Foot and heel pain for months!

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Daisyisland1971

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For the past four months I have had the worse foot and heel pain of my life.

When I was working (retail) I wore custom orthotics bc of a very high arch. When the pandemic hit, I was stuck at home wearing flip flops or going barefoot in the house. I started feeling a splitting type of heel pain, foot cramps, tingling in my left and right foot but my left heel was definitely worse.

At first I just thought it was strain and overuse and not wearing good shoes. Went to first podiatrist, x-rays look normal. He put me in a foot boot for weeks. Then my other foot started acting up because of the unevenness of wearing the boot. Nothing changed. Went to a second Podiatrist. He gave me an oral steroid pack and an anti-inflammation drug called Relefen. All these things did absolutely nothing. It’s not worse, but didn’t get any better either.

I've tried everything, ice, heat, stretching, daily massage, massage ball on feet, got new shoes, got new orthotics, compression socks, infrared heating pad, Epsom salts.

I've had fibro for about 15 years, I have no other health issues, no diabetes or high blood pressure. I'm about 20 pounds overweight. I get flares but it’s usually my neck and hips that gives me the big issues. I'm at a complete loss as to what’s going on with my feet. My feet are so sensitive and I'm feeling neuropathy here and there with feelings of electricity sometimes around my ankles and bottom of both feet. I feel like the pain moves around too and some days it’s better than other days. I cannot go barefoot because it's so painful. I’m not a runner and I didn’t injure my foot. Has anyone dealt with this type of foot and heel pain?

It’s going on over four months at this point.

I'm at a loss and beyond frustrated.

Please any advice/input would be great!
 
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Have you seen a foot specialist? I would recommend you try that.
 
I guess it could be a really bad flare of plantar fasciitis - did your podiatrist talk to you about that being a possible cause? Sadly it's still not an incredibly helpful thing to identify, because it's just one of those really annoying issues to get a handle on :rolleyes: My friend tells me that wearing flip-flops or other non-supportive shoes can really aggravate it, and once it starts up it takes ages to get rid of. Apparently stretching out your calves, hamstrings and lower back can help. If you like yoga, pigeon pose is a good one!

The other way to perhaps look at it is that a relatively minor foot issue is being totally blown up by your fibromylagia, amplifying the pain. In which case, going into the usual strategies that you would use if you were having a regular fibro flare - self-care, rest, stress management, diet etc - might help your foot pain to calm down.

The last thing I can think of is the diabetes connection with foot issues. If you haven't had a check-up with your family doctor in a while, you could talk to them about whether it would be worth getting blood tests to see if there is an underlying cause elsewhere in your body. I am totally not an expert, so I might be off the mark on that - just a random recall on my part!

I really feel for you - whenever pain starts in something we can't help but use, like feet or spine, it can feel as if it's never going to calm down. Horrid and frustrating. I hope you feel better soon!
 
Maybe try gentle PT: osteopathy, chiropractice, acupressure?
 
I have had kinda the same thing. I need a knee replacement so am compensating anyway.

It started with not wearing shoes around the house, then having my daughter’s shower where I walked around in sandals and barefoot for 3 days outside. I cannot stand still on my feet without my heels killing me. Then progressed to having a burning pain with any step in my mid foot. I tried rolling it and I think I aggravated it. I bought a night sock that will stretch it out but haven’t really noticed much of a difference. I will say, I wore tennis shoes the other day around the house and felt a lot better.
 
tennis shoes
Hmm, that reminds me that I can't tolerate any shoes with heels - albeit due to my back.
I (have to) wear sneakers in the summer and barefoot shoes/boots in the winter, all with zero heels....
 
I'm so sorry you are dealing with this pain. We don't realize how much our feet do for us--until they don't. I assume you've gone back to wearing your work shoes--even around the house. I'm sure your podiatrists both ruled out heel spurs, which make you feel as if you have a nail poking out of your shoe into your foot even though it's the stray bone poking out of your foot into your foot. But did they check for tarsal tunnel syndrome? Back in the 1990's, I had a double whammy of a heel spur and tarsal tunnel. Surgery by my podiatrist corrected both. A nerve conduction study on your leg and foot is used to diagnose tarsal tunnel syndrome. Post surgery, you would deal with crutches and the boot for 6 weeks. Of course, this could just be one more facet of your fibro.
 
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