[FLYING BANANA]

................................ for me anyway. Been to see the arthritis specialist, private by the way, and the news is very good. My arthritis in my feet has got no worse, no better either, but the arterial response is very good. This is also part of my diabetes as well, so the check up is two fold. No difference in the test on my nerve ends, she was well pleased with my quick responses.

The fluctuation in my feet, they are either cold or hot, is purely down to my diabetes and can be managed in either being treated with tablets, cream or live with it.
((Tried the tablets when I lived up in Essex. The side effects made me a prisoner in my own home. Constantly tired, and I mean tired to the point of nodding off whenever I sat down. So no driving or travelling on the bus. The other side effect was the constant diarrhoea. I even fell asleep sitting on the loo. Not a good outcome)).

The cream is applied when my feet are cold. Some of the ingredients are red chillii’s, these trick my nerves and my brain into thinking that my feet are not cold but warm. The downside is when my feet are naturally hot, then I‘ll need stand on the cold floor with my socks on. This then confuses the issue.

The third option is to do, what I have been doing for the last 5 years, is to live with it. It’s not life threatening just annoying at times. In bed is where I feel the cold the most. Tried wearing the special bed socks but ended up taking them off after a few minutes as they made my feet itch. Tried the hot water bottle, wrapped in a towel, works ok till the bottle loses its warmth.

Just lately I have been leaving a fleece blanket folded at the bottom of the bed and this works ok. It usually ends up on the floor by the time morning comes. But by then my feet are cosy. So all in all my health is ok for my age. The cutting out of most diary products, along with the lack of chocolate and the cutting down on the falling down water has seen me lose a bit of weight. I now sleep a full 8 hours without getting up in the night for a wee.

So I thought I would share my good news with you all in these troubled times. And my next appointment is the day before my birthday, so hopefully it will be great birthday present to celebrate.

Thanks for reading and the kind comments

Please keep safe, and I’ll catch up with you all next year.