Numb feet!
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi again, anybody help? I was sort of diagnosed in Nov. 2015 with G.C.A., but now my Rheum. says it may not be. My present dose of Pred. is 17.5mgs. I feel o.k. on that, except that in March this year My left big toe went numb, this was followed two weeks ago by the all the toes on my right foot but not my big toe, I was sent for nerve conduction tests but nothing was wrong, my Rheum. does the pin test which I can feel, but I still have a numb feeling, in my right foot I get pins and needles but not the right. I have been recommended Epsom Salts, (not orally, but to soak my feet in) I get no answer when I ask what it could be, just a shrugging of shoulders, ut it is no joke, I thought possible lack of magnesium, but what do I know? I apologise in advance, as my post isn't as serious as other peoples, and thank you.
1 like, 7 replies
Anhaga catherine34621
Posted
I'm having similar problems. Aching lower legs, often cold, and feet which although I wouldn't say they are numb as such don't seem as sensitive to, say, hot bathwater, as the rest of me. Can't trust my feet to tell me if the water is too hot. Doctor singularly uninterested, when all I really want from her is a suggestion as to what it might be, and if there is anything I can do about it. I'm not asking for pills or operations! She just said she wasn't worried about it.
catherine34621 Anhaga
Posted
Anhaga, I asked my G.P. and he said if I wanted to go down that road, it could be trapped nerves etc. but if you are taking calcium supplements, I understand that they should be balanced by Magnesium, I feel as if I am walking over hot coals, it's not nice.
Anhaga catherine34621
Posted
EileenH catherine34621
Posted
It is - you have a problem that is worrying you and I have to say, I don't blame you! I'd want more than just a shrug in reply!
Did the doctor suggest the Epsom salt baths? If so, he must suspect low magnesium levels. But the NHS says that the most common cause of foot numbness is a trapped nerve, often sue to footwear. And another site says either nerve problems or poor circulation.
Do you have any low back problems? Or knee problems? Could it be a sciatic nerve problem?
catherine34621 EileenH
Posted
No Eileen, I just read about it. I have mild scoliosis which I truly didn't know about until I had a chest x-ray when I first saw the Rheum. last Nov. I was always told I had a dropped shoulder blade. I had very little trouble from it growing up, and they haven't said this has anything to do with the numb feet. I sometimes have a bad pain which starts in my right shoulder blade and travels to my left, it can last an hour or two minutes, it usually goes if I do a few exercises, otherwise I really have no back problems.
EileenH catherine34621
Posted
All my life practically I had had back problems and at one point in my 30s I was told by a superb orthopaedic doctor in Germany that I had a slight scoliosis and it was enough to cause the back problems I complained of. My entire back muscles were hard and tight - and nearly 9 months of massage therapy with manual mobilisation of the really bad bits made a massive difference - but I had to move back to the UK before the job was quite finished and there I was laughed at!
I get a tingling sort of pain - can't think of any other way to describe it - which extends into one or both shoulderblades. It is due to muscle spasm of various back muscles (I get low back problems too) and the underlying cause is almost certainly myofascial pain syndrome. There is a range of ways that can help with that - high dose pred works for me eventually but when the dose reduces it comes back, but targeted steroid injections work far better. The best (quickest) approach I've found so far for me is a technique called needling, something called intramuscular stimulation is very similar (both done with needles but not really traditional acupuncture) and both can be found in clinics in the south of the UK, don't know about the north. However - there are manual techniques to mobilise the trigger points which work. Some of us have had strange back problems that affected legs, right down to knees and feet which have improved after using Bowen therapy. I really do put a LOT down to back muscle problems - which of course never show up on x-rays or scans and it needs a very observant doctor to work it out. Mine was a pain specialist here in Italy - who then used the techniques I've described and nearly has it under control. It is amazing WHERE you can have problems when you have a back problem!
catherine34621 EileenH
Posted
Thanks for replying Eileen, I found it interesting that the Dr. who saw the x-ray said the scoliosis was quite bad, but I saw a Cardiologist a few weeks ago, and she said it was mild. I didn't have the back pain before the steroids, but don't put everything down to them as I presume they saved my sight, all my symptoms disappeared when I started the Pred. except the back pain, thanks for the info.