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Foot is stopping me in my tracks.

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Rheumatoid Arthritis
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Posted 1/6/2020 7:02 PM (GMT 0)
I have had the worst year or so with my right foot. Bunion is painful enough now it's time to really consider surgery. I also have OA in big toe. I have delt with plantars fasciitis as well. When that was beginning to heal I developed a lovely painful cyst that will need to be addressed.
In the last month or so I have terribly painful swelling and redness on top of my foot just around my middle toes. It can hurt like a son of gun walking is awful. I'm down to crocs and slippers feeling half way descent. I have on tennis shoes today but they hurt so bad I'm about to put on my cross.
I have OA in my right knee I'm just falling apart. I have a second opinion on my foot with another ortho spec in a couple of weeks, but thought I might go to urgent care tomorrow to see if they can give me any insight to my foot swelling and pain. I tried to schedule with my pcp but he's booked out. I really need some answers on the swelling and get that under control before I think about surgery. It just appears one day and I thought that's odd and it really hurts in the morning and at night I'm limping around. I'm not sleeping good because of it. I feel irritable all the time because of my pain. I hate it. I still get things done. I elevate and ice when I can. Muscle relaxers dont help at all. Just hobbling along putting on shoes and socks hurts I'm pretty tough girl to so when it hurts it hurts. I cant hardly bend those toes where the swelling is. It's just strange to me.
Posted 1/9/2020 3:12 PM (GMT 0)
Hi JRBear, I know what you are describing because I have had this problem with the middle toe joints (metatarsophalangeal) of my feet as well as the joints nearer the ankle (tarsometatarsel) for years due to RA. I wish there was some magic bullet I could tell you about to help with the pain. For me the things that help are elevating my feet, hot soaks, I sometimes use Voltaren gel also which is a prescription topical you can rub on joints that are giving you a bad time and it helps take the edge off but unfortunately doesn't last a long time. Maybe 90 minutes or so but when they really hurt like at night time keeping you from sleep it is a relief.
I went to a podiatrist and after looking at my x-rays and feet he didn't have any encouraging things to say unfortunately because the damage to those joints has been pretty severe in my case.
It is a real challenge walking or even wearing shoes when they are swollen up and being on a concrete floor is out of the question for any length of time at all even when they are not super swollen.
One thing that did help me quite a lot with my two worst inflammation areas (hands and feet) was giving up dairy products and intermittent fasting. I won't bore you with a diatribe here because everyone says they have the miracle dietary cure but for some reason eliminating dairy and doing frequent one day fasts brought my inflammation levels way way down in my hands and feet and also seemed to lower the pain levels too. So I never use dairy products anymore and thankfully there are some decent alternatives out there now.
Oh you might also consider using some memory foam inserts in your crocks to help give a bit of cushion to those areas. I buy a brand called RocSoc from amazon and they are memory foam insoles. They work far better than the gel ones and help me quite a bit when I don't have a choice but to be out and about.
I hope some of this helps, its no fun to be sure. I hope that you are able to find some relief.

