Dry hair / burning feet / high folic acid

1.) I am wondering if anyone has experienced really dry hair (not falling out yet, just dry). Any suggestions? 2) I also have a terrible time in the evenings with my feet burning since I have had the surgery. I am a diabetic, but my blood sugars fasting have been steadily going down. I am wondering if this is diabetic neuropathy or else I have heard that burning feet can be a side effect from the surgery, itself, however, I don't know why that would be. 3) After surgery my lab work came back with a very high folic acid, which my surgeon had never seen before and didn't have any explanation for. Anyone else had this?

Dry skin and hair (more thant before surgery), but no feet thing!

Well, let my disclaimer read: "I am not a medical practitioner, nor do I even play one on tv, so any advice/information you may recieve from me is simply stuff I have read/heard/seen on tv, and not to be taken as fact, but rather discussed with an actual medical practitioner." That being said -- dry skin or hair can happen because of several things, the most common post-op being not enough fluid intake and not enough fat intake. Obviously, the first remedy you want to try is increasing your water intake -- I know with 64-120 oz/day (my intake is never less than 64 oz) my skin and hair have never been so beautiful. I literally GLOW now, and I KNOW it is because of the water -- I was always a soda drinker, so was probably walking around dehydrated all the time! If, after at least 3 weeks of increased water consumption, your hair is still dry, add a few healthy fats into your diet (if allowed by your guideline!) such as olive oil, fish, nuts, etc. Remember, these fats also lower your bad cholesterol, so they're worth eating! Ok, next is the burning feet -- and I will lump it with the high folate level (in a moment). Burning/painful/numb feet can be a symptom of the surgery itself only 1) immediately after surgery -- because they do basically stand you up at one point (and it can be for a long while, depending on how long your surgery goes) so that your guts drop down, to give more room for all the roto-rootering that must be done, or 2) if somehow a nerve was damaged during the surgery -- I am thinking that if there are statistics on this, the number is so low that you could rule this out. That all being said -- excessive folate (folic acid) levels can mask a B12 deficiency. The high folate level will cause a false reading for the B12 -- making it look higher than it actually is. That could actually be the cause of your burning feet -- tingling or numbness of hands and feet is one of the major signs of pernicious anemia (vitamin B12 deficiency), and depending on how you sense it, could be a burning sensation to you. I do not have a clue how to get your folate level down other than suggesting that you find a multi with a lower amt of folate in it than what you take now. Talk to your doctor about this as I am pretty sure there have got to be other tests that he can do to test for the PA that won't be skewed due to the folate levels. Ok, that all being said, the burning hands might also be just a sign of dry skin. Just thought about that -- or athlete's foot, LOL. HTH! --joanna 325/246/125 (someday, I hope!)

I have the dry hair but my feet and hands are freezing but it is winter here in australia hugs from down under HELEN