Re: Plantar Fasciitis and other Foot issues

[Guest guest]

Thanks . I actually got diagnosed with the plantar fasciitis a

couple years ago. It went away for over a year and now has come back

with a vengeance. I can hardly walk across my house sometimes. I

have strained muscles in my legs from limping so heavily and BOTH feet

hurt, so it's hard to find a way to limp. The pain is so bad in my

left foot right now, I can't force myself to walk normal--I'm walling

with the foot curled and on the outer edge. I try to straigten out

and just take the added pain, but it seems to be involuntary now.

It's very bad. I'm starting to think it's not just plantar fasciitis

anymore. I've already had steroid injections and my feet hurt worse

than ever. I take aspirin every day and that helps a small amount.

It's exhausting dragging this pain around everywhere, with every step

I take. I've almost fallen a couple times on standing up because the

pain shot through me so badly I wobbled really badly. They are so bad

that after I've been on my feet for a time, and then sit down, they

just continue to throb and ache. It seems a little more intense than

other plantar fasciitis cases I've heard of. I can't imagine being in

the army with this pain--they'd have to send me home on disability.

I was diagnosed with Reiter's almost 10 years ago now--I was 26 years

old. My first problem was a very swollen knee, (and uveitis and

iritis). I haven't had any problems with my knees for over 5 years

now. This is a really weird disease!

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Sorry to hear about the pain you're experiencing. What did they inject

you with? I experience a bit of the pain in the heel, though the flare

ups usually start in my knee, which also makes it difficult to walk. I

have heard good things about the Z-Coil shoes. You should try buying

them online, you'd probably find them cheaper that way too.

I hope things get better for you,

Dean

>

> Are any other of you Reiter's patients plagued with plantar fasciitis

> or similar foot problems?

[Guest guest]

hi jennifer. i dont have many days such as you describe, with unbearable pain,

but i've had a few. when i have those days, i just bit my tongue and keep going.

its not easy, but you just have to convince yourself that you can do it.

in a related example, if i go to the dentist and need a filling, i usually

forego the anesthetic beforehand...... i find the feeling of that wearing off

afterwords to be more of a pain than the drill and anything else the dentist

does. i was also in the army for several years and experienced a fair amount of

pain in different ways while there too. luckily for me, my last few years in the

army were at a desk job, that coincided with my onset of reiters syndrome, altho

i did one more overseas military mission in 1995 that required me to run fast,

and i did when i had to.

in my mind, the human body is just another machine that needs repairs. i accept

the pain as a challenge that i have to overcome, and i wont let the pain stop me

from doing what i want to do. a lot of what ails us is in the mind. or how we

perceive it.

i hope that you're able to withstand the pain you're going through and keep

moving forward.

best wishes. james

isabofauna <animalia@...> wrote: Thanks

. I actually got diagnosed with the plantar fasciitis a

couple years ago. It went away for over a year and now has come back

with a vengeance. I can hardly walk across my house sometimes. I

have strained muscles in my legs from limping so heavily and BOTH feet

hurt, so it's hard to find a way to limp. The pain is so bad in my

left foot right now, I can't force myself to walk normal--I'm walling

with the foot curled and on the outer edge. I try to straigten out

and just take the added pain, but it seems to be involuntary now.

It's very bad. I'm starting to think it's not just plantar fasciitis

anymore. I've already had steroid injections and my feet hurt worse

than ever. I take aspirin every day and that helps a small amount.

It's exhausting dragging this pain around everywhere, with every step

I take. I've almost fallen a couple times on standing up because the

pain shot through me so badly I wobbled really badly. They are so bad

that after I've been on my feet for a time, and then sit down, they

just continue to throb and ache. It seems a little more intense than

other plantar fasciitis cases I've heard of. I can't imagine being in

the army with this pain--they'd have to send me home on disability.

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

Well, I had to call off work yesterday and today because I simply

could not walk. I bashed and gouged my leg because I wobbled the

wrong way and fell into the corner of a drawer. I have pushed through

the pain for three months now, but this is intense. It feels like

someone is drilling a red hot poker up through my foot. I am limping

very heavily and getting exhausted from " walking " just a few steps. I

am crawling in my house because that's easier. My doctor is putting

me in a wheelchair and if that doesn't help, he's putting me in a

cast. I have to see my rheumatologist too and probably go back on

heavy meds to control the Reiters as a whole. I have just gotten off

my NSAID and cyclosporine. Benn off of them for 6 months now and

except for the feet, I'm feeling great! No unnatural fatigue, a zest

for life again, etc. Oh, and I'm going to physical therapy for a

month too. I WILL get better.

