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-   -   Neuropathy and other circulation disorders (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=474717)

bluesinger Fri, Aug-19-16 21:30

Neuropathy and other circulation disorders
 
Quote:
Peripheral neuropathy

Overview

By Mayo Clinic Staff
Peripheral neuropathy, a result of damage to your peripheral nerves, often causes weakness, numbness and pain, usually in your hands and feet. It can also affect other areas of your body.

Your peripheral nervous system sends information from your brain and spinal cord (central nervous system) to the rest of your body. Peripheral neuropathy can result from traumatic injuries, infections, metabolic problems, inherited causes and exposure to toxins. One of the most common causes is diabetes mellitus.

People with peripheral neuropathy generally describe the pain as stabbing, burning or tingling. In many cases, symptoms improve, especially if caused by a treatable condition.
Although I have not been diagnosed with T2D, I have periodically had circulation issues, especially with the feet.

I come from a long paternal line of people with "sugar diabetes." Yes, that's what Texans called it when I was growing up. You got old, you got fat and you got IT. Although my own Pater was never diabetic, he had excruciating, burning pain in his feet long before it had the name. All the doctor could do for him was give him Oxy for the pain, which resulted eventually in dementia, followed by death.

Because of this history, I am super sensitive to my feet, how they feel. I never want to experience what my daddy did, and I have several tools I use to make sure my circulation keeps moving, so to speak.

I'm starting this thread so that we can share the various things we do and supplements we take which we feel serve us well in combating peripheral neuropathy, no matter what stage.

bluesinger Fri, Aug-19-16 21:54

What I do to promote better circulation:
  1. I walk at a pretty brisk pace for at least 2 miles to start the day, even before coffee. I'm in my 3rd year of the walking regime.
  2. I use a Sunny Health & Fitness Foot Massager - electric and pretty costly, but is worth it for me to get those moving knobs into the bottom of my foot. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...e?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I've been using this off and on since I bought it in 2010.
  3. When I bathe, I use a natural hemp back and body scrubber and mitt, which is durable and machine washable. I start at the bottom of the foot and toes and work my way up each leg, brushing. Then I do my hands and arms. The back scrubber is self evident. It feels so GOOD.
  4. My most recent addition is a mini trampoline. My feet don't leave the surface. I just engage in gentle up-and-down-motion, first with both feet, then (while using the other foot for balance) each foot individually. I do this for two reasons: developing good balance and to strengthen the tiny muscles in each ankle. I believe this will keep me from risking sprains and breaks.
    **********The added benefit I've gotten from this is that the morning stiffness in my fingers is gone.

Meme#1 Fri, Aug-19-16 22:30

Elevate your feet above your heart to increase circulation.

Merpig Sat, Aug-20-16 02:50

My feet are fine, but I have had pain, burning and tingling in the fingers of my left hand since undergoing surgery for a broken wrist two weeks ago. I do try to keep my arm elevated but not always easy to do! Other than that I mostly just massage my fingers. I hope this is only temporary, possible nerve irritation due to the surgery.

maycan Sat, Aug-20-16 04:11

Is toe cramping considered a sign of neuropathy?

bluesinger Sat, Aug-20-16 06:14

Quote:
Originally Posted by maycan
Is toe cramping considered a sign of neuropathy?
I believe, from all I've read, that the symptoms are varied. My feet, for example, burned slightly on the outside edge of the sole. This was some 10 years ago and intermittent.

Here is a link (one of many available.)

All my other symptoms come and go, but that makes sense to me, as the circulatory system could be the culprit in my case, not nerve damage. I have to factor in my age. I'm more concerned in keeping things moving than knowing exactly what is causing the problem.

Robin120 Sat, Aug-20-16 10:49

Thank you for starting this thread! I have found "my people" ;) .

For those who don't "know me" here, I am young- but have had type I diabetes for 24 years. I have maintained excellent control of my blood sugar with 2 brief periods of loss of control (starting college and going through a divorce, that was complete shock of my life).

