. I have net to have been prescribed with any medication for this condition that agreed with me.

 

[KARNAK]

Hello @Annette&Bertie long time no hear youm struggling a bit my dear, the thing that really stands out in your post is the redness and the warmth you feel around your ankle. Is this specific to one limb or do you feel it can attribute to both? May I suggest you take the treatment the Dr has given you for the three days and use the emolument as prescribed. As diabetics it is crucial we look after our feet including lower limbs but don`t forget Blood Sugar control falls into this category, take your treatment and let us know how you are coping any problems get those fingers working on the keyboard.

 

[Annette&Bert]

Hi Karnak,
it Is only my left leg, mid calf downwards. Both feet are normal, left foot just feels as if I have a sprained ankle, but actually as I look at this left leg in the bright sunlight of my conservatory - best light in the house, it appears only slightly red. The other thing is that when my left foot is on the ground it feels ok, but if I lift it and point my toes forward, there is pain from the shin area. I find it very odd and can’t help worrying.

my BG is not as good as it should be, I really need to go back to low carb.

I have been to visit you 15 years ago, when you were down the Nile

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hope the suggested treatment heals your leg speedily @Annette&Bertie 🙂

 

[Annette&Bert]

I hope the prescription will be delivered tomorrow because I won’t leave the house. My normal livery for prescrips would be Friday. Hope some healing happens soon.

 

[CosmicHedgehog]

Hi all, I thought i had better update you, I finally spoke to my actual GP, not just one of the bank gp's at my practice, he had me in stright away for a test on my legs feet, bracial something or other, and i had blood pressure of my are and legs/feet done and a doppler test for the pulses in my feet, the test was a bit inconclusive as i have always had low BP, but it picked up a weak pulse in my right foot by my ankle, it is there, but it is weak, after the doc manually checked my feet for pulses he said the same it was there but a bit hard to find and weak.... he said my feet looked healthy though and he is not too concerned about any major imidiate risk, but i may have peripheral vascula desiese. so long story short he did a referal to the vascula team, However when getting my choose and book they are ofcourse not taking any appointments at the mo due to corona virus. i phoned to check and they said only emrgencys will be seen, ie my foot goes blue or black or i get an infected ulcer.. so now it is just a waiting game untill i can be seen. My GP said he was reassured after actually seeing my feet and hopefully it wont be too long before i can have an appointment and that i would be near the top of the list as he did an urgent referal. I also have to wear a 24 hour BP monitor as my blood pressure is not the best at the mo, i get that hooked up tomorrow. still alive, so all good 😉

 

[Eddy Edson]

Hi all, I thought i had better update you, I finally spoke to my actual GP, not just one of the bank gp's at my practice, he had me in stright away for a test on my legs feet, bracial something or other, and i had blood pressure of my are and legs/feet done and a doppler test for the pulses in my feet, the test was a bit inconclusive as i have always had low BP, but it picked up a weak pulse in my right foot by my ankle, it is there, but it is weak, after the doc manually checked my feet for pulses he said the same it was there but a bit hard to find and weak.... he said my feet looked healthy though and he is not too concerned about any major imidiate risk, but i may have peripheral vascula desiese. so long story short he did a referal to the vascula team, However when getting my choose and book they are ofcourse not taking any appointments at the mo due to corona virus. i phoned to check and they said only emrgencys will be seen, ie my foot goes blue or black or i get an infected ulcer.. so now it is just a waiting game untill i can be seen. My GP said he was reassured after actually seeing my feet and hopefully it wont be too long before i can have an appointment and that i would be near the top of the list as he did an urgent referal. I also have to wear a 24 hour BP monitor as my blood pressure is not the best at the mo, i get that hooked up tomorrow. still alive, so all good 😉

Hi Cosmic-H,

I have periphral artery disease (PAD), which I guess is what they are saying you might have. Blocked artery in my left leg, which means not enough blood flow & oxygen, which means the calf can cramp up when I walk. It goes away verry quickly on rest, because the blood flow catches up with itself.

Also - cold feet (or hot feet if I walk a lot in hot weather). And a hairless leg!

Absolutely the best things for me were (a) giving up smoking and (b) walking as much as I could. In the ~2 years since I've diagnosed, I've gotten to the point where I average 9 km+ per day walking; I don't cramp up (just get a bit painful and stiff in the calf); and it's really not a very big thing any more. Takes a few weeks for the benefits to show through.

What happens with walking is that the bod cunningly tunnels "collateral" vessels around the obstruction, so some blood can flow - not as much as before it blocked, but a decent amount. The more you walk, the more this happens. Walking also has a bunch of other benefits for it - improves the ability of leg muscles to work without as much oxygen, generally makes your whole circulation work better. And exercise is highly beneficial for all forms of atherosclerosis (which is what PAD is).

If you're not on a statin, talk to yr doc about it. There's a large amount of research demonstrating that they are particularly beneficial for people with peripheral artery disease.

It's a pain in the ... leg, but generally very manageable, particularly if you don't smoke, and walking generally delivers big improvements.

Good luck!

 

[CosmicHedgehog]

Hi Cosmic-H,

I have periphral artery disease (PAD), which I guess is what they are saying you might have. Blocked artery in my left leg, which means not enough blood flow & oxygen, which means the calf can cramp up when I walk. It goes away verry quickly on rest, because the blood flow catches up with itself.

Also - cold feet (or hot feet if I walk a lot in hot weather). And a hairless leg!

