What Causes Burning,tingling And Numbness Under The Feet In An Arthritis Patient After Malaria?

Posted on Fri, 6 Dec 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 6 Dec 2013 Answered on

Sat, 28 Dec 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : My mother aged 65 years is having tingling and numbness in the lower side of the feet i.e under the feets, and numbness in hands is more while sleeping. This is happening from last one month. She is an arthritis patient and has spondilosis and prolap disc. She has been operated for prolap disc in 2003. The onset of burning, tingling n numbness started after a malarial attack which happened 30 days back. Before that she never complaint of such symptoms, only used to have slight numbness in right leg when standing for long. Apart from that no numbness or tingling whatsoever in legs or palms. Her CBC is normal. But elevated cholesterol and tryglycerides of 315 and 600 respectively. She is non diabetic. She has hypertension so takes Betacap 20 OD. Earlier used to take Losar 50 and Betacap 20 but now with Betcap 20, the pressure is under control. May I know what should be the cause of it? Can be an onset of fibromyalgia if at all? Await reply Regards XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (2 hours later)

Brief Answer: My reply is below. Detailed Answer: Hi Ms XXXXXXX Thank you for posting your query and writing about your mother's health problems. Her symptoms are suggestive of small fibre neuropathy, where the nerves in the skin get affected. The severity of this neuropathy can be assessed with nerve conduction studies (NCS). The commonest causes of this illness are vitamin B12 deficiency and hypothyroidism (deficiency of thyroid hormone). Other common cause, diabetes, has already been excluded. These symptoms are not suggestive of onset of fibromyalgia. I hope my answer helps. Please get back if you require any additional information. Wishing you good health, Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, India Click on this link to ask me a DIRECT QUERY: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar My BLOG: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.in

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Sudhir Kumar (4 hours later)

She has even been given Neurobion injections for five days. But why is it all of a sudden. She never had such complaints.. A little numbness used to be there cause of spinal problem. This started just after the malarial attack. On 3rd Nov, she was given Calcitrol injection, then 4th on wards this all started along with malaria. Prior to it she was having too much blood pressure fluctuations like BP shot to 170/100 many a times. Three times she was given Depin sublingual. She complaint of profuse sweating too. She had stopped Betacap 20 which she was taking for last 5-6 yrs, so doctor said maybe its kinda withdrawal of stopping Betacap. As of no even she is complaining of muscular pains in arms and body. She doesn't feel much stamina to get up and do something cause of overall weakness and this numbness. Is the NCS important as of now or do you suggest any medicine? Do you suggest any alternative therapy like IFT or TENS, or Accupressure?

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (4 hours later)

Brief Answer: Thank you for getting back. Detailed Answer: Hi XXXX, Thank you for getting back and providing more information. Generally, it is better to find out the cause of neuropathy, rather than giving her empirical (guess) treatment. So, I would prefer doing nerve conduction studies before advising any treatment to my patients. I hope it helps. I would be pleased to answer any follow up queries. Best wishes, Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (Neurology)

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar