Illnesses

Hello everyone I am 13 years old and I was wondering does anyone else out there forming diabetic neuropathy? Because that is what me and my mother have come up with because my feet start to sting and tingle really REALLY BADLY!!! Also when I am siting in the car weather I am leaning forward or " laying back" with my feet on the ground they feel like they have cement blocks on them. Also I was recently diagnosed in late 2020 ( the worst year ever!!!) So my blood sugar is also been high so that could be it. So yeah if anyone is going through the same thing please tell me how you are doing and please some advice on how to prevent it. Thank you so much.

Hi @Lovealwayswins888 and welcome to the forum. Being diagnosed comes with a huge learning curve as well as lists of possible complications - one of which is neuropathy. Although the goal is to learn to manage things on your own to the best extent possible, try not to get into self diagnosis - at least not yet. Stay in touch with your medical team about what’s happening - they may need to run some tests to make the diagnosis and determine treatment.

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Thank you so much for responding and thank you for the support and also I have an endocrinologist appointment tomorrow so we will talk to them about it then and I will update with results. And you are totally right! Thank you.

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My pleasure. I’m glad you have an appointment tomorrow - hopefully you’ll at least get started on figuring out what’s going on. Keep us posted!

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Hi Gracie @Lovealwayswins888 , if you actually have neuropathy, peripheral neuropathy in particular [the tingling, burning, numbness sensation in extremities], you are not alone.

High blood glucose levels are thought to cause nerve damage and that COULD BE the cause for the sensation are noticing in your feet. As always, make notes of “things” you feel or notice to have handy when you visit with your doctors. As Dorie @wadawabbit said, let the doctors do the diagnosis, whith the information you have observed and their knowledge.

You have probably already noticed how much your endocrinologist [and other doctors] give to your feet at most visits. This is because your feet are so far removed from your brain - or wherever the bodies "control center may be - and nerve damage will usually show up there first.

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Thank you so much for the explanation

One thing I will add is when I was newly diagnosed I had several issues that were directly related to the high bg levels I had. I couldn’t focus my eyes well enough to read a magazine or book for almost 6 weeks. I had numbness and tingling in my feet for about 6mo. I had some balance issues that still come and go with wild bg swings. All of my issues have faded significantly since gaining control of my glucose levels but the nerve and balance issues have returned from time to time. My eye sight is back to 20/20. My only point being is that the better your control the better your odds of beating the side effects. I know that I struggled a lot early on to flatten the peaks and valleys of my bg values.

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Welcome! The others have it covered: High blood sugars could be the cause, but see what your doctor says and keep an eye out for other symptoms.

Hopefully, it is as simple as that: get your sugar levels under better control (easier said than done, I know) and things improve. You’re young, and your body is resilient.

You should also get your eyes checked. The back of the eye is the one place in the body where doctors can actually see the small blood vessels that are most affected by sugar buildup. It’s important for diabetics to get eye exams every year. If your feet (which have the most trouble with circulation because they’re furthest from your heart and also usually at the bottom of the body) are having trouble from sugar buildup, your eyes may be showing early warning signs, as well.

All that said: It may also be worth seeing a foot doctor and maybe a neurologist if you can, just to see what they say and if they have ideas of anything else that might be going on.

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I don’t have neuropathy!!! I just got back from the doctor and she said that I dont have it! She said that I have not had diabetes for long enough to have it. Also about the eye thing when I was 1st diagnosed my eyes could not focus for about a month but my eyes are 20/20 now. So everything is okay. Thank you guys so much for the facts and support. :heart:

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Glad to hear it. How are your feet? If they’re still bothering you and it’s not neuropathy, can you see a neurologist or a podiatrist to see what is causing it?

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I could although me and my mother have talked about it and we think that because I am “kid” and I still sit on my legs that that could be it. ( even though it happens when I am not on my legs). So we have summed it up to that and also because sometimes my heart will race at random times and we went to the cardiologist and he said that it could be adrenalin. And also because I am a diabetic that my blood flow is not very quick so yeah. Thank you so much for your concern.

Well, as long as you, your parents, and your doctors are satisfied, that’s good. I’ll mention that I had trouble with my heart racing at random times. Went through all sorts of cardiac testing. Turned out I had acid reflux and it was causing my heart to race at random times because the esophagus is close to the heart, and when the nerves in the esophagus are upset (even if I don’t notice the heartburn) that can upset the heart.

Anyway, I hope you feel better and stay well.

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