I am so sorry that you are suffering so badly. I too suffer with the 18 pressure points and I'm very blessed to have a doctor that believes in Fibro. In fact, his mother has it. It sounds like you need to see a foot specialist. You don't need pain in your feet along with everything else you are going through. It's so important to try and keep your blood pressure down if you can. Easier said then done, I'm sure. Can you make an appointment with your doctor and bring a list with you of what you are going through so he can possibly change some medications or add some that would help the hell you are going through? It's so hard when we suffer with more then just the Fibro. I'd think that would be enough for one person. I don't feel like I"m helping at all. I will be here if you want to vent. I'm glad your hubby came through for you and I hope it lasts. Has he read any of the letters that have been written for what we call the "normals?". I make everyone read them if they tell me they know nothing about Fibro. It's very devastating. Hang in there hon and God Bless you.

i don't understand your question. If you think that you need your doc immediately, then call him.

If you think that your pain is out of control and something is different that the same old crap, then go to an ER

I agree with D, If is just your feet get some inserts, never go barefoot get to a podiatrist. You might have plantars f,. something. right now dont feel like looking up.

Anyway I use to have terrible foot pain until I wore supports, good shoes with support and never went barefoot.

Hope you feel better soon

Hi all and thank you for your replies,

Grammy,
Thank you for your heart felt reply. It is very difficult for the "normals" as yall call them to truly understand the pain we go through. Of course it is the usual cliche...if they could walk in our shoes...but I have a feeling they would find some excuse to avoid doing just that. My husband does understand a little because he was sleeping next to me the night my painful nightmare turned into reality. He had to drive me to the docs as I could only curl up into a little ball and there was no way possible to drive a standard ten miles. I think he just gets tired of having a wife who is only functioning at about 40% of her old self. He still remembers the courting days...2 years...when we would dance all night, staying on the floor for hours without a break. I was the girl who was always hyper and chipper a 2 am and wanting to find after hours clubs or parties when girls 10 years younger than me had been yawning for the past hour. Yes, this disorder, disease or whatever it is pretty much destroys ones life. I am just happy he loves the post dancing me. Thank you grammy once again and God bless you and keep you safe in the palm of His hand....I know we will talk again...friends, Irish


Hello D
I am sorry you did not understand my question. Perhaps its because I wrote so much other stuff that it became confusing. Basically I was wondering what you guys might do in my situation on a saturday evening. Docs office is closed and living in a relatively small town, about thirty miles away from the big city it would be kinda hard to see a doc, even at an after hours clinic. Plus being a major university city (university of Texas-austin) it would be pretty hard to find a place that would want to prescribe pain meds. Plus my brain was/is so focused on the pain I felt like I could not be counted on to make wise decisions concerning my healthcare. My husband hates going to the ER cuz its a $100 copay and urgent care is $75. He always thinks if I just stay in bed...out of sight, out of mind...then I will be ok.

As far as it being my feet...well I plan to address that in my reply to magic. Thanx for your advice. Friends, Irish

Hello Magic,
Thank you for your reply. No, it was not just my feet. My whole body is actually very achy. Its just my feet hurt much worse. I suffered a severe fall last february that several docs actually called a"death blow"and were very amazed that I had lived through it with only 3 staples on my scalp and a concussion dx. I also had severe strains in both of my feet...well that was according to the report my doc had received from the xrays radiologist. However six weeks later I was still limping pretty bad and had a lot of trouble using the clutch in my truck. I did go to see a podiatrist at this point and he took xrays of both my feet. He showed them to me and it was quite obvious I was looking at two rather large fractures on my left foot that were in the process of healing. Because I had not received proper care for this I will suffer from it the rest of my life. I have a permanent limp and when it rains I have to use a rx ointment for arthritis called Voltaren gel. It can be quite painful.
..........HOWEVER..........I do realize this board is for fibro and not foot disorders. I do not know about your fibro pain but MY PAIN includes $ harp, needle like penetrating pain, fiery hot pain. The pain I am STILL experiencing is just like that. It is frigging miserable to say the least. My husband gave me vicodin about 3 hours ago and although it dulled it somewhat it did not even take the edge off. I really have no idea how I am going to make it through the night. Pray, I will pray.
..........anyway your suggestions were very good. But, I have more inserts than an insert salesman. I even bought the very expensive Dr.Scholls one, you know the one where you stand on the platform and the computer figures out what you need. I frequently wrap with ace bandages and use lambs wool a lot also. I have expensive tennie shoes that have good support and "breathe". I don't know where you live but I live in Texas and grew up in the Coastal Bend of Texas, which is about 28 miles from the bay and beach. My entire life was spent in what is considered a subtropical environment. I never wore shoes there except to church and school. My feet were so callused I could walk slowly across a blacktop parking lot and not fe feel a thing. Yet I knew a Yankee woman who during the springtime simply ran across the blacktop street and suffered 3rd degree burns. No barefoot is natural and the best thing. As a matter of fact I'm saving up for a pair of those jelly barefoot shoes and plan to wear then every where, even church.
So thanx again for writing! Friends, Irish