I have experienced TERRIBLE neuropathy, but not from diabetes. Almost 2 years ago, i was on top of the world. I had just competed in the world's championship of my sport (I didn't even finish the race, but hey, i still went!)....when the next thing i knew just a month later, I collapsed outside my apartment unable to walk.
I had contracted guillain barre syndrome- a neurological disorder where the autoimmune system attacks the mylein sheath of the body's nerves. patients become paralyzed and it typically lasts 6-12 months. 80 percent recover, 20 percent will be paralyzed permanently or die.
I was very lucky to have a "mild case" and went from only able to walk 1 mile in 1/4 mile increments at 5 months out, to completing a 14 mile trail race up and down a mountain at 6 months :)

As the nerves "wake back up" the numbness became excrutiating burning fire and ice. For the initial serious part, i was prescribed oxies, but soon was able to get by with large doses of gabapentim. it is a great drug for nerve pain, and it is non habit forming and unless you take a TON, it doesn't make you too out of it to function.

Now my nerves have mostly healed, and i oly experience it when my feet get cold or from overuse.

things my Dr has me do:
1. take gabapentim when needed
2. take B1 and B12 to keep it at bay! I take both daily.
3. keep my feet warm! massage them when cold or numb. wear big socks and slippers, if my husband has AC on too high for me.
4. NEVER walk barefoot on sand- Dr worries i could burn my feet, without knowing i am doing it.
5. very, very sadly- i had to stop running. the stress from landing flares it terribly and the numbness makes it dangerous. i do still enjoy long walks, and hiking, and occasional mountain trail racing- i just walk them....
i also enjoy yoga to help with balance issues.
and i enjoy strength training to work on rebuilding the muscle tissue that was wasted from my body.

looking forward to hearing what has helped everyone!

Meme#1 Sat, Aug-20-16 10:57

Something I have read, if circulation is of concern, vitamin E really helps thin the blood. If fact if someone is going for surgery they are advised to stop taking vitamin E.

ps So glad you recovered so well Robin!! :agree: :thup:

bluesinger Sat, Aug-20-16 12:58

Robin, only those who have witnessed such pain or experienced it themselves can even come close to understanding the experience. You have my sympathy, but also my respect. I don't know how you did it. It's good to know that there is another drug for the pain, but I'm so strictly against meds (for my own use) that it will have to get really bad for me to use. I try to practice lifestyle medicine. The LCHF WOE helps.

When I started rebounding, I just wanted to massage my lymph system. The added benefits have been "gravy." Are you able to use an electric foot massager, or are your nerves too damaged?

Compared to you, my issues are minimal, but I'm doing all I can to keep them that way.

neo_crone Mon, Aug-22-16 08:14

I had peripheral neuropathy for about a year, induced by the chemotherapy drugs I was taking (CIPN). My feet were about 90% affected at its worst; hands not so bad. I had a lot of trouble walking - I did the 'chemo shuffle'. It took at least six months to improve after I finished the chemo. Now its confined to a little numbness in my middle toes, and I can walk normally again. My hands, although not so much affected, were extremely painful. I used to plunge them into a bowl of warm water for relief! Its hard to explain to someone who has not experienced it though: numbness + pain seems like a contradiction.

I was one of the lucky ones. A lot of cancer survivors have permanent damage.

chicachyna Mon, Aug-22-16 09:51

Thank you for this thread. It's good to hear from folks who understand this "painful numbness". Lately people have been commenting that I'm walking funny. I know it's the neuropathy. Several years ago a doc prescribed Lyrica but I had a bad reaction to it. Now I take Metanx which is a prescription vitamin B capsule that is supposed to aid circulation. I can't say if it is helping or not. Reading all your replies has convinced me to increase my walking and movement. I go to yoga and am working on my balance. It's my least favorite part of class!

Bonnie OFS Mon, Aug-22-16 22:41

I just noticed this morning that the toes on one foot - especially the big toe - were looking kind of gray. I was hoping it was my imagination, so when I got home this afternoon I took off my socks & asked my husband. Yep - gray. They were fine a week ago.

