𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬? Meet Saffi and Gilly! Saffi is the older, chubbier one (with all the diva energy that comes with seniority). Gilly is her slim, young sidekick. Funny enough, they're both July babies — Saffi on the 6th, Gilly on the 19th. Gilly's weird moments are when she pretends to be a Meerkat! Saffi's weirdest moment was when she was named after a doctor at the hospital I worked for. SHE WAS THE ONLY DOCTOR whose draft and voice EVER matched in 10 years of transcribing! Now show me yours — and tell me the weirdest thing they do! 👇 Community Note: Each Thursday we will go off topic and get to know each other a little bit! 💚 It's Safe to Ask Here. — Ask Lynne

🩸 𝐋𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Diabetic Neuropathy is caused by long-term, poorly managed diabetes. High sugars damage the billions (yes, billions!) of nerves in our body affecting the covering of the nerves and the chemical pathways inside them. This stress causes the nerves to misfire. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬. While diabetic neuropathy often starts in the feet, it can be felt in the calves, hands, thigh, hip and other areas. It can also wreak havoc on your organs, digestive track and affect blood pressure. 🩺 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Most importantly, working hard to control your blood sugar. The longer your sugars remain elevated, the more damage you do. Nerve damage is irreversible, but manageable. Often medications created for one health issue, prove helpful for others. Commonly used for nerve pain: 💊 Anticonvulsants: Commonly used are pregabalin and gabapentin. They work by relaxing the nerves, dampening the pain signals sent to your brain. (All pain lives in your brain—a huge topic for another day!) 🧠 Antidepressants: Older antidepressant medications, rarely used for depression now, are highly valuable for nerve pain. Examples are duloxetine and amitriptyline. They alter neurotransmitter levels heading up your spinal cord, dulling pain. 🩹 Topicals: Localized topical options can also help. Not topical anti-inflammatories, but things that numb the area, like lidocaine patches. 🌱 𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨: 👟 Low-impact movement: Walking increases blood flow delivering more oxygen to naturally soothe pain. 🛁 Epsom salt foot soaks: These are fabulous for neuropathic foot pain. Water must be lukewarm, never hot. 🥑 Vitamin B12: Increasing your intake helps fortify the protective cover (sheath) of your nerves. Understanding your medical conditions and treatment options like this is a core part of patient education and health literacy. *This is for informational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional.

1ST, let's welcome Karen F. She has been showing up in all of my communities and engaging! Welcome and thank you Karen. The ASK LYNNE community has reached some milestones. We are now 1 DOZEN members strong and we have brought both of my communities into one. Skool itself is a community and I have had a great deal of help from other Skool owners. Each owner builds their own community, and so on and so forth. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Having received some fantastic advice in regards to my struggle to keep up with 2 groups and branding on the internet, I have amalgamated the groups into ASK LYNNE. As a health advisor, it is quite natural to help people move, moderate and motivate themselves to improved health, while also helping with questions regarding diagnoses, testing, imaging, consults and helping to build plans. Bringing everything into one place makes it so much easier to grow real health literacy together. How Can I Help More? Reach out if I can help you more. Quick questions and topic ideas are always welcome. If you want a private conversation, DM Lynne Vella and your questions and answers will remain private if that is your preference. 💚 It's Safe to Ask Here. Let's have a conversation: 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐒𝐊 𝐋𝐘𝐍𝐍𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐘. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰!