Bottoms of feet

Can y'all help me determine if this is fibro-related or not?

From time to time (this is the 3rd attack in 6 months) the bottoms of my feet get VERY sore and tingly. Sore enough that I can't really walk. Neuropathy-like, but I don't really have a disease (at least not that I know of) that causes neuropathy, and I'm not totally clear that neuropathy can come & go.

When it happens of course it kicks off other fibro symptoms and I end up with my whole body aching. Or whatever you call a whole-body pain at level 3-4.

My feet get hot and swollen, red on bottoms & up sides for 1/2 to 1 inch. Painful to walk on, but not to touch.

Anyone experience anything like this associated with Fibro? Thanks for your help.

Arthritis is more joints, isn't it? This is the bottoms of my feet. Like someone was beating them with bamboo shoots overnight!

The swelling isn't the biggest problem, it's the pain - walking is impossible as the pain is even all over the bottoms of the feet. No contortions to walk on less painful parts is possible.

I suppose it's crazy Lupus.... see my older post at www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=29&m=3208723 for a description of the 2ond episode. The 1st time was also on vacation, so sleep & food were non-ordinary, but not so much walking was involved.

This time I have no clue what might have triggered it. Sure makes walking as an adjunct to a weight loss program problematic.

I had also found erythromelalgia as a possibility. Yuck!

Thanks, in general my fibro is not very active and is the least of my worries, so I wasn't sure if the tingling and redness ever occurred with fibro. Sounds like it isn't....

Hi Lynnwood:

I don't know anything about Lupus so not sure what it can do to your feet. People with Diabetes can have Neuropathy that affects feet. I also have had plantar fasciitis but it is involving your heel. The bottom of my feet change colors. If they are extremely cold they get purple shades. I have had my feet be red but don't have inflammation, swelling or pain.

It is very hard to walk with foot pain. Perhaps you should let your Doctors know what is happening. I saw a Podiatrist/Chiropodist for my last bout of plantar fasciitis. I have read that a person's foot is the farthest from the heart so it might heal at a slower pace.

Loring

Osteoarthritis in Multiple Joints, Fibromyalgia, Neuralgia, Chronic Daily Headaches, I.B., Hard of Hearing...

Are you talking about intermittent neuropathy or permanent? And what kind of Dr are you thinking about?

I do sometimes have higher sugar levels than are healthy...

Lynnwood, my left foot gets like that. My rheumy told me it was my arthritis.

Hi, Lynn. This sounds awful.

I have feet that tingle all the time (especially the left one - Sciatica.) They do get painful too, sometimes out of the blue but more likely if I've bent over too far or walked too far. But not as bad as you're describing.

I hope you figure it out soon.

Debbie

Still a problem. Kinda' hoping it sticks around till I can see my Primary Care Doc or my Rheumy or both next week. On the other hand, hard to manage by myself in a 2-story home with my feet feeling like this! lol

I've been getting this lately, too. Initially, I thought it was a side effect of a newish med I've been taking (Verapamil) and it may be, but the more I've looked into it and the longer it's continued (after the med has been discontinued) I've found that it is a type of neuropathy and can be linked to Fibro. It's related to the Small Nerve Fiber Neuropathy that we've been reading so much about the last couple of years. Most of the time there is no known cause for it, and it seems like (much like Fibro) it becomes a dx of "we don't know", but often they do eventually find a cause for it.

It's frustrating and it really hurts, feels like the bottoms of my feet are burning. I get the tingling in my hands and feet as well, and it often wakes me up.

