I am 23 years old. Diabetic for 13 years, with A1C’s ranging from 6-7.5 most of the time, with the rare 8. I bench press 310lbs and am in great physical shape. I am at my physical peak as a man.
…And I began to feel little tingles in my second toe on my left foot, and a bit of numbness on its side. I ignored it, and now I feel like my feet are cold sometimes or a burning comes on the bottoms of each foot. I have all the feeling in both feet though, and they are not overly sensitive to touch. It also does not feel like pins and needles as if my foot fell asleep. My BG levels have been great lately too, mostly in the mid to low 100s
I can’t believe this is happening to me. I have an appointment with my endo on november 1. I am just really sad/dumbfounded. I have no eye or other problems related to my diabetes, and I’m not especially tall for a guy (barely 5’9). I have a girlfriend, and I thought I had a healthy physical future until at least 25 years into my diabetic life, or when i was middle aged/old (at least thats what they say is typical!)
Do the numbers add up? This is only the past few days i’ve felt this, and I tend to be a worrier (keep this in mind).
How the heck am I going to keep my feet healthy until I’m old if I have neuropathy when I’m 23!
Hate to add to your anxiety, but it could be neuropathy. Sadly for us, damage from past highs is cumulative. BG over 140 is where damage is believed to occur. The good news is that neuropathy can heal, especially in the early stage. Best thing you can do is keep BG as close to normal as possible. Test basal, double check I:C ratios & fine tune bolus timing to avoid highs.
You can also try R-ALA (alpha lipoic acid), an OTC amino acid supplement. The R form is the most effective.
Hi Yesman. Welcome to TuDiabetes. I had mild peripheral neuropathy when I joined in May and now it seems to have healed. My symptoms were different than yours and I did have loss of sensation. I joined the “Neuropathy Group” on here and the members were so helpful. You just need to join the group and post your question there. I found that the members responded immediately. I hope this is helpful. Joanne
Hay Yesman, sorry to here about the tingling. Hope it is something simple. If it is Neuropathy check out Metanx web site. Great information and can repair those damaged nerves so no more pain and normal feeling again. Hope the site helps and good luck with what ever it is.
Do you have symptoms all the time or when you are running/walking/on your feet excercising?
The reason I ask is that I developed a Morton’s Neuroma. My podiatrist initially tried to treat it with inserts in my shoes to take the pressure off of the affected area. Then we moved to cortisone injections and they helped for a few months at a time, but then the problem returned. At its worst, I felt burning pins and needles shooting into my foot from the toe area. Eventually I had surgery and he actually cut the affected nerve. He said some times that nerve will regenerate and the problem would return, but I have had no problems since.
I am a mom of a TI, so I don’t know if this would have been treated differently if I was a pwd.
Do some research on your own and see if your symptom match up. I think mine was caused by wearing too-tight-but-oh-so-cute shoes when I was younger. Good luck!
