I was visiting a friend of mine the other day and we got to talking about her condition, diabetes, which she told me was giving her a lot of pain.
Diabetes foot pain is known to be one of the more common of the uncomfortable symptoms that you can get with this condition and so I was interested to know how she was coping.
This resulted in quite an interesting conversation which she agreed to let me share with you here.
The conversation went as follows:
J: What is it like to experience pain in the feet as a result of having diabetes? What is it like at night
A: They feel very very hot at night but they are actually not hot. Physically they are very cold
The other thing is I can’t bear anything or anyone to touch them, even the bedclothes, anything really
J: Does it keep you awake at night?
A: Definitely, yes. there’s no relief. Its not very nice at all.
J: So what do you do to deal with it? How do you cope?
A: Maybe it is a case of making sure my feet stay in a certain position, not touching each other
J: If they touch each other when you are asleep do they wake you up?
A: Yes and then it is difficult to get back to sleep again. Even getting up and walking around doesn’t solve the problem. The funny thing is, I still have it during the day but it doesn’t seem so much of a problem.
J: Why do you think that is?
A: Mainly because my mind is on other things so I am distracted away from thinking about the pain. When you are in bed you are actually thinking about it because it is so obvious when nothing else is going on and all is quiet.
J: So your focus is on it at that time?
A: Yes. I am trying to go to sleep and this pain in my feet is stopping me.
J: Would it help to practice focusing on something else do you think, in these moments?
A: I guess it would, but how do you do that? Maybe it is not as easy as it sounds
J: Have you ever tried meditation?
A: I do meditation to go to sleep sometimes, but sometimes the frustration and pain takes over and so it is not easy.
J: What I have found is that when I have been in pain at night in the past, starting the meditation I feel the pain getting higher at first. Most people would at this point either start to resist it or give up. But what I found is that if I don’t resist it and I let go, by taking some deep breaths and allowing the pain to increase – funny idea I know – then after a short while the pain goes right down and either reaches a manageable level for sleep or often disappears altogether.
But it does go up at first. I reckon if you know this and are ready for it, this is actually quite a good pain relief method. But I don’t know how this might work for diabetes foot pain. Mine was more to do with post op pain and fibromyalgia.
It was as if the pain wanted to speak or be known and once I allowed it to have a voice there was no more need for it to be there. I believe that pain is a message from the body and it is up to us to listen to it, to be aware of what it might be about (more than just the physical symptoms)
A: I think stress has a lot to do with it as well because I do find that when I relax more the pain seems less
J: Does the doctor give you anything for it?
A: Yes I have Tegretol (carbamazepine) and take it twice a day, but its effectiveness doesn’t seem as great now, maybe because I have been taking it for too long
J: Have you tried EFT for the pain?
A: Actually not, because I didn’t know if it worked on that type of thing.
J: What type of thing have you used Eft for?
A: Headaches, very successful on lower back pain and restless leg syndrome
J: Am I right in saying that some of these are symptoms of diabetes?
A: Yes
J: So it might be worth a try on the foot pain?
A: Yes. I would be more inclined to do Eft than meditation because I’ve had better success in that department and it might even mean I could come off the pain medications.
J: Yeah I think different things suit different people but both of these methods are basically about deep relaxation at mind body levels and this in itself can bring about pain relief as the body’s immune system is nurtured as a result
Resources:
To learn more about EFT therapy click here
To learn more about meditation click here
Does it really work? People I know who are into meditation have been doing it for years and its as easy as breathing for them. What about someone who’s never tried it and is already in immense pain? Seems like a lot of personal time investment just to begin scratching the surface.