Hi Lynnwood, I just joined today.  Yes the pain in your feet is most likely fibromyalgia.  You may notice when you have pain attacks you get sore areas in the body that are often swollen, hard (fluid-filled) and usually bilateral (on both sides of body at approx same place).  The body is trying to store, get rid of or move around fluid in which something, maybe phosphates is being disolved and stored which the kidneys can't eliminate.  This fluid and its chemicals cause burning and soreness and tenderness most often in muscles and tendons.  This fluid can also be stored in other body systems causing numerous health problems.  You may feel after any exertion pain as if you had been exercising very hard or had been bruised in these areas.  These symptoms, if unsucessfully treated, usually worsen with time.  As your feet are used all the time to walk and stand the many muscles and tendons there take a lot of punishment.  In fibromyalgia fluid builds up and also lactic acid== the pumps inside the cells of the tendons can't work properly to flush out the oxidation products and chemical build up of exercise and general muscle use and also the kidneys don't seem to be able to eliminate the toxins fast enough, hence pain, pain, and more pain.  It seems to go in cycles in different parts of the body but the feet are  often one of the most vunerable.  I used to have pain in my feet most of the time and could hardly walk or stand.  I have used guaifenisen and magnesium with malic acid and have had a lot of relief. The guai helps flush out the toxins through the kidneys as long as I avoid aspirin and natural mint consentrate.  The malic acid converts the lactic acid to malic acid which is painless.  The magnesium helps by boosting muscle function and relaxation and sleep. You need to take a big enough dose for it to be successful.  I take 3 large (00) capsules of each each day. Before it works, if it does, you usually feel worse for a short while, a week or so and then you start to feel a lot better and it improves greatly if you keep up the regime.   Been doing it for about 8 or 9 years.  I am much improved but not cured.  I can do most things and walk pretty well most days,  no hiking!  I can stand for considerable periods.  I am now 72.  Also before I figured out I had fibromyalgia and treated myself I suffered about 20 years of terrible neck pain and contraction headaches nearly daily. That was hell!   It was  fibromyalgia caused and it was only when the symptoms spread to my feet, legs and other body parts that I looked at possibly having fibromyalgia.  My headaches are pretty rare now with the guai and malic acid and magnesium.  I hope you find this information helfpul. Keep looking for what will help you and believe you will find it and you will.  The mind, your own, is your most useful tool and most loving and powerfull ally.  Believe in yourself and be your own best and closest friend.  You can use the power of your own loving believing mind to help heal yourself.  You are very powerful. All the best.

I had plantar faciitis really bad and could only walk a few steps at a time. I heard about Birkenstock sandals and started wearing them. At first my back hurt because they were causing me to walk correctly but that stopped in a few days. I only wore them a couple of hours a day in the beginning because they were so different than anything I had ever worn on my feet. Plus, they had to be the ugliest shoes on the face of the earth! LOL

They have a high arch and a heel cup and this stretches that tendon and keeps it flexible. If you were to step in sand, the shape you would see is what the inside of the shoe looks like. They are not squishy soft but they sure did the trick for me.

Now I have 22 pairs and wear them all of the time...even as slippers...since my plantar faciitis is totally gone. No pills, surgery, or shots in the heel. I have various colors and even black patent leather ones for dressy occasions. Gone are my little heels with bows on the toes but I can walk pain-free with a smile on my face instead of wincing.

Sherrine

Birkenstock's are great IF, and ONLY IF your feet FIT the permanent mold they come in, particularly in the arch area.

My feet don't match up with them, never have, never will. The arches they have feel like I'm trying to walk with a golf ball jammed into the soft belly of my foot.

And the Birk's are NOT forgiving, you can't "break them in" no matter what.

My solution is going to require more conscious effort of stretching and strengthening every day.

Lynwood, that's exactly how they felt when I bought my first pair. I wore them for about an hour and they went in the closet for months. I finally pulled them out again because I had to try something and wasn't willing to go the shot/surgery way.

That' "golf ball" feeling is your tight muscles. This is why you have so much pain and this needs to be loosened, stretched and the sandals do this. I only wore them a few hours a day and gradually I could wear them longer because the muscles loosened and the shoes fit better. I now wear them all day and all evening, walk through airports with ease, stood on a glacier in my Birks, etc. I could never have done the traveling I did if I had the pain from plantar faciitis. Now, I never have heel pain anymore and can even walk barefoot if I want to. Before my Birks, I couldn't do that.

Sherrine