Painful Diabetic Neuropathy

I am really loving this website stumbleupon.com! I found more information on painful diabetic neuropathy on this one site than I have been given from my Doctors in a year.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#91cMSS/www.diabetes.usyd.edu.au/foot/Neurop1.html/search:neuropathy

Neuropathy or nerve damage due to diabetes can present as insensate neuropathy (sensory loss) or painful neuropathy. The majority of people have the insensate type and the consequences and management of this are discussed extensively in this web-site. However approximately 4-7% of patients with diabetes suffer chronic, often distressing symptoms of pain, pins and needles or numbness in their feet.

Why do people get painful neuropathy?

This question is yet to be fully answered and is the subject of ongoing research. People with poorly controlled diabetes for a long time are more likely to get chronic painful neuropathy. However, many patients with relatively well controlled diabetes also develop it.

Painful symptoms can be transient, eg less than 12 months duration. These symptoms are often associated with periods of high blood glucose levels, or paradoxically, when the blood glucose level rapidly improves. In these acute situations, once the blood glucose has stabilised for a few months, the symptoms often spontaneously disappear.

Once symptoms have persisted for more than 12 months, they are less likely to disappear on their own. Although good blood glucose control is important for many reasons, striving for very tight blood glucose control is less likely to make the painful symptoms get better when they have been present for this length of time.

A number of theories have been suggested as to why chronic pain or symptoms develop. It is thought that:

• high blood glucose causes changes to the nerve fibres which results in abnormal nerve signals
• high blood glucose causes changes to blood vessels which supply the nerves
• unknown factors release chemicals that irritate the nerves and activate pain receptors

What type of symptoms do people get?

There is a wide variety of symptoms that people describe. More often the feet are affected, but the legs and sometimes hands can be involved as well.

Commonly reported symptoms include:

• Burning, feeling like the feet are on fire
• Freezing, like the feet are on ice, although they feel warm to touch
• Stabbing, like sharp knives Lancinating, like electric shocks

People with painful neuropathy may also complain of:

• Allodynia which means feeling pain from a stimulus that would not normally be painful. An example of this is wearing shoes or having bed sheets touching the feet
• Hyperalgaesia which means having an exaggerated response to a stimulus which is normally painful. This is often seen in response to heat
• a feeling of tightness or pressure around the feet
• vibration or tingling sometimes described as ants crawling under the skin

Does the pain increase my risk of serious foot problems or amputation?

Not necessarily. If you have normal sensation and good circulation, having pain on its own will not increase your risk of foot problems. This is important, as often just knowing this will help to ease the distress. However, if you also have sensory loss or poor circulation in addition to pain, your risk of foot problems is increased and you need to take proper care of your feet. See section on Foot Care for People with High Risk Feet.

How is it Treated?

Firstly it is important to determine if the pain is due to diabetes or some other cause. People with pain should have a thorough assessment.

Pain due to diabetes is usually:

• present in both feet
• of equal severity in each
• often, but not always, worse at night

If the pain is in one foot only, it is likely from another cause such as arthritis, spinal problems, other neuropathies or peripheral vascular disease, which should be investigated by the appropriate medical personnel.

If diabetes is determined to be the cause, and is sufficiently distressing to warrant treatment, there are a number of options available. Unfortunately, neuropathic pain is not easy to treat and not all treatments are helpful for all people. It is important to understand that for some people, several treatments may need to be tried or used in combination to achieve acceptable symptom relief.

Your GP or diabetes specialist is the best person to discuss treatment with. However, they may consider referring you to be managed in a Centre by people experienced in treating this complication of diabetes.

Some commonly used treatments include:

• Acupuncture. This is particularly suitable for people who do not like taking tablets. It is thought to work by suppressing painful signals from reaching the brain. More commonly these days, the treatment involves passing a small electric current through the needles.
• Cream containing Capsaicin. Capsaicin is an ingredient found in chilli peppers. It is particularly helpful for people who experience burning pain. It reduces pain by removing a chemical called substance P from the nerves which is needed to transmit certain pain signals. To achieve symptom relief, a strength of 0.075% or greater should be used which is found in a number of preparations. The cream is applied topically to the feet, so is also good for people who do not like taking tablets. However, it needs to be applied several times per day, so the person needs to be motivated to apply it regularly, and able to reach their feet easily or have someone available to do it for them. It is important to note that capsaicin may cause burning or discomfort when first applied. Treatment should persist for at least a month to determine its effectiveness.
• Tricyclic Antidepressants. These agents are the tried and tested treatment for neuropathic pain. They are helpful in many cases but their use is often limited by side effects such as urine retention, dry mouth and daytime drowsiness, although some newer preparations are less likely to have these effects. They are usually taken at night, which helps to improve sleep. They should be used in caution with people with glaucoma or the elderly. Antidepressants in other classes may also be proven to be successful, but at the moment there are few scientific studies to support their use.
• Anticonvulsants have been shown to be helpful in some people. One agent Gabapentin, prescribed as Neurontin, has proven to be promising but at this stage is only allowed for treating epilepsy. As such, if the person does not have epilepsy, they have to pay the full cost of the drug. A drug related to Gabapentin is currently undergoing clinical trials in Australia. If successful, it will be marketed for use in treating painful neuropathy.
• Anti-arrhythmic Agents. These drugs, primarily used for regulating heartbeat or local anaesthesia, are sometimes helpful in treating painful neuropathy. They work by blocking the electrical conduction of painful signals along nerve fibres. The main agent used is Mexiletine. Its use is contraindicated in people who have an arrhythmia, so an ECG should be performed prior to use if there is any doubt. It is generally well tolerated but side effects include dizziness and nausea. Sometimes people are given a test with lignocaine, another drug in this class, to determine if Mexiletine will be helpful in their situation.
• Analgaesics. For minor pain, simple analgaesics, such as paracetamol or aspirin are often helpful. However, until now, it has been generally accepted that opiates or narcotic agents are not helpful in relieving neuropathic pain. A newer non-narcotic agent known has Tramadol, has been shown in a few small trials to have promising results.

Psychological considerations

Chronic pain is not just a product of physical abnormalities. Psychological factors have significant influence over how an individual perceives and deals with pain. As such, psychological support is integral to the treatment of chronic pain. Formal assessment and counselling should be made available to people who have difficulties in coping with their pain.

Reading this I really wanted to cry, and I don't mind sharing that with you. I know I have shared how I dealt with diabetes, I took my metformin and thought I could eat whatever I wanted. It took the doctors about a year to diagnose the pain, if this article is correct it is possible had I been diagnosed sooner the neuropathy could have been reversed. I'm not going to dwell on this, but it did give me pause and sadness for a moment.
I screamed YES!!! out loud when I read about feeling like ants are crawling on my skin. I know that feeling, it keeps me awake at night sometimes. Wow! It's not just me, I'm not crazy!!!! Woo-hoo!!!