Are sore feet/toes always Bartonella?

In the morning and sometimes at night I have really sore feet up near my toe area and back up to my arch. I also have throbbing in the soles of my feet. My feet are always cold as well.

Two of my toes are very swollen and red. Almost impossible to bend like they are infected. I don't typically get a lot of joint swelling frequently. The pain is in the joints and muscles.

Can babesia and lyme also cause this? I tested negative on all co-infection tests. Are the co-infection tests as unreliable as the Lyme test?

I also have just started having a problem with Candida, although the feet problem started several weeks before that.

I thought about trying a heating pad, but sometimes I'm so out of it I don't think I'd notice if it started a fire while I was sleeping lol.

The nails are fine so far. Two of the toes are red and inflamed right under the nail. It doesn't hurt to press on them, but they are swollen/stiff with limited range of motion. The rest are also stiff but not swollen. It mainly hurts when I walk. My toes aren't bending correctly.

My hands and feet are always freezing. That's one of the first things every doctor notices when I shake their hand, but they never mention a reason.

Post Edited (Summer3) : 1/20/2012 7:13:51 PM (GMT-7)

I've had a lot of foot pain, but I'm not sure if it's from Lyme or Bartonella. I've tested negative for bartonella, though I'm under the impression that the FISH test that I did doesn't test all the strains, so I don't know quite how reliable testing is. The toe pain and redness sounds like arthritis, which can definitely be Lyme.

Personally I've found that the higher my toxin load is, the colder my hands and feet get - I still don't really understand why, although I'm guessing it has something to do with circulation. I've been trying to raise my core body temperature to see if that gets rid of some of the coldness - it's getting pretty bothersome!

How do you know that your toes are infected? Is it like a skin infection, or do you mean infected with Lyme? While 9 times out of 10 our symptoms are Lyme-related, other things do go awry. Have you seen a podiatrist? Have you talked to your LLMD about this?

Feet flare ups are torture and for me I think the only reason my nerve ending are ok is because i am on low dose pain meds now.

I am definitely addicted to 1mg every 24 hours but it keep it at bay
and i am able to put my feet on the floor.

I think I had two things going on.

One was parasite reaction that went on for almost 15 yrs.
that stopped after parasite meds. the blistering and burning of the
two toes. It was madness though like a burning itch.

but the other buring of the feet so bad like sore. It hurt to step on the brake of the car and I would walk like cripple. like my feet were stumps.

the pain meds is what has that all under control. I guess it is nerve pain.

If I get any other terrible pains though I would need to take roxy. percocet without the tylenol. 5 or 10 mg.

Origionally one of my doctors said I would need a fentynol patch all the time......no way. what a horrible drug.

so I am grateful to take 1 mg or less of buprenorphine. It's my miracle pain drug.

I am wondering now about taking antibiotics for what ever is going on but it seems more to me like damage is done and this may be best way to go.

the only other thing is that I am still to viral like sick and just don't know how to knock that part out.

I never can say what I will be like tomorrow. If someone gives me an RSVP i panic.

the brain fog is too much and the wrong enviorment or air will put me in a tail spin. I'm afraid to get too far from my base.

Hey guys,

I'm really sorry- I don't have the focus to read through all of this. But I did have/might still have bartonella, and I can tell you about my symptoms, and what my doctor is looking for.

The first symptom I had were shin splints (not actual ones, because I didn't run, or injure myself. But that is what they felt like). Those lasted for something like 2 years, with no relief from anything. My LLMD in the US thought this was very indicative of bart. However, the shin pain is back this time, and my doc here thinks maybe it is just part of the general muscoskeletal pain I have.

As for my feet: I felt exactly like I was getting plantar fascitis. Pain, and a bruised feeling in the bottoms of my heels. My feet would also sometimes just ache, or feel bruised. My new doc thinks this is more telling of bart than the shin pain.

Do you have other symptoms of bart? Like excessive neurological symptoms compared to the rest? Or lots of anxiety?

"I never can say what I will be like tomorrow. If someone gives me an RSVP i panic." Bucci I feel the same way! Oh, the pressure! I almost always RSVP with a yes and an additional warning that I'm prone to cancelling!

Summer, if it helps at all, in the beginning of my treatment I had a good couple of months of nonstop symptoms like I've never experienced - tons of lightheadedness, numbness, tingling, twitching everywhere - and so many symptoms I couldn't even describe! Treatment certainly hit me hard, but now many months into it, the crazy nonstop symptoms have stopped, and thankfully the lightheadedness is gone! Just saying - it does get better!

Also regarding the foot pain, I'm honestly not sure what caused it - Lyme, Bartonella, or legitimate plantar fasciitis (plus arthritis from a small fracture it took me a few years to find out I had), but that's feeling much better as well! Sometimes these symptoms disappear as quickly as they appear - I hope that's the case for you!

I tested positive for Babesis but seem to have the symptoms of bartonella. Burning in hands and feet, feet feel like they are bruised and can hardly walk, anywhere I go, always looking for chair, severe weak spells, headaches when I wake up. Any suggestions? 

Hi baylor,

Best thing to do is to keep your Lyme Literate doctor updated on your symptoms. If he thinks that it is bartonella, he will either retest for it or treat it anyway.

Hope you get some relief soon.