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Feet Burning/Tingling

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This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Little Nightingale

Little Nightingale

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Looking for advice...I've suffered with foot burning/tingling for a while, but was given a diagnosis of T2 just yesterday..I have it worse at night..Will it get better as I exercise and improve my diet?

Cheers,
Marnie
 
I get it too. I have lost a lot of weight and my BG levels are mostly within the normal range, but I do still get those little sharp pains.

It seems that you have to look after your feet as carefully as you look after your diet. Lots of washing with a brush, applying potions and lotions, massage, keeping the feet warm and comfortable seems to be the order of the day. Treat your feet like the most pampered and annoying cat you ever came across and it will ease.

Plus, keep well hydrated.

I think it is worse at night because the feet are more relaxed. The simple process of waking around the house keeps the blood flowing. As soon as you sit down and relax though, arghhh.

There are some dos and don'ts on this page, http://www.wecare.ca/blog/?p=562

This may be of use too: 7 Steps to Healthier Feet for Diabetics
 
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yorksman said:
I get it too. I have lost a lot of weight and my BG levels are mostly within the normal range, but I do still get those little sharp pains.

It seems that you have to look after your feet as carefully as you look after your diet. Lots of washing with a brush, applying potions and lotions, massage, keeping the feet warm and comfortable seems to be the order of the day. Treat your feet like the most pampered and annoying cat you ever came across and it will ease.

Plus, keep well hydrated.

I think it is worse at night because the feet are more relaxed. The simple process of waking around the house keeps the blood flowing. As soon as you sit down and relax though, arghhh.

There are some dos and don'ts on this page, http://www.wecare.ca/blog/?p=562

This may be of use too: 7 Steps to Healthier Feet for Diabetics
Click to expand...

Thank You. Yorksman..Can I ask if you also had numbness in your toes?
 
You need to see a GP as soon as you can for a referral.

We can't give medical advice on this board but if you are suffering from burning sensations in your feet particularly at night, and have numbness, these sound to me like classic symptoms of diabetic neuropathy.

Good blood sugar control should stop the symptoms getting worse but you need to seek professional medical help for this. In the meantime, you need to watch your feet like a hawk.

You should not be scared but you do need to take this quite seriously - if this has been going on for a while, you need to take action promptly. When you see the doctor, make sure you are very clear with them that this has been going on from some time - try to give them a rough date when you started noticing this problem. There is a risk that the doc will fob you off as assuming you've just read about some diabetes complications on the internet following your diagnosis and are getting panicky. If you are able to explain to them that this is not a 'new' thing but something that has bothered you for some time without you seeking medical attention for it, this should avoid you getting fobbed off - don't let them do this.
 
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Little Nightingale said:
Thank You. Yorksman..Can I ask if you also had numbness in your toes?
Click to expand...

No, not numbness, just tingles and stabbing pains. When I asked the doctor about it some time ago, before diagnosis, it was put down to my medication, Ramipril. I have since developed some mild osteoarthritis. Now with diabetes, the sensations have changed but the exact cause is difficult to unravel. I'll soon be off the ramipril and with the weight loss the osteoarthritis has eased a great deal so I might be able to isolate the cause soon. The DN says my feet are soft and warm so circulation appears to be OK and she did the sensation tests which are also OK. I'm off for a proper podiatary examination though so we'll see what they have to say.

As the previous poster says, don't let the doc fob you off. Try some of the things I mentioned, washing feet regularly, rubbing them with a towel, exercising your feet, everything that's recommended so, if the pains continue, you have some specific information to tell the doctor. As likely as not, he'll tell you to wear comfortable shoes and stuff like that but, if you have done it all and the pains continue, he has to take it more seriously.
 
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I've had similar problems ranging from mild tingling to excruciating stabbing pains that take me completely off-guard. Sometimes the pain is so bad I have to totally stop whatever I'm doing but no sooner have I done that then it's gone again - weird!

I wondered if this might be gout so I cut out shellfish which seemed to be a trigger but I've since found the best thing for me at least is, like yorksman said, keeping the feet warm and comfortable really does help.

Trouble is now the wife calls me a tramp for wearing my socks in bed.
 
itsallgood said:
Trouble is now the wife calls me a tramp for wearing my socks in bed.
Click to expand...

Nice one!

I've had gout in my thumb joint and there's no mistaking it. The area becomes very inflamed and any sort of touch is unbearable.

If you eat certain foods which give you gout, drink lots of water to avoid attacks. You can eat your shellfish but probably just need to drink more. If you don't go to the loo enough, you get urate crystal deposition in the joints. It's similar to arthritis but you can reduce the inflamation and flush the crystals away. Best to avoid it in the first place though.

Great avatar by the way!
 
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Cheers yorksman - good advice.
 
itsallgood said:
I've had similar problems ranging from mild tingling to excruciating stabbing pains that take me completely off-guard. Sometimes the pain is so bad I have to totally stop whatever I'm doing but no sooner have I done that then it's gone again - weird!
Click to expand...

Same here, completely impossible to predict, can come on at anytime, woken me up at night. Feels like I want to stand on a nail to kill the pain.

To be fair, since my wildly bad sugars have come back under control the attacks have become less.

Hmmm, maybe there's something in that!
 
Are you taking bandroflumethiazide? That's known to cause gout (it did for my Dad).
 
itsallgood said:
Trouble is now the wife calls me a tramp for wearing my socks in bed.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about this. Do you use bed socks? They are loose and use thick wool which is warm. If you use elasticated socks, that might cause problems.
 
LeeLee said:
Are you taking bandroflumethiazide? That's known to cause gout (it did for my Dad).
Click to expand...

I take 2.5 mg of this daily and have done for about 7 years..I just read up on it and see that a side effect is burning and tingling in the legs and feet...Are we allowed to send pm's on the forum? Also, is there any kind of phone support?
 
DeusXM said:
You need to see a GP as soon as you can for a referral.

We can't give medical advice on this board but if you are suffering from burning sensations in your feet particularly at night, and have numbness, these sound to me like classic symptoms of diabetic neuropathy.

Good blood sugar control should stop the symptoms getting worse but you need to seek professional medical help for this. In the meantime, you need to watch your feet like a hawk.

You should not be scared but you do need to take this quite seriously - if this has been going on for a while, you need to take action promptly. When you see the doctor, make sure you are very clear with them that this has been going on from some time - try to give them a rough date when you started noticing this problem. There is a risk that the doc will fob you off as assuming you've just read about some diabetes complications on the internet following your diagnosis and are getting panicky. If you are able to explain to them that this is not a 'new' thing but something that has bothered you for some time without you seeking medical attention for it, this should avoid you getting fobbed off - don't let them do this.
Click to expand...

:( Deux, I suffer from agorophobia and don't leave my house...The last three times I've asked for a home visit from my gp I get a phonecall from a "nurse/practitioner"...I'm gonna ring again this morning and ask for a doctor to come to see me...
 
When the nurse rings, tell her you want to stop taking the bendroflumethiazide. A few days without is unlikely to send you BP suddenly skywards. There alternatives they can give you, such as furosemide. That one has fewer side-effects.
 
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The last three times I've asked for a home visit from my gp I get a phonecall from a "nurse/practitioner"...I'm gonna ring again this morning and ask for a doctor to come to see me
Click to expand...

Fair enough - see if you can get a telephone appointment with a proper doctor if they can't visit you in person. You should not be receiving a lesser service on account of your agoraphobia.
 
Agree with DeusXM - a telephone consultation with a GP would be better than nothing, if you can't get to GP surgery, even with a companion for journey?

While you have the GP's ear, ask about psychological treatment eg CBT (which can be given by telephone or home visits in speciual circumstances) for agroaphobia.
 
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