Is red, burning skin neuropathy?
 

Hi everybody.

The neuropathy in my feet has vastly improved over the past week, ever since beginning an extremely low carb diet. (keto) but now I am having issues with my hands, of course.

My hands are burning and feel almost tender, like it's even hard to open a pill bottle without them hurting. They almost feel like they've been sunburnt. The thing is, it's only on my palms and inside of my fingers and the skin there is BRIGHT red. My skin looks truly agitated. The only thing that makes it feel better is if I run my hands under cold water.

I can only assume this is the neuropathy spreading to my hands, but it feels really different than the neuropathy that is in my feet. My feet are numb, tingly, and WERE burning (haven't been at all since I cut out sugar and carbs) but my hands feel different, like a different kind of burning and my feet never turned red like this.

I can't find much info on the web about neuropathy turning your skin red, but I'm sure it's capable of it. Any ideas or anybody else experience this, too?

This link shows what my hands look like most days.

Young Mom With APS .&. Erythromelalgia
Scroll down the first page ...

However, I don't have pain/burning with my red finger tips (the first joint). But my doctor thought it was significant anyway, perhaps a sign of my drug induced lupus.

But I have had some burning of my feet and up past my ankles, at times, esp in winter. I find my feet burn with nightshade
veggie intakes(and also with paprika seasoning). Also MSG is a huge trigger for me. The last attack was about 3 or 4 months ago and only was one night. My feet and lower legs were a bright bright red (not purplish like they can be at other times)

Most of the photos of erythromelalgia I have seen do not only affect small areas. Those photos show the whole foot, the whole hand.

Google erythromelalgia... some sites suggest using aspirin for it. I'd recommend the aspirin in the form of AlkaSeltzer original formula. I get the best pain relief from my arthritis and PN pain from aspirin, but I don't use it all the time. I use in pulses of once a day for up to a week with a rest period, so I don't get GI bleeding. AlkaSeltzer is absorbed quickly and doesn't hang around long to cause GI upsets.

Dr. Jay Cohen MD online has this disorder and claims it is a sign of excess serotonin, and he uses a serotonin blocker drug from Canada for his own. He also uses magnesium orally.

THE MEDICAL TREATMENT OF ERYTHROMELALGIA

Thank you so much for the reply, MrsD

Those photos look EXACTLY like my hands, I swear. I thought I was looking at my own hands in them. And honestly, like you, it isn't in my fingertips either. I really don't get it. But this is informative.

Can this disease affect more than the hands and feet? I'm having burning sensations all over my body, my arms, my legs, even my stomach. It doesn't feel as severe as my hands. It feels more like there is heat trapped under my skin. That's the best way I can describe it. Also, the more humid and hot it is outside, the worse this seems to be. Is there a correlation there or am I grasping at straws now?

And of course, as this all progresses, my joint and muscle pain is worse as ever. I've cut out nightshades and gluten. I haven't had any MSG. Every time I google this stuff, a lot of fibromyalgia information pops up. I guess we'll see what my neuro and rheumy say at those appointments.

Oh no!!
 

I looked at this website because my hands and feet are also red every night. I showed my husband my feet and asked him if they looked like the picture on the website "before a flare." His answer was "absolutely!"
The Erythromelalgia Association > What is EM?

Thanks for the reply. I've been reading all about this condition (I can't yet pronounce the name lol) but I really think this is what I have, too. My hands are BRIGHT red, my feet not so much, but the burning is the worst. It's come and gone the past few days and of course we are in the dead of summer with crazy humidity and temps in the 90's. Am sort of wondering if the weather is making this worse.

The only relief is cold water or an ice pack. So, I'm going to try the aspirin and see if that helps. I'll be sure to mention this to the rheumy and neuro that I'm seeing at the end of the month. I might have RA and apparently this erythromelalgia condition can be a part of an autoimmune disease. Also PN, which obviously I have lol

I'm 30 years old and I gotta say, this is not how I saw my 30's going for me, but at least I had fun in my 20's. :(

I am experiencing the exact same thing. I recently received my skin biopsy back, positive for LD SFN in the leg. My foot symptoms are pretty mild to what I feel in my hands (and my feet are not red).

My hands will clear when raised/elevated and will turn red and spotty when lowered. I know the more I worry about them, the redder they get. I am taking Metanx now (since last Saturday), which I am hoping is going to aid in nerve regeneration, which I know is a slow, but possible process. I decided to try Metanx after reading a study regarding nerve regeneration and they spoke to the blend of vitamins that supported such regeneration and then referenced Metanx. Good enough for me. I contacted my Neurologist right away and got the prescription. Insurance did not cover the costs, so I paid out of pocket.

I spoke to another guy on MedHelp who posted a picture of his hands, that looked and by his description, were very similar to mine. He said he has been doing manual dexterity work and massage and that has seemed to help. I am doing this, along with the vitamins (Metanx, R-Lipoic, and CoQ10) and exercise and am hoping to get this resolved. I also have high blood pressure, triglycerides and cholesterol. Glucose was showing me as prediabetic, but I have since gotten that number down.

My hands have been bothering me since May 2015. It is always a good thing to find others with similar symptoms and share in our trials to resolve this.

Have any of you seen any change in your hands in the past couple of months?

Many blood pressure medications affect circulation (causing dilation of small blood vessels.

Keep that in mind... you could be having a simple visible side effect from your medication.