I promptly turned to Dr. Google & found out that I do indeed have a problem. I also found out that I had a symptom of neuropathy that I didn't know was a symptom. One web site said a "classic" symptom (why have I never heard of it?) is "pain, achiness, fatigue, burning, or discomfort in the muscles of your feet, calves, or thighs. These symptoms usually appear during walking or exercise and go away after several minutes of rest...At first, these symptoms may appear only when you walk uphill, walk faster, or walk for longer distances."

I've had achiness & fatigue in my calves, usually when going uphill, for months. I just thought I needed to walk more.

Anyway, I'm calling the doctor tomorrow to see if I should come in sooner than my appointment at the end of the month.

I have a question (or 3) that Dr. Google couldn't answer (maybe I didn't know how to ask it): Can gray toes become pink & healthy again? Or do I just work at not letting them turn black? And what kind of exercise would help?

MickiSue Tue, Aug-23-16 08:54

Another cause of peripheral neuropathy, separate from basic circulatory issues that can be caused by diabetes of either type or other disease, is injury.

I've sprained both ankles, multiple times, and broken my right 5th metatarsal (the long bone in the foot that connects to the pinkie toe) twice. The second time, I broke it very close to where it attaches to the toe.

Once the boot was off my foot, I found that I couldn't get my pinkie to behave itself. I'd tell it to push hard on the floor, for Mountain Pose, and it would say, "Huh? What?" as it sort of hung in the air.

PT can be helpful for damaged nerves, as well. I went to PT for three weeks, and not only had help in the office and exercise room, but learned ways to deal with it for the long term.

One thing that helped tremendously, for both circulation and use of the foot, was simply using my feet to draw the alphabet in the air.

It also helps to stave off the crazy making twitches that I sometimes have in my foot, where the insane nerves tell my toes to cross, or the muscles to jump up and down, randomly. I mean, really. I can't will my toes to cross. But they do, when the nerves are misbehaving. And it hurts!

Bonnie, I'm thinking that might be helpful for you, to encourage the blood flow to your toes. But don't wait too long to get to your doctor: gray toes are serious.

Mycie14 Tue, Aug-23-16 17:52

Quote:
Originally Posted by Merpig
My feet are fine, but I have had pain, burning and tingling in the fingers of my left hand since undergoing surgery for a broken wrist two weeks ago. I do try to keep my arm elevated but not always easy to do! Other than that I mostly just massage my fingers. I hope this is only temporary, possible nerve irritation due to the surgery.
Debbie, it should only be temporary. When I had to have sugery to fix my broken collar bone, first my shoulder was numb. Then as it healed, I had fiery, shooting pains, so much so that I wanted it to go back to being numb. Doc said they had to cut a nerve and the pain meant it was regenerating. First we tried a goo from a compounding pharmacy (gabapentin and capsacin and ???), but too messy. Doc then gave me some numbing patches, I can't remember the name. They helped tremendously. The pains gradually lessened, were less frequent. I eventually got almost all of the feeling back. Good luck in your healing!

I can't imagine having that kind of pain over a larger area like Robin!

Merpig Tue, Aug-23-16 18:49

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mycie14
Debbie, it should only be temporary. When I had to have sugery to fix my broken collar bone, first my shoulder was numb. Then as it healed, I had fiery, shooting pains, so much so that I wanted it to go back to being numb. Doc said they had to cut a nerve and the pain meant it was regenerating.
yes, my expectation is that it will be temporary. already some improvement. right after surgery all five fingers were numb, tingly, fiery. it improved from outward in-first thumb and pinky felt better, then index and ring fingers. now it's just mt middle finger which so far refuses to show any sign of improvement. still totally swollen and unbending, and numb, thobbing, on fire.

so of course i feel like a jerk. 99.9% of me feels perfectly fine and only one finger is an issue, though enough to keep me from getting decent sleep. i can't even imagine the ordeal robin went through!


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