Pins ad needles

[Yvonne]

John has asked me to ask this question. He is awaiting dialysis, had the fistula fitted and the renal unit are just having in him once every 2 months for blood and urine checks.
However he gets every now and again pins and needles all over his body, he says at the time it is very painful, enough to bring tears to his eye's. Anyone any idea what they may be the sign of.  His next check up is in July and these pins and needles have only just started.

[G]

I have never heard of this. I have had numbness w/tingling in my extremities. This is from calcium deficiencies from what I'm told. Not to scare, but he should contact his doctor or at a minimum an advice nurse immediately.
Good Luck!

[stauffenberg]

What you report is a classic symptom of uremic neuropathy.  The build-up of toxins in renal patients damages the nervous system, causing all sorts of phantom pains, prickles, numbness, etc.  Those symptoms may improve with dialysis, though during dialysis the health of the patient's nervous system will decline over time and may make such sensations permanent.  However, there are a number of drugs available to suppress the symptoms.

When I was on dialysis, I could feel my feet gradually becoming more and more numb, starting at my toes.  The numbness had progressed to the middle of my feet by the time I got a transplant, at which point the advance ceased.

[Sunny]

Yes I have started to get this too. Sometimes are worse than others depending on how my diet is going. My neph says it is uremic neuropathy due to toxic
build-up. Since your husband is not on dialysis yet, check any recent diet changes or medicine changes which may account for it. Also, if he is pre-dialysis he probably needs to stay very hydrated to assist with adequate processing of anything he intakes. Since his renal function is decreasing to the point he needs dialysis soon, then that would account for the toxic build-up. Hopefully, once he starts dialysis, his problem with this issue will be resolved. Until then, He may need pain medications to get him through it. Best of luck to him.

[mariannas]

I've been lucky and never developed it all over, but it sounds just like the neuropathy I had after my bout with Shingles last year.  It was in my feet and horrible.  It hurt to walk and even put on my socks.  Luckily it went away after 3 or 4 months.  I'm not sure if it's a permanent thing once you get it during ESRD or not.  I'm sure there is someone on here more experienced than I.

[kevno]

If you get over heated you can get prickly heat. In renal patients it can also be caused by toxins, phosphate to high. Which is like pins and needles al over you body. If I get it I use periton which usully stops it within the hour or a cold shower.