Absolutely the best things for me were (a) giving up smoking and (b) walking as much as I could. In the ~2 years since I've diagnosed, I've gotten to the point where I average 9 km+ per day walking; I don't cramp up (just get a bit painful and stiff in the calf); and it's really not a very big thing any more. Takes a few weeks for the benefits to show through.

What happens with walking is that the bod cunningly tunnels "collateral" vessels around the obstruction, so some blood can flow - not as much as before it blocked, but a decent amount. The more you walk, the more this happens. Walking also has a bunch of other benefits for it - improves the ability of leg muscles to work without as much oxygen, generally makes your whole circulation work better. And exercise is highly beneficial for all forms of atherosclerosis (which is what PAD is).

If you're not on a statin, talk to yr doc about it. There's a large amount of research demonstrating that they are particularly beneficial for people with peripheral artery disease.

It's a pain in the ... leg, but generally very manageable, particularly if you don't smoke, and walking generally delivers big improvements.

Good luck!

Yes , Thats it. I have started walking more as the doc said to, i already do yoga and he said that was good but i need to up my walking, i already was but not so regular that i could say it was a thing, and i certainly need to improve my distance. But gradually going to increase distance, i barley get the crampy calf when walking, alot of the time it starts to feel a bit crampy but i slow my pace for a bit and it eases off. I am an ex smoker was about 20 a day at one stage in my life, so didn't help myself in the past with all that malarky and guess the damage was done, but i can only focus on now and not on past mistakes and bad desisions, although i am kicking myself that i was so daft to ever start (teenage and 20's years) and at that time my diabetes control was carnage too.. but you live you learn. Doc did mention meds, But said to start with the walking. i guess i have to be seen by the vascula team first to asses how bad it is. Fingers crossed its mild, but you never know. My last cholesterol test was normal so its all a bit out of the blue.. although its entirely possible i've been walking around with some stage of it for years and only started to notice because of 1 foot being very cold and the other being fine and warm. I also have a knee issue that means my pattelea is unstable and pops out and i have a constant ache in it so could have masked any pain. i wont know anymore till they have a look. What you have said is very reassuring to me, thank you x

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Thanks for the update @CosmicHedgehog

Sorry the current chaos means you won’t be seen very promptly, hopefully nothing dramatic will happen in the meantime and your walking and yoga will continue to help.

Take care of yourself!

 

[Eddy Edson]

Yes , Thats it. I have started walking more as the doc said to, i already do yoga and he said that was good but i need to up my walking, i already was but not so regular that i could say it was a thing, and i certainly need to improve my distance. But gradually going to increase distance, i barley get the crampy calf when walking, alot of the time it starts to feel a bit crampy but i slow my pace for a bit and it eases off. I am an ex smoker was about 20 a day at one stage in my life, so didn't help myself in the past with all that malarky and guess the damage was done, but i can only focus on now and not on past mistakes and bad desisions, although i am kicking myself that i was so daft to ever start (teenage and 20's years) and at that time my diabetes control was carnage too.. but you live you learn. Doc did mention meds, But said to start with the walking. i guess i have to be seen by the vascula team first to asses how bad it is. Fingers crossed its mild, but you never know. My last cholesterol test was normal so its all a bit out of the blue.. although its entirely possible i've been walking around with some stage of it for years and only started to notice because of 1 foot being very cold and the other being fine and warm. I also have a knee issue that means my pattelea is unstable and pops out and i have a constant ache in it so could have masked any pain. i wont know anymore till they have a look. What you have said is very reassuring to me, thank you x

It sounds like it is probably pretty mild - hope so!

I started smoking when I was about 15 and apart from a couple of little periods, basically smoked as many cigarettes as I could for the next 40+ years. It'd be better not to have PAD but on the other hand I had 40+ years of ciggies which I really, really liked 🙂 Amazingly, I apparently have "normal" lung function so there's a big bullet dodged.

PAD is a cardiovascular disease and it's generally supposed to put you in the very high risk group for stroke, heart attack etc - . I think this is more to do with the likelihood of also having atherosclerosis in carotids and coronary arteries etc than anything particularly to do with legs. But whatever, I reckon it's something to take very seriously when it comes to meds, exercise, weight and eating a heart-healthy diet.

 

[trophywench]

They wanted me on a blood thinning medication once the hospital got on my case; GP and D clinic had always wanted me on Aspirin but it always gave me raging heartburn so I'd stopped taking it years previously, which I told them I'd had t do and nobody seemed bothered, but the GP asked me to try again when he said that's what I'd got and was referring me, So I had tried again with exactly the same raging heartburn so had to stop again, so the hospital got me onto Clopidogrel which I still take.

 

[CosmicHedgehog]

They wanted me on a blood thinning medication once the hospital got on my case; GP and D clinic had always wanted me on Aspirin but it always gave me raging heartburn so I'd stopped taking it years previously, which I told them I'd had t do and nobody seemed bothered, but the GP asked me to try again when he said that's what I'd got and was referring me, So I had tried again with exactly the same raging heartburn so had to stop again, so the hospital got me onto Clopidogrel which I still take.

Do you have the leg artery thing? I'm still none the wiser about any kind of diagnosis as vascula team contacted my gp and said with my risk factor they didn't want me at hospital at the mo. fair enough as i really don't want covid. my gp mentioned maybe i would need medication at some point, but untill we all know more there is nothing that can be done. infuriating but understandable.