I have problems with both my hands and feet but for different reasons.
With my hands, I have pain and stiffness and issues grasping items. I've been tested for RA repeatedly and don't have that. My pain specialist thinks it might be nerve related. To help with the pain I use arthritic compression gloves.
With my feet, I found out that I have Plantar Fasciitis. It causes pain in the feet but a lot of people don't know that it can also cause pain in your legs as well. I have a frozen water bottle that I use for the PF. I place the water bottle on the floor (sideways), place my foot on the bottle and then roll my foot back and forth. It helps with the pain.
Rheumatologist only diagnose. …for some reason they want you to see a different doctor for treatment. What you are experiencing with your hands and feet is part of the symptoms. I do the same thing. My feet and hands hurt from doing normal things like driving. Getting up in the morning…there is stiffness that I have to walk out. The only thing I take is aleve because the doctors won’t give me anything for pain. I use aleve and hot baths. I can’t wear my heels anymore and it hurts to lift my feet when wearing boots. Holding and picking up things become heavy very fast and I have to put them down or drop them. Fibro has many symptoms.
Hello,
I’m sorry that you are having this problem. I have days, usually several in a row, where my hands and/or feet hurt terribly. My stiffness seems to be worse when it’s cloudy/rainy/stormy and better when it’s sunny. My husband and I have been using a few different things that have helped us so I thought I would share them. One thing we found is Now brand Glucosamine, MSM & Arnica Liposome Lotion. This seems to help fairly well if you are regular in using it. We found it at Super Supplements store. The other is Emu Essentials Emu Oil. It’s 100% pure. It is becoming pretty expensive, but you don’t need too much of it, and if you use it regularly it seems to help a great deal. I think we get that through iHerb, but not positive. I know they have it on Amazon as well, but shopping around gets the better deal. I hope you find some relief soon.
I also am having severe pain in my legs and back and feet. Dr says its the fibro, only meds he will give me is Arthrotec and hydro- codon. I have tried several of the other meds but always have a reaction. Sometimes I soak my feet in Listerine and olay body wash it helps some. I cant find shoes to fit since I had a bad cramp one morning and it pulled my toe out of socket. the Drs wont operate since I am a diabetic also Dr told me to try rubbing Vick salve on my hands and put gloves on at night. it helps some. has anyone else tried this.. Just another problem with fibro.
My former rheumatologists no longer wish to treat me, either, so I receive my meds from a pain management doctor. They specialize in this illness as well as other matters, so it's worth looking into.
I am so sorry that you are having pain. I have had pain in my hands and feet from the start of Fibro. Any time I do anything repetative I have pain so I try to break up activities with a rest. I take Flexaril (muscle relaxant) which really helps. I was falling and dropping things due to spasms in my hands and feet as well. The salt soaks do help too as well as making sure you are well hydrated.
Bamajilly,
I get pain and stiffness if I’m off my feet for a while too. One thing about FM is that what is the most troublesome today might not be tomorrow. I always have pain everywhere, but where I hurt the most any given day can change. I see a pain management doc for pain control and a Rheumatologist every three months.
I have severe feet problems. various types of pain, stiffness and swelling. I had my feet tested with a chiropractor who treats foot problems and fibromyalgia. She diagnosed me with plantar faciitis. My high arches were fatigued and falling. I have to wear nursing shoes that are very supportive of my arches. Also, my feet cannot tolerate heat. I have to cool them down frequently during the day, so I wear shoes that I can slip off easily. I have to elevate my feet above my heart a couple of times per day to get the swelling down. Remember, if you take Lyrica, it can cause swelling. My hands become fatigued very easily as well, so I type everything because writing hurts. Using wrist supports helps me too. My advice would be to experiment with various types of treatments to find what works best for you. Research, research research. and find as much support as possible. Good Luck and God Bless You!!!
My hands have always been one of the worse things I deal with because of the fibro. I explain it by saying it is like someone is jumping up and down on them with cleats on. It also seems to be my least tolerable pain. And lately I have developed Raynaud's syndrome. But lately my feet have been giving me problems too. I did have plantar faciitis a few years ago and I believe that it has returned. I prefer being barefoot as much as possible but can no longer do that. Prescription insoles are too hard and cause me additional pain. Dr. Scholl's offers several different kinds of support. You can try several until you find what works for you. I think one of the hardest things about suffering from fibro is that there are no pat answers. Everyone reacts differently to the different meds or treatments. I have not tried acupuncture yet, but I have had a lot of success with massage. I hope that you find relief soon.
Hi Bamma, I am new here too I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia a year ago January I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis 14 years ago I have type 2 diabetes for 12 years I have diabetic neuropathy since 1993 I thought it was because of the arthritis I have a digenerated disc and scoliosis. Like you I have a lot of pain and stiffness I use lots of ultra strength muscle rub I also use bio freeze this really works. My doctor wants me to wear shoes_I. hate to wear shoes when I come homemy shoes come off before anything else. I don’t know how much I helped I can say I understand all you go through I take lyrica celebrex cymbalta fexeril I have had a cane for two weeks now. I have balance issues I wanted to know if the balance issues and the tremors are normal with having fibromyalgia?
You are on an awful lot of meds. The tremors could very well be from the meds. I had tremors when on a plethora of meds for my fibro. The same with the balance problem. Both of those things have improved for me since going off of almost all of my prescription meds. I wouldn't advise doing that without a doctor's permission and/ or assistance. But we often try to get all of our solutions from medicine, and not think about the conditions and symptoms that the medicine causes.
Have you tried a slipper with a memory foam foot bed? I grew up in South Florida where I hardly ever wore shoes at all other than to school, work, or church. Back then you weren't required to wear shoes to stores, fast food restaurants, etc. so having to wear shoes even at home was uncomfortable for me. But I have found the isotoner slippers with the memory foam will help my feet. You may want to consider trying them. Right now, with Christmas coming, they are on sale a lot of places.
