So, I've tried to do research on the internet, but everything I find is related to RA. A lot of the RA info is helpful, but I don't have RA and get frustrated constantly searching for answers.
I have developed numbness on the bottom of two of my toes, and I am wondering if it's related to my PsA. There's no tingling or sharp pain, it's just numb - like a dead spot. I can jab my fingernail on the toes and I feel nothing at all.
I always wear comfortable shoes and am willing to spend the money to make sure my feet are comfortable since I have bad foot pain in the arches and achilles tendons. So...I know my toes haven't been pinched. I haven't had any injuries, and I don't have diabetes - my blood work came back fine.
My next rheumy appointment is mid-September and I will definitely ask about it, but I wonder if maybe I should contact them now in case it's something that can lead to bigger problems if not addressed sooner. I also worry I could step on something and injure my toes without even knowing it.
I have the same foot problems as you and the second toe on each foot is completely numb.They have been like it for years and I’m told its caused by nerve damage caused by the PsA damage within the foot.
I am from Wales, UK and was diagnosed with PsA in April 2010 my dad had Ankylosing Spondylitis
Having now tried Sulfasalezene and Methotrexate in addition to Prednisalone, ompeprozole and etoricoxib 90mg
- I have just been started by my Rheumatologist on Enbrel 50mg p/w , - I noticed the media coverage with (Phil Michleson)
mixed feelings as I am aware of the risks - but really haven't had any option but to try as I cannot walk with the swelling and sig pain in my feet - (side and underside of feet) Ankles and Knees
This is such a debilitating disease that lets all hope modern treatments will come good and offer a fellow sufferers respite
My dad would always say that he had AS not that the AS arthritis had him - that is something I also live by, it is hard though when the pain, fatigue and general feeling rough hits home
Sorry for the ramble - I have also started to feel numbness in my legs and arms sometimes - i too hope this isn't a sign of nerve involvement?
- I have experienced numbness in the eve and in the morning - only just joined this forum and hope we can all be here as a support and knowledge base for each other
I also experience weird numbnesses that I’ve reported to my doctors. I had numbness in my that was helped by surgery. But then sometimes I get numbness in my arms and legs. My rheumy says that it’s likely because I’m thin, that there isn’t a lot of fat insulating the nerves, so when I lay certain ways or when I have swelling the nerves get constricted. He said it wasn’t anything to worry about - that is after he ran extensive MRIs. I guess we just have to keep swelling down.
Hamishead summary is right on. However, each person is different. I am going once per week for ultra sound on the bottom of the feet and manual manipulation of the toes. Continue to becoming aware of you signals that your body gives you. Do not be afraid in contacting your doctor. Also keep a diary and how you feel each day–good and bad. If you are having a bad make specific notes. This does help the doctor.
Is this treatment giving you any ongoing or permanent changes to the numbness? I did try it for a while but felt it only gave very temporary relief and a big hole in my wallet! However I do wonder if I gave up too soon although the numbness hasn’t got worse or spread. My wife manually manipulates my feet when they are bad after standing or walking for long periods and this gives me relief although I’m not sure it’s not just relief from going back to the previous pain from the extra pain caused by the manipulation, if you know what I mean. I find the foot pain and numbness the hardest to live with and I guess this is because everything requires you to be on your feet (and I’m 10kg overweight! )
Doug said:
Hamishead summary is right on. However, each person is different. I am going once per week for ultra sound on the bottom of the feet and manual manipulation of the toes. Continue to becoming aware of you signals that your body gives you. Do not be afraid in contacting your doctor. Also keep a diary and how you feel each day--good and bad. If you are having a bad make specific notes. This does help the doctor.
I did a LOT of physically therapy for my feet both before and after surgery, and the manual manipulation truly helped. My therapist said some of my fine muscles were incredibly tight and obviously cutting off circulation. The muscles likely got this way because of walking funny due to pain in my joints. Also, I did ultrasound and light therapy which is supposed to greatly increase cell turn over and increase blood flow to the area. This combo (and good shoes) basically cured my plantar fascitis. Ask about light therapy, if your place offers it, I think it’s fairly new - but really seemed to speed up healing.
So today I feel crappy and just need to vent. I am so tired of being tired and being in pain. Went to rheum last week to discuss the horrible pain in my hands, wrists, feet, arches and achilles tendons. I have pain every single day an some days it is excruciating. The dr gave me a 120 mg shot of Kenalog in a not so pleasant place. How long before I get relief? Yesterday I was helping my husband with something around the house which required me to hold still for about 10 mins. The pain in my feet was so bad that i was breaking out in a sweat ive been on MTX for 9 months and Simponi for 7 months. Is this as good as it gets? All these drugs make me tired and crabby - I don’t feel like doing anything but sleeping. Ok - thanks for letting me vent - it’s hard to explain to people that don’t have this and act like I’m overreacting.
I think Hurtblogger hit it right on. Physical therapy is so important with treating this illness, along with your medication. It is ok to vent, as I think we all have good and bad days. Not trying to play doctor, but are you also on Enbrel or Humira? I went in for a second opinion last week and a new protocol for the meds and the doctor told me to give it a good 90 days before I felt better. I hope you see improvement soon.
I was on Enbrel from 2005 through late 2009. It worked great then started losing its effectiveness. Switched to Humira for a year, no improvement, and skin lesions started to return. Dr. added MTX and switched to Simponi. Had an MRI recently…in a nutshell, my bones look like “moths have been chewing on them”. Much more advanced than the Dr. thought. No actual PT spoken about yet…but the rheum dr gave me exercises which Ive been doing for about a month, but no real noticeable difference.
Hey Suzanne - sorry you’re having such a rough time. I’m going through a bad spell too as I’m now rejecting my Remicade, apparently you can develop antibodies to it. I think I’ll be starting Simponi in the next couple weeks, so I’m interested to see how it works in conjunction with my MTX. Doug- Simponi is a biologic like Enbrel or Humira, so I don’t believe she can take more than one biologic at a time? Does anyone know?
And Suzanne, a doctor told me once that you should never settle for less than 95% better. That being said, I’ve never gotten there. I’ve had periods where my docs considered me 75% and even 85% percent better on the Remicade, but now it doesn’t work. Have you tried other biologics? Usually you will see the most success out of a biologic after 6-8 months, so you are about there with Simponi. If you are not happy with how you feel then ask about the next one to try, there are several now, and new are being approved everyday. Keep venting, it’s healthy.
Hi, Suzanne! Thank you for posting this. I'm newly-diagnosed with PsA (and not a happy camper, I may add...). This morning I googled "psoriatic arthritis numb feet" and I found this forum. Yes, I have the same! It started with some tingling last year, and now I have creepy-feeling "dead" patches in my feet. Some mornings, I wake up with feet that are numb to the ankle bone. That's why I googled this morning. Found the forum, registered, and here I am!
Love this forum, and without you, I wouldn't have found it! Sorry I have no answers, