I have neuropathy in both feet and lately I have been having a wet feeling down the great tie and side of the foot. I know it is related to the foot issues I have. Has anyone else had a similar sensation?
If I stand for long periods, I get a tingling in the front of my theighs. Not at all sure if it is neuropathy. I am just getting old.
Peripheral neuropathy can cause all sorts of false sensations. In the 1990s, the Japanese discovered a drug, benfotiamine, which concentrates vitamin B1 along the nerves, and in Germany this has been developed into a treatment for diabetic neuropathy. I have been taking 600 mg of it per day since 2003, and I have found it completely eliminates the neuropathic sensations I had been having up to then. It is now available in North America.
ask your doc about Lyrica. I couldn’t survive without it, thanks to PN. W/O Lyrica, I get random stinging throughout my body. It’s not only in my extremities. I got the mfgr to provide me the drug for free (all it takes is filling out paperwork showing your income level and if it meets the requirements, they send out 90 supply of the drug). I get 270 pills every 90 days.
I don’t know how long you have had peripheral neuropathy, but if you are just now beginning to have uncomfortable sensations, you need to take this warning seriously. I can tell you that what you are experiencing now is nothing, less than nothing compared to what it will eventually be. I have been there.
It took me several years of very tight control to reverse the awful symptoms and pains I was having due to my neuropathy. But that is the good news. It is possible to reverse this if not cure by simply being very vigilant about your blood sugar. You want to keep it as close to normal healthy as you can do safely. Then you just keep at it and wait. This is a very slow healing process.
The one thing that I found very helpful in taking the edge off the pain and promoting the healing of my nerves was R-Alpha Lipoic Acid. I started out at 200 units per day and ended up taking 1200 units (600 morning and night) for about three years. It did offer some relief immediately. But the big thing is that it is very helpful in healing of the nerves. It is standard issue in Europe for people with diabetes. I recommend you take a good look at it for yourself.
Hey Randy, I was diagnosed about 15 years ago. It was symptom free up to a year ago and both my gp and neuro wanted me on Gabapentin.
I have been treating it for a little over a year.
I know about typically pain ie: pins and needles or burning. I was curious about the wet feeling. I am following up with neuro soon. (gp is on holidays).
I already had this when I was diagnosed. I went undiagnosed for at least 10 years as far as anyone can figure out. I was told that it could not be reversed and maybe it could be stopped from progressing. The only solution anyone offered was to control my blood sugars. So I did.
I never took any prescription meds for the neuropathy or pain. I told them I did not want them. As far as I could tell all the meds did was mask the pain but did nothing to solve the issue. Besides, I had so many problems in my gut and everywhere else that I did not think I would notice what was a side effect as they all sound like what I already had. I did not want more. I also wanted to be able to tell how much improvement I was seeing from my control.
I don’t recall exactly having the sensation of wet feet. Although I think that I had every imaginable sensation in my feet. For a long time it felt like my socks were bunching up under my toes. There were just so many different painful sensations I can’t remember them all. Random phantom pains and different feelings that I can attribute to nothing. The most common being electric shock,'s stabbing and slicing as if by a razor knife, burning both like I was in a fire or had been in a fire and random shots of pure unadulterated pain coming out of nowhere.
All this was every day 24/7 365 days a year. I did not want to simply treat the symptoms. I wanted it to go away or I wanted to leave. It took eight months of tight control before I found some promise. It took over a year longer than that to see any real improvement. And, two more years to get to the point where I could feel somewhat normal.
This is fascinating! I have never heard of reversing nerve damage, I have had neuropathy for over ten years and have very tight control. I have read that the R-Alpha Lipoic Acid capsules have a glucose component. Is this enough to affect BSL readings?
I am on lyrica and it does help with the pain. How do you get it for free? I am on a pension.
I already wrote that you have to call the manufacturer and fill out some paperwork to get the medication for free as long as you qualify
Yeah, everyone said there was no way to reverse it. But, if you dig deep enough you can find information that says otherwise. Besides that, I have done it.
Like I said, it’s a very long and slow process. I started in early 2011. Very low carb and working my way to normal blood sugar levels. Eight months later I could tell that something was changing. Before that it felt like I must be wasting my time.