-Don
Posted 1/9/2020 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the reply. I know I have OA in my big toe and knee. Funnily enough this new pain i am experiencing has taken some of the pain away from my big toe. Today is quiet an uncomfortable day. We have a big weather front moving through and i know my pain is going to be through the roof. I am elevating my foot now. I cant wait till my orthopedic appointment it's going be the longest week. I'm just concerned it might be gout. Can you have RA and OA at the same time?
I use biofreeze at timee but it doesn't last long. I like tiger balm better. It's frustrating for sure. I'm glad the weather is like it is we'll keep our chickens in their run the next day or two so hopefully I can baby my foot some.
Thank you for sharing what has helped you. It seems as of late I get one thing straightened out and then bam I get some new ailment. It's like one thing at a time please. I dont want to sell our chickens I enjoy them so so much, but if I am going to have this kind of on going trouble with my foot we might have to consider it. I guess we'll cross that bridge when i get there. I will keep y'all updated.
Posted 1/15/2020 5:45 AM (GMT 0)
Hi JRBear, yes, you can have more than one type of arthritis. Did you find out if you have gout? The redness and swelling kind of sound like that. Do you take any meds for your OA? Does Tylenol Arthritis help at all? I find it helps great once it kicks in, but takes (for me) forever to kick in.
Don mentioning cutting out dairy might help the inflammation. Dairy, sugar, and gluten are the top inflammatory foods.
I had some wicked foot issues many years ago. It was like everything hit me at once. Couldn't sleep, couldn't walk, in non-stop excruciating pain. For me, muscle relaxants did give me some relief. It took some time for the inflammation to get under control, but I was given custom made orthodics (back when insurance used to help pay for them), started only wearing New Balance walking shoes, and started stretching my calves. Slowly but surly I started to improve. I still wear inserts (but over the counter now), mostly wear my sneakers, and need to stretch my calves regularly - but I'm functional again. Good luck and keep us posted on what you find out.
Posted 1/15/2020 1:16 PM (GMT 0)
I haven't been to the doctor. I see the Ortho doctor this Friday. Talk about being anxious and ready for an appointment. I have also wondered if I might have fractured something. I dont necessarily have bruising though just pain and redness.
I do take muscle relaxers when it's been really bothersome. Some nights it helps and some nights it doesn't. I haven't thought about trying tylenol arthritis. I might though since I need to keep on my meloxicam I cant take advil.
Thank you for checking in. I'm just limping along and resting my when needed. I got one of the better nights sleep last night better than I have had in a while. I will update after my appointment. I might see if my mom wants to go with me. I hate meeting new doctors by myself. My husband has to work. Plus I have hard time remembering everything that was discussed at an appointment.
Posted 1/17/2020 3:55 PM (GMT 0)
JRBear, I hope you get some answers today about your foot situation. I see that you are on Meloxicam which is an anti inflammatory medication. I would not take an OTC anti inflammatory while on the Meloxicam, it can cause stomach issues, you don't want that.

OA is part of the normal aging process, caused by wear & tear. Even young people can get it, some are more prone to it than others.

Are you under the care of a rheumatologist? This is the dr that would diagnose & treat a person with RA.

Let us know how the appt goes.
Posted 1/17/2020 5:49 PM (GMT 0)
The appointment was really informative. Definitely will be doing surgery. He is suggesting distal Chevron osteotomy surgery. He will also correct the toe next to my big toe that is turning into a mallet toe because of my bunion. He will remove my cyst. I really liked this surgeon. He provided so much more info than the first one did.
He was honest and good lord 4 maybe 6 months before I am back to normal. That's what I am more concerned about. I keep our household going. It will definitely be bumpy, but the surgeon said it wasnt going to get better and I am past the point of trying any inserts or orthotic shoes. I will have to have a big talk with hubby about this. I dont have to do it say tomorrow, I will just have figure out when would be a good time.
As for the redness and swelling nothing broken my toes are simply aggravated by all that's going on with my foot. I dont need to wear tight or pointed shoes even with tennis shoes.
The first surgeon made it sound like it was no big deal. This guy really put it all on the table for me. Glad my mom went with me was a lot to take in, but definitely need to figure out when I am going to do this.
Posted 1/22/2020 7:22 AM (GMT 0)
I am glad to hear that your foot problems are not RA related and are treatable even though surgery is required. Be thankful, I was told that to remedy the damage in my joints that removing them surgically would be my only real option and that for damage like mine that it is not an uncommon remedy to the situation leaving floppy toes if you can imagine that.
I'm going to go ahead and just do my best to live with it and be grateful that it is not worse. On a recent visit to my pain management Doctor I met another RA sufferer who was wheel chair bound due to her feet and ankles being so badly damaged. She was a very sweet and inspiring woman and she had to be in incredible pain but you would not know it to speak with her.
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