Are all of your meds from the same doctor? I have found that often we are given prescriptions by different doctors for different conditions under the fibro umbrella, but they don't always know what the other doctors have prescribed. Your balance issues and tremors could very well be a result of the meds. Check this out with a doctor or a pharmacist that you trust. Good luck.
Thank you nightlady for sharing. I've had fibro for 23 years and am 85% better. I understand what you're saying about too many medications and adverse effects that may occur. However, I'm no longer taking many meds and my tremors and balance problems are still quite present. It's disturbing but I'm OK with it because I'm so much better. I even have medication for the tremors but rarely take it. I've concluded these are just 2 of the many diverse symptoms of fibro. Sherri, I hope you are feeling OK today and that you had a good Thanksgiving. Dr. Simone
Yes Dr. Simone, I realize that it could be something not medicine related and something that can't be 'fixed', but I just wanted to present the possibility that it also may be medicine related. We often are too susceptible, too vulnerable in our pain to ask questions when given prescriptions. We need to be more active in our illness.
And to Sherri, Dr. Simone, and all of our fibro friends.....I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Hi, Bamajilly. I'm sorry for your new pains. You'd think that fibro caused us enough pains, without adding any more onto us. I'm wondering if you might need shoe inserts? Have you ever seen a foot doctor? I did about 5 years ago and he said I had flat feet and plantar's fascitis (spelling??) plus bone spurs. I'd had hard shoe inserts prior to this visit but after awhile they hurt my feet even more than without them. He had me go to a couple of guys who put my feet into a casting mold, then they made inserts specialized to my specific feet. HEAVEN! However, I recently went back to another foot doctor for new ones as the old ones are down to the nubs. This time the cost would have been slightly under $400, which was much too much for me. Maybe you could try to Dr. Scholl's gelatinous foot inserts sold in any drug store? At least this is some food for thought. Wish I had better news on the cost of the inserts, although I had the feeling that foot doctor #2 was bumping up the price. Good luck on your search for foot relief!
That's a good idea, the isotoner slippers with memory foam. I'm also wondering if a person could perform surgery on them, to cut out the bottoms of the slippers to put into a shoe if needed. Maybe not. I don't know. But I do plan on checking for these slippers, so thanks!
nightlady said:
To Sherri,
You are on an awful lot of meds. The tremors could very well be from the meds. I had tremors when on a plethora of meds for my fibro. The same with the balance problem. Both of those things have improved for me since going off of almost all of my prescription meds. I wouldn't advise doing that without a doctor's permission and/ or assistance. But we often try to get all of our solutions from medicine, and not think about the conditions and symptoms that the medicine causes.
Have you tried a slipper with a memory foam foot bed? I grew up in South Florida where I hardly ever wore shoes at all other than to school, work, or church. Back then you weren't required to wear shoes to stores, fast food restaurants, etc. so having to wear shoes even at home was uncomfortable for me. But I have found the isotoner slippers with the memory foam will help my feet. You may want to consider trying them. Right now, with Christmas coming, they are on sale a lot of places.
Are all of your meds from the same doctor? I have found that often we are given prescriptions by different doctors for different conditions under the fibro umbrella, but they don't always know what the other doctors have prescribed. Your balance issues and tremors could very well be a result of the meds. Check this out with a doctor or a pharmacist that you trust. Good luck.
Thank you all for your help! went to a dr who listed herself as a rheumatologist but then she asked me what rheumatologist I was seeing! She did look at my blood work and said my active mono is probably the cause of the new symptoms! I have had chronic mono for years and it recently reactivated.
I have not been able to take any of the drugs for fibro but the dr I just went to put me on prednisone because I am allergic to motrin and aleve. Anything with ibuprofen.
Hi, Bamajilly. I'm sorry for your new pains. You'd think that fibro caused us enough pains, without adding any more onto us. I'm wondering if you might need shoe inserts? Have you ever seen a foot doctor? I did about 5 years ago and he said I had flat feet and plantar's fascitis (spelling??) plus bone spurs. I'd had hard shoe inserts prior to this visit but after awhile they hurt my feet even more than without them. He had me go to a couple of guys who put my feet into a casting mold, then they made inserts specialized to my specific feet. HEAVEN! However, I recently went back to another foot doctor for new ones as the old ones are down to the nubs. This time the cost would have been slightly under $400, which was much too much for me. Maybe you could try to Dr. Scholl's gelatinous foot inserts sold in any drug store? At least this is some food for thought. Wish I had better news on the cost of the inserts, although I had the feeling that foot doctor #2 was bumping up the price. Good luck on your search for foot relief!
Tracie: I will try the salt soaks! I have tried the skechers shoes with memory foam and it made it worse! I can not take any of the meds but flexeril occasionally. I love to go barefoot and I sit on my feet sometimes when I sit down. I recently went to a dr who said my feet looked fine and she thinks the pain is from a recent bout of reactivated chronic Epstein barr virus (mono).
Traci said:
I am so sorry that you are having pain. I have had pain in my hands and feet from the start of Fibro. Any time I do anything repetative I have pain so I try to break up activities with a rest. I take Flexaril (muscle relaxant) which really helps. I was falling and dropping things due to spasms in my hands and feet as well. The salt soaks do help too as well as making sure you are well hydrated.
I too have this issue. I tried lotsa shoes. One thing for sure is I cannot tolerate socks I have worn for years and years. My wife found me some athletic socks. They are nike brand. Kind of pricey. But they help. Moisture wicking I think. Also using allergy free detergent and "no softeners"
Good luck.