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Question about RA foot pain

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Posted 5/13/2012 12:01 AM (GMT 0)
My doc is tapering me off prednisone and I am down to 1 mg. My question is, where do your feet hurt with RA? Mine are hurting on the bottom of my toes, on the balls of my feet and the heels. Is this typical of RA or could this be plantar fascitis? I am thinking I have both. We are trying to get me off the pred, take an MRI and see how I do without the pred. Ugh, ever since going down to 2, I feel miserable with fatigue, shoulder, hip, hand, knee and foot pain. I was on my feet today and they are killing me. I suppose no shoe is going to help RA foot pain.

Also, do you get some tendonitis and sore muscles as well with your RA?
Posted 5/13/2012 7:11 PM (GMT 0)
Hi there,

Yes, I have had my feet hurt as well and the worst is in my toe area, especially the big toes! I applaud you for getting off of the pred, but I know it is miserable doing so! For me the hands have been horrible lately, not sure why. I'm so sorry that you hurt so much sad The fatige is awful isn't it? That is the one thing with the pred, it really diminishes the fatigue, and without out, it seems to come back ten fold. But yes, the feet can hurt just as much as everything else.

Posted 5/13/2012 7:17 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks momto3. I know some of my pain is related to the RA and some is OA and some might also be fibromyalgia. I could sleep 12 hours a night, that's for sure. I was on my feet a lot yesterday and they were killing me. I know that it depends on where it hurts if it is the RA or not. I also seem to have a lot of tendonitis issues along with the RA. I just want to feel better. Yea, prednisone works for me-:) I hope we can find something else to work soon. Gotta get an MRI first though....
Posted 5/13/2012 7:41 PM (GMT 0)
I noticed your ANA is speckled pattern... has your rheumy discussed possible Lupus?

Mine is speckled pattern and I was told I had lupus. My feet hurt for 7 months one time. The doctor said PF then suddenly it stopped one day. I get tendonitis all of the time in various joints.
Posted 5/13/2012 8:22 PM (GMT 0)
That's a no on the lupus Joy. Are any of your other tests positive for lupus?? They have checked me for everything and the ANA is the only thing positive along with a positive sed rate. I also have a positive skin biopsy for skin scleroderma. I worry a little about lupus b/c I seem to get achy when I get exposed to the sun and I have told him this. That wasn't as bad on the prednisone. They said these things can be very difficult to diagnose and take time to completely develop. I think some of the meds are the same for most AI diseases though, right? I think that's why he wants to get me off the pred, in a flare and then MRI my hands. In the meantime, I am suffering. He apologized and told me I would be in pain.
Posted 5/14/2012 6:37 PM (GMT 0)
 

Wow....only 1 mg!  So close.  Sorry that you are in that pain though.  Yes, I definitely have had tendonitis and weak and very sore muscles many times through the years. 

I do have RA in most my toe joints but not my heels.  It does not hurt my heels or toe joints when I walk with or without shoes.  It does hurt the balls of my feet and mid foot area on both feet when I occasionally have to walk in bare or sock feet.  I have cushioned insoles in my shoes so it usually does not hurt too much when I wear these shoes thankfully.

My feet are still pretty straight and I do not have the typical bunion of the large toe(s).  I do have the small Tailor Bunions on the outside of both feet.

Aww yuck!  I just watched part of a Tailor Bunion surgery.  Hopefully your pain is gone soon.

Posted 5/14/2012 8:30 PM (GMT 0)
It took me 3 dose packs of Prednisone to get rid of the PF. Now my left arch is flat on the ground when I stand and right is close to flattened. They look nearly normal when I am sitting with my feet up. The joints mid foot all the way across, the balls of most if not all of my toes (especially big and little toes as those I believe to both be slowly forming bunions), the 3 middle toes on both feet, the heels and ankles as well all hurt to varying degrees depending upon what I am doing or have recently done. Some of the heals and ankles are tendon related not quite sure what is what anymore (this has all been in less than a year). I also have the tendinitis type pain that comes and goes in numerous locations all over.

I went through trying buying shoes when the PF hit and finally went to orthodics doctor. Told me to get some New Balance 927's and made custom orthodic inserts. These feel great, weird at first but having my arches held in places helps. Having a properly fitting shoe, even though they are ugly and rather expensive for being ugly is worth it. I went from wearing narrow shoes to a 2E after everything fell apart, that thought never occured to me.
Posted 5/16/2012 9:14 AM (GMT 0)
 

I was told that I had fallen arches, so I was given a pair of the New Balance dress shoes with a pair of the custom insoles and 2 pair of insoles for my runners too.  They do make my walking more comfortable and less painful.  When I have my feet up they look normal and not flat also.  Weird.

Posted 5/17/2012 5:16 AM (GMT 0)
Hi,

I get sore feet too, I'm told its a mixture of inflammed tendons and RA in my toe joints. I have had orthotics made to help me, I went from hobbling completely to limping and I can stand for much longer periods now. They told me it is very easy for us to end up with Plantar F because of the inflammation along our tendon sheaths and its very hard to get rid of. So go for orthotics, see a podiatrist and have a consultation make sure they know how to treat RA patients, maybe get a reccomendation from your rheumy. She reckons taping is just as good as orthotics, so when my feet are really bad I tape them up too. My podiatrist showed me how.

I get a lot of relief from taping them.

Hope this helps, well done on 1 mg, I'm now down to 2mg and dropping only 1/2 a mg every 3 weeks so its taking OH SOOO LONG. But I will get there.

I find my brain is slowly readjusting to the new pain, I'm dealing with it. Hope you are too?

Best wishes, golitho

Posted 5/17/2012 2:49 PM (GMT 0)
Hi, I'm not sure where to post this so I thought I would try here:

I am a 26 yo male. Last summer I got a pain in the ball of my left foot. At first I tried ignoring it, and I started compensating by walking differently, but eventually the pain progressed to the point that I needed a cane to walk. I went to an ortho who got an MRI which showed two morton's neuromas. In Jan, 2012 I finally went to a podiatrist and got fitted for orthotics. But at that point my right foot started hurting at around the same place, and an ultrasound showed a neuroma there too. I've been to three different podiatrists, got cortisone injections. The pain got better, but is now coming back.

I was also sent to a rheumatologist consult to rule out any other causes of my pain (month ago). He ran all the standard tests (CRP, sed rate, RF, HLA-B27, Lyme, anti citrulline) which came back negative. Most recently (about a week ago), I've had pain/weakness in my hands. It's concentrated in the lower joints of the fingers (where they connect to the hands) and also some pain at the tips of my fingers. No swelling.

I've made an appt to return to the rheum next week to discuss, but wanted to know if anyone here has any insights. I'm considering surgery for my neuromas but am concerned that they are not the true cause of my pain...

Thanks so much!
Posted 5/18/2012 12:40 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Scorpi, Its just so hard for us to know whats causing your symptoms. Sero negative RA can be really hard to diagnose, it doesn't always show up in the bloodwork and they diagnose you via symmetrical symptoms, it can start in completely different locations for everyone so there is no set pattern. But usually a good rheumy can pick it up, they usually x ray your hands , feet and hips as these are often the first places it can show up on x ray. But often with sero negative it attacks tendon sheaths so these don't show up and can be confused with other diagnosis.
Go back to your rheumy and tell them all your symptoms, they're the best to judge whats going on. Hopefully for your sake its not RA related.
Good luck, golitho (YOU should start your own post so others will see it and respond)
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