i know this will seem a bit simple but i had a really bad day yesterday too i just have a bath with epsom salt as hot as ican stand with lavender oil get heat pack or ice packs depending on my pain and put myself to bed have a good cry
my husband can be a total twat too and my poor daughter just gets very upset but what can we do we need to put ourselves first sometimes
xxxxx

I have PPP, Chronic palmoplantar pustular psoriasis, my soles and palms are the areas affected.

When palmoplantar pustular psoriasis occurs/flares, its development tiny blisters that are filled with fluid/pus then it becomes brown and scaly. The scaling may stand out so much that only this and redness is visible.

Palmoplantar pustular psoriasis causes theto skin to become red, scaly, thick, and it easily cracks. I can not begin to explain the pain it can cause....but that said soaking in a foot bath of oatmeal.

Oatmeal mainly consists of four skin promoting components, polysaccharides, proteins, saponins, and fats. Polysaccharides are a complex sugar that breaks down into a gel-like consistency when mixed with water. It helps to prevent drying by creating a protective barrier on top of the skin.

Start by taking four cups, of raw, unprepared oats and processing it in a blender or grinder until it is a come across powder. Pour the powder into your bath as you run the warm water; make sure the water just isn't too hot as this will aggravate your skin.

Soak your feet in the bath for a minimum of 15 minutes and then rinse your feet clean with warm water. Whenever you dry off, try to dab at your skin instead of rubbing it so that you can preserve the oatmeal on your skin.

Hope this helps....

I am so sorry for your pain and for not having much in a way of support on a daily basis. One of my closest friend, my oldest friend moved to Austin a little under 2 yrs ago, so every mention of that city makes me wanna cry. Anyway, reading of your pain made my eyes fill with tears because I know exactly how you feel.

My foot pain has always been bad, but the last few months it's been worse and worse. In February, I had Depomedrol (corticosteroid) injentions in my feet and ankles, and they really helped. It's getting worse again, so next itme I see my doc, I'm gonna try getting them again, if I don't need them in too many places. I get so many injections, each time I go in that I'm sure my doctor will be able to lease the second half of the medical building he's currently occupying or to buy a new truck...haha (kinda made me think of the Nanny's shrink, who used to call his contractor, every time Fran got a new problem. :-) Have you tried shots before. I get them everywhere, neck, shoulders, hands, wrists, knees, hips, back, backside, you name it, I've had it done. They do work, last on average between 4-12 wks. If they hit the spot, 3months is the longest they've ever lasted but because I have so many areas that need them, I get them every month usually.

I have severe inflammatory arthritis, in my spine and pretty much all my joints, so the steroids do great for inflammation. I get lots of inflammation in the soft tissues, too. Even though, most of minority of medical professionals who "believe" in fibro, don't believe that it causes inflammation, however, my doc and all his staff, say that yes, fibro is an inflammatory disease. yes, they actually refer to fibro as a disease, and I broke down crying at the end of my first visit with this doc because I couldn't believe that a doctor can actually treat me this nice and with such care. ( my internist was great about it, too, but had very little knowlege about treatment other than just the cookie cutter stuff you can find on web md.

The PA did mention that it maybe plantar fasciatis (I believe that's what MagicPill was referring to).