[Guest guest]

...

I had the same problems with my foot. It went on for about two years but it

got really bad about a year ago. I just simply could not walk anymore. I am a

scrub nurse and I could not stand in the operating room any longer. My Doctor

put me out on medical leave. I was going to the emergency room about every 2

days for shots of Dilaudid (it is stronger than morphine). It was the only

thing that controlled the pain and even that was only for a couple of hours. I

finally went and had a MRI done on my foot after a traction boot and then being

in a cast for 6 weeks and non weight bearing. The MRI report was 5 pages long

which baffled the radiologist. He is a friend of mine and actually asked me if

I had a second job dancing in high heals because he could not figure out what

all the damage was from. It was kind of...not really....funny. After being off

of Enbrel for about 2 years, my Rheumy told me that it was not Plantar Fascitis

and said that it was a flare up of my

AS and put me back on Enbrel. I did not want to go back on Enbrel because of 2

nasty stints of Pneumonia that landed me in the hospital for about 10-15 days

each. Hesitantly I decided to take the Enbrel again. It was the best decision

I have ever made. I am back to work for about 8 months now and have had minimal

to no pain (in my foot anyways). It has been amazing for me. These diseases

have a funny way of showing their ugly heads sometimes and it is hard to figure

them out. I just wish you luck and wanted to empathize with you and let you

know that I have been there. I hope that you are able to find something that

will minimize your pain and that you are able to function again......I am sure

like me....you are not able to in the amounts of pain you are in now.

Good Luck,

in Cali

[Guest guest]

Hi

Sorry to hear of your setback. Yes, you WILL get better, even if it takes a

little longer...

" Well, I had to call off work yesterday and today because I simply

could not walk. "

[Guest guest]

, thank you so much. That's the kind of stuff I need to hear.

To most of my doctors I am their worst medical case ever, and to my

friends and family I am the only disabled/chronically ill person they

have ever had to deal with. I really start to feel like a freak

wondering why I seemed to pull the unlucky card from the deck! It's

good to know that other people are dealing with the same stuff. I

mean, it's NOT good, but you know what I mean. I don't feel like so

much of a freak or a hopeless case.

I am also seeing a former pain management doctor who is now a Holistic

doctor. BUt still an MD. He is wonderful. He is SO smart and thinks

my heel pain might actually be calcaneous bursitis or something like

that. And he wants to put me on steroids--but he knows how to do this

so that I dont' get side effects by giving me the right type and the

right dosage. He tells me that steroids are a natural part of our

body and with improperly functioning adrenal glands and thyroid as I

have, my body is not producing it's own steroids. So if we replace

them at the right dose, my body will be normal, but not have all the

icky side effects. So far, in the 6 months I've been seeing him, I

feel better and better, so I'm hoping he can fix the Reiters now too.

Thanks again,

*Unnecessary amounts of quoted text removed by moderator for poster.

[Guest guest]

...

It is not a problem. I do know how you are feeling. I work at the hospital

that I was going to the ER at and they were starting to think that I was drug

searching. The thought that I was crazy because I would start to cry because I

was in so much pain. Heck....I thought that I was starting to go crazy. My

Internal Medicine doctor did not know what was wrong. My orthopedist did not

know what was wrong. My podiatrist did not know what was wrong. My radiologist

did not know what was wrong. It was only after I went to my Rheumy (FINALLY)

and she said.....oh yeah....this is absolutely your AS and not Plantar Fascitis

and oh yeah....by the way, YOU ARE NOT CRAZY!! It was really hard for me. I

was actually fired from my job (rehired the next day) because they thought that

I was making it up...

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you are not alone in this madness.

I hope that this makes feel a little better and I hope that you are able to find

relief soon.

God Bless,

in Cali

isabofauna <animalia@...> wrote:

, thank you so much. That's the kind of stuff I need to hear.

[Guest guest]

....

I think I spoke too soon.. My foot started hurting really bad today and had

to go get another shot for pain.... I am worried because I am on Enbrel and have

not had a problem with it for about 8 months......I am not sure what I am going

to do.... I am going to give my self a double dose of the Enbrel this week and

see if that helps any. You really are NOT alone...boo hoo for me...I kind of

thought that something was brewing because I was in bed all weekend and a month

ago I had Iritis again. I thought my kidneys were hurting (this weekend)... It

(of course.....I am in denial) was my SI joints. I am starting to feel a little

beat up. Thank goodness for Norco and Dilaudid! I think I am going to have to

break down and ask the doctor for something stronger..... I HATE taking all of

these meds!!!! Sorry....I am just frustrated. I was just feeling SO GOOD for a

while there...... That is how the cookie crumbles...

in Cali

[Guest guest]

To Jen And ,

This is Harv again. I wrote recently of how I was forced to retire at age

45, and I now collect Soc Sec Disability. I didn't finish by telling you about

the foot surgery I had.

In December '99

[Guest guest]

OOps!

I hit the wrong key. Both of my feet hurt real bad, but my right foot

hurt so bad that I couldn't even think straight. I was howling so loud that I

was keeping my wife awake. There was a bump the size of a nickel on the top

center of my foot, all I could do was grip it real hard and roll around on the

floor. So, on Monday morning after a weekend of hell, My wife took me to the

hospital emergency room. The ER Doctor knew about Reiter's! and right away gave

me a shot of morphine. I was seen by a very good Rheumatologist, who admitted

me. I was given morphine as I needed it, I still bothered the guy in the

next bed with my moaning. I was then seen by an orthopedic surgeon who knew

what

I was going through, and after only one week he operated on the foot. He

removed the " mass of tissue " that was giving me the most grief, and after that

he

" fused " all the joints in my foot. He made three incisions on the top of the

foot, and inserted metal rods in there to keep them straight. The

Rheumatologist gave me a scrip for Oxycontin, and I was all fixed. I still take

pain

killers daily so I'm pretty much pain free. Until I do something stupid like

walking on a sandy beach, then I'm in big pain for a few days. I really hope

you

both can get the relief you need, I know what it's like.

Yours, Harv I'm 52 got RS at age 24

[Guest guest]

and Harry,

Thank you for continuing to write. I think I mentioned I'm in a

wheelchair for a while. I am starting to think there is something

else going on because my foot aches even when I'm not on it. And

that's not normal for plantar fasciitis. I am going to get a second

opinion next week. My mother is coming to stay with me for a couple

of weeks, as I am mostly blind from Reiters and now in a wheelchair!

Sheesh! That's just one more torture--having to put up with my

mother!

, I know exactly how you feel about the meds. Exactly! I

started seeing a Holistic doctor who is also an MD. He discovered my

adrenal glands were dead, my thryroid is not under proper control (I

am hypothyroid due to a mono infection that settled in the

thyroid--and that was due to my weakened immune system from the

cyclosporine!) Sheesh again! Anyway, I am now off the cytotoxic

druges and off of my daily NSAID and off my nightly narcotics. I feel

wonderful! Except for the pain I am now in from my foot. Those of

use with Reiters are also chronically anemic because the high sed rate

(inflammation) in our body does not allow us to metabolize iron. We

can eat Spinach all day and get no benefit from it. So my doctor gave

me an iron SHOT. That way it goes directly into the cells where it's

needed and my intestines don't have to metabolize it. Now why didn't

my Rheumy or Internist ever think of that?? My fatigue is finally

gone and I feel 21 again. I was always a very high energy person and

the last several years I felt like I was slowly dying....because I

was! Get your adrenals checked and get an iron shot. I can't stress

enough how much this has helped me. I am also on a low does of Prozac

to control depression brought on by the the ravages of this disease.

Good luck to you both. I will keep you posted on what's going on with

my feet. The real pain started AFTER my steroid injection into the

heel, so I have a sneaking suspicion he hit something he shouldn't or

my body just had a really bad reaction.

>

> To Jen And ,

> This is Harv again. I wrote recently of how I was forced to

retire at age

> 45, and I now collect Soc Sec Disability. I didn't finish by telling

you about

> the foot surgery I had.

> In December '99

>

[Guest guest]

Harry and and all....

Well, it started with my foot and has now moved to other places. My SI

joints, my neck, my collar bone, my knees (left one has fluid in it). Went to

the doctor and I was crying.......my blood pressure was 135/101. It has NEVER

been this high!! Doctor thinks it is because of pain. He gave me a shot of 60

mgs of torodol and the doctor gave me a script of 50 mg tablets. Had anyone

ever taken Torodol for pain? It is a NSAID that I know they give to patients

after surgery and everytime I have been to the ER they have given me a shot of

this with a pain killer. I am telling you, this stuff is good. I guess I can

say that I am in a full blown flare right now. Funny.... my little brother (who

also has AS) went to the doctor today because he can hardly walk or turn his

head. It was the first time he EVER said out loud that he had AS. baby

steps....I know....but it was HUGE for the family that he said it. Maybe he

will not be in denial about this disease any longer.

Funny that we are both in a flare up that started about the same time and

affected us in the same area's of our bodies and 2 different doctors saw us and

perscriebed us the same meds.... me.. Medrol for 2 weeks. Him....Pred for 9

days.

Hope all is well,

in Cali