Pins and Needles

[grannynurse FNP student]

I have a question and I am not seeking treatment advice or diagnosis. I am an insulin dependent diabetic. I also suffered serious injuries to my left leg and arm, as well as having a C4-5, 5-6, 6-7 lami 17 and 9 years respectively. I have altered sensation and numbness in my left leg. Recently, I have been experiencing pins and needles in my arms and left leg. The sensation comes on without any noticeable activity, lasting from 39 seconds to several minutes. I do not believe it is the beginning of diabetic neuropathy but I am stumped at what could be the cause. Any ideas?

Grannynurse :balloons:

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

Dr. Daytonite believes it's neuropathy probably related to the laminectomy or other back problem you have. :rotfl: I have a spondylolisthesis and in certain positions my left leg gets all kinds of odd sensations. The only reason I'm pretty sure it's neuropathic is because whenever I've had a set of epidural injections for a blessed month I don't get any of that. I notice that if I gain even 10 pounds I will notice a bit of a change in the neuropathic pains in my left leg. I lose the weight and things go back to "normal".

I also get numbness in my fingers and pain in my hands that will wake me up at night. I put wrist supports on which put my wrists into a neutral position and the pain and numbness generally goes away. That, I believe is related to eating too much salty food or gaining weight.

Oh, I am pre-diabetic. That means I refused to believe that I am truly diabetic! I have been concerned that this may all be diabetic neuropathy too. My doctor just makes a disapproving face at me whenever I suggest that. I trust him because he was my boyfriend 30 years ago. He has put me on Topamax for all this neuropathic stuff. If I take it I do notice a big improvement in all these symptoms although they don't go away completely. Interestingly, I had to have a bunch of hyperbaric oxygen treatments this past year (100% oxygen at high atmospheric pressure). The muscle spasms I get in my hip from the pinched nerve reduced dramatically. The docs at the hyperbaric center told me that this was directly related to the effect of the oxygen on my muscles. I'd buy a hyperbaric chamber just to relieve all this pain (maybe Michael Jackson has a used one for sale ), but unfortunately, it also affects the lens of my eyes and therefore my vision. I can't win for losing, you know?