Chronic Pain in my feet but not neuropathy???

Welcome to the forum, bridget.

I've had foot pain from nerve irritation in my spine. I went to 3 orthopedic surgeons who told me there was nothing wrong with me, had EMG that showed no neuropathy.

I went to a podiatrist who correctly diagnosed the pain as not coming from my foot, but my spine. Then I started having a little pain radiating down my thigh and my pain doc gave me a steroid epidural injection in the lumbar spine, and the foot pain disappeared.

Just my story. You could have something totally different. Since you're dealing with feet, I'd see a podiatrist. They specialize in feet, including surgery, more than an orthopedic surgeon.

I have long heel spurs, but the podiatrist said those don't cause this kind of pain and just ignore the x-ray pictures.

I am new to the forum and am joining to see if my experience can help someone.
I have had peripheral neuropathy for 8 years following extensive surgery for fractured vertebra L5/S1. After surgery (which fixed the major issues) I went through numerous neurological tests for severe pain in my feet where I was told by some doctors that it was just in my head and others told me there was nothing they could do. The bottom line was that I had constant burning and random sharp stabbing pain in my feet (mostly my left foot with the stabbing pain primarily in the toes). The sharp stabbing pain happened mostly at night, but at times during meetings, in the hallway at work...etc. The location of the "nails through my feet" would vary. The ones in the toes were the worse.
Bottom line is, you have to do your own research and be persistent because this constant pain can rob you of your life and is very difficult mentally and rough for those close to you. It is often very difficult to be in a good mood, no matter how hard you try.
I tried many different pain medications, most of which I couldn't function with. The one that did work to some extent was low doses of Percocet (1/2 of a 5/325), but that was only temporary relief and I was paranoid about addiction. Here is what did work:
- Mayo Clinic: In 2010 the doctors implanted a spinal cord stimulator. This still works well today and has been a very good alternative to take the edge off the pain, especially at night.
- By 2014 the pain had gotten a lot worse, I was getting very tired at work every afternoon because of the pain levels and it was taking 2 hours every night on Percocet just to get to the point where I could go to sleep for a few hours. Even then there were quite a few nights where I would wake up screaming in pain because of the sudden stabbing pain in my feet (not very pleasant for my wife either).

In early 2014 I scheduled yet another visit with the Mayo Clinic pain management team. They were great to work with and came prepared with 13 different options that they had brainstormed as possible solutions, including things like various pain medications, steroid injections, acupuncture, deep massage, ...etc. I was very depressed when I went through the entire list prepared by the best doctors in the country and realized that I had tried every single one with very limited success.

After that failed effort, I scheduled a standard follow-up visit with my primary doctor in September, 2014. After explaining the results from Mayo, he came back with a brochure on Butrans patches and said "we haven't tried this yet, are you willing to give this a chance?”. Since I was grasping at straws by that point, I agreed and he started me on 10 mcg/hr. I had some unpleasant side effects with nausea and was throwing up the first several days, but the pain was mostly gone. For the first time in over 7 years I slept all night, but the nausea was too much and we agreed to reduce the dose to the 5 mcg/hr with Percocet as required for break-through pain. After 6 months on the 5 mcg/hr Butrans topped off by an occasional half of a 5/325 Percocet, I still have some burning pain, occasional minor nausea, but no stabbing pain and I sleep every night fairly pain free (pain level is down from 8-10 to a 1-2).

Last weekend I did a 4 mile hike over the mountain, I climbed 5-6 flights of stairs every morning this week instead of taking the elevator to get to work, no increase in pain. Will this wear off? Perhaps, but I am only at the lowest dose and for now I have my life back ...very exciting stuff and I am very grateful for what I have.

Sorry about the length of the post but hope it helps. I also found a lot of relief from custom orthotics from Foot Solutions. Helps spread out the pressure on the bottom of your foot and reduces those painful pressure points.