I have horrible pain everywhere all the time and take heavy duty pain meds, and they do help. However, for my worst fibro nerve pain, the combo of Savella and Gabapentin is the only thing that has ever worked. My old doc, gave me those two together first, but the doses he had me on were nto very effective, now, I take 100mg of Savella twice a day, and 3600 mg (yes, 6 x 600mg pills) all at ones at bedtime. This combo is awesome, and even though I'm still in pain 24/7, I am able to function. When I don't take the Savella, or Gabapentin, my nerve pain goes back to what it used to be. Once in a while, I do get a flare when despite the meds, I feel like I have 3rd degree burns all over and my whole body twitches, tingles, gets numbness, shooting pain, electroshocks and all the wonderful nerve pain. The past couple of weeks, I was very sick, a horrible arthritis flare to the point where I could not function and had to take a few days FMLA. I also didn't refill my scrips and was off Savella for a whole week. It was horrible, nausea, puking (and not because of withdrawals but that's how I used to be even before I took any meds when my fibro was flaring.) I wanted to die because the combo of the arthritis and fibro flares is just unbearable. Anyway, I finally got my Savella Friday morning, and today, I had a first day when I didn't feel like I had hot red corkscrews being drilled in and out of each of the 18 tender points. My chills and fever I get with arthritis flares, the cold sweats of fibro, all that seems to be slowing down today. I actually did not feel like ripping my cloths of and that my cloths were made of shards of glass. Back in February, my doc and I thought that Savella was losing it's efficacy because I was getting more and more flares, so, we decided to try Cymbalta instead. Oh, boy, it was like taking nothing. I was back on Savella a month later. When I'm not on it, I can actually see how much it helps, even if it seems that it's not doing much.

Anyway, I'm sorry for rambling. I just wanted to show you how effective Savella and Gabapentin are for me. Outside of meds, I do functional manual physical therapy, try to watch what I eat, use a cpap, heat, cold packs, topical analgesics, acupuncture, and I jsut recently started virtual reality hypnotherapy. I do wrap up my joints, I also bought really good shoes, but I tell you, until the shots in my feet, even my beautiful comfy shoes were horrible, and they are back to being very painful.

I guess what I'm trying to say, it's gotta be a combo of what works for you, and having a great doc is a big part of this combo. Sounds like you do have many of the pieces already. Would you consider taking stronger pain meds. I guess since you tried the vicodin, you must be. I know what it's like to be in that place where you'd try anything if there is even the slightest chance that you'd get some relief. I used to say I'd eat sh#t if someone told me it would help. I'm sorry for being gross like this, but it really is true, I would've. The pain meds I take are Kadian ER(extended release morphine) and dilaudid. I really want to be able to reduce them somehow.

I pray that you get some relief soon. Oh, keep your feet elevated. I often get so much pain in my feet, that I cannot even bare to have anything touch my foot, especially my heel. It's because of the swelling. I put my feet real high up, on a stack of pillows, and I make my feet hang over the pillows that way they don't touch anything.

I'm gonna wrap up now, so I don't keep going on and on. I'm really sorry for this looong reply, but I kept thinking of things to add because they may help you or give you and idea.


Take care,

I understand the pain you are having in your feet. Crazy, isnt it? I have RA and FMS. The rheumatologist believes that the RA is in medical remission so attributes this to a neurological disorder, I will be having a nerve conduction test this week to see how that plays into the feet and ankles having so many problems. It goes as high as into my lower thigh area. My PCP did an x-ray of my feet and ankles as the rheumatologist has not, it did not show any erosion of any joints, some arthritis, and heel spurs which are not actively painful at this time.

It started about a year ago with electric shocks emanating from my great toe and the second toe up to where my foot meets my leg. I have bursitis in the ankle which is painful and swollen. In addition, I have burning sensations up and down the lower extremities, RLS type symptoms, i.e.: the creepy crawly sensations. Recently, I have had pain that feels like I am being eaten alive by biting ants or stinging wasps. The bottoms of my feet feel like I am walking on crushed glass think of the glass that has been broken out of a windshield.

I currently am taking Savella, Requip, Celebrex, and Voltaren gel, and Percocets to allieviate the symptoms of the FMS and RLS. I have a plethora of other meds for the RA. Because of the crackdown on prescription narcotics here in Kentucky, I am only allotted 1 5mg tablet of Percocets a day through a pain clinic. It dulls the sensations and pain some. I am so needing some relief from this. I am in hopes that the nerve conduction tests will show us which direction to take with treatment.

I hope you have found some relief as well! Hang in there daizy8