About a year and a half after that I had enough improvement to say that I might be able to get back to something like normal. I kept on seeing gradual improvements and in fact, I am still progressing. I would say that I am now about 75 to 80% of normal as far as my neuropathy goes.
Everything is much better. Even my autonomic symptoms like gastroparesis and very dry and fragile skin. Just to name a couple. Everything is much better than it was. At the same time nothing is like it used to be. I’m not really expecting that I will be 100% back to where I was at any point in the future. But I hope I get closer.
As far as glucose in the ALA, I’ve never heard that and I saw no such effects. I found 200 unit capsules out VitaCost online because I was taking 1200 units per day. I did not want to take a dozen capsules. It was also cheaper than I can get it even at the local discount supplement store.
You do need to make sure that whatever you buy is listed as R ALA. It must begin with the letter R. If it simply says ALA it can actually be counterproductive. There is a ton of information on this online and I really recommend that you look into it.
It’s also recommended by Bernstein, among others. I take it daily as a preventive.
Nor are you an outlier. Others (again including Bernstein) report the same thing.
There is also growing evidence that peripheral neuropathy, as opposed to central nervous system damage, can and does heal (albeit very slowly, as pointed out) when conditions are suitable.
1 Like
Hi Grimlok:
I am now in year 56 of type1,
I used to get weird sensations in my legs sometimes so my doctor prescribed Lyrica.
It has been a big help along with better control of my A1C readings.
How my BG is running makes a big difference in my neuropathy, I can almost tell my BG just by how my feet feel. If BG is behaving itself my feet feel almost normal, when its at its worse my feet can be quite painful. Never noticed a wet feeling, I guess anything is possible when nerve cells are misfiring.
I’ve had Type 1 for only 1 1/2 yrs and already have pain and numbness in areas of my feet. I told my doctor and she prescribed gabapentin also. Why would I develop this so early?? Thx for the info, I’m going to get R ALA and working on tighter BG control. This scares me. How can one remain active (yoga, hiking etc) with painful feet?
Hi Jane. Sorry to hear that you are experiencing neuropathy already. I can only tell you what I’ve been told, and that is it takes several years for this to develop. I don’t know if there are cases where it occurs more quickly. But, it is entirely possible that you had blood sugar issues for quite some time. It is a possibility. Neuropathy is also caused by a lot of other issues as well as medications and trauma. I don’t know if anything like that might apply in your case.
In any case, the fact that you are already experiencing it is the real issue. How severe it is and how long you have had it are important as to the extent of the damage. But the good news is that neuropathy induced by diabetes is something that can be improved if not cured.
I found the ALA very, very helpful in the process. That and consistent, tight control are the best strategies I know of. And, you absolutely do want to keep as active as you can be. Some days will be better than others, but you need to always keep at it and push yourself a little bit more each time. Make sure that you have good shoes with good support and pay close attention to how you feel.
I too had neuropathic pain that was reversed. For me, I believe it was related to vitamin b-12 deficiency and other B deficiencies. The pain improved susbstantially after I received B-12 injections. The rest of it went away when my functional doctor prescribed Lmethyl B-6 and B-12. No more sharp stabbing pains in my hands and feet!! I have read that many diabetics have enzyme deficiencies. Makes sense since the pancreas which is the organ responsible for insulin is also one of the organs responsible for enzyme production. If a person does not have sufficient enzymes, they can’t properly digest their food no matter how well they eat. This results in vitamin and mineral deficiencies which then cause various other complications. Neuropathy could be one of them. Something to consider. I am also on 200 mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid.
Hi Randy, could you please tell me what brand of R ALA you purchased on Vitacost? Thanks
I actually don’t recall what brand it was. But, I think it may have been Dr’s Best. However, I see that there is now a VitaCost brand. It’s a bit cheaper and is actually 210 mg. This is the one I would buy today.
I don’t believe it really matters a lot as long as it is a reputable supplier. You just want to make sure that it has the letter R preceding Alpha Lipoic Acid. I just did a quick look and it looks to me as if the house brand and Dr’s Best are the only two that come in 200 mg.