Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Dry foot

Ever since I got out of hospital the skin on my left foot has been very strange. It has been dry and scratchy. I put lotion on it but the dryness remains. So I finally got around to realizing that it was not coincidental and that it must mean something. I did a little web searching on "nerve damage dry skin".

Since diabetic symptoms include neuropathy, especially in the feet and legs, and since diabetes is such a common disease, all the hits were diabetes education sites. They are practical and use simple language, e.g. This lack of feeling is caused by nerve damage, also called diabetic neuropathy (noo-ROP-uh-thee). They explain that nerves tell your sweat glands when to sweat. Sweat helps keep our skin moist and soft.



So my left foot isn't sweating. Which I find slightly creepy.

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Dream

I dreamed that I was at a party with friends and acquaintances. I put my crutches down for a second and realized that I was walking normally. I was very excited about this and started calling attention to it. But nobody thought it was of interest. I was annoyed.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

GABA

I am taking pregabalin which promises to moderate the transmission of nerve signals in my body. It also makes me vague and dizzy. For now. Apparently the side effects of the stuff settle down after a few days. I am still getting plenty of nerve excitation in my foot. Who knows how much there would be without pregabalin? After all, the exact mechanism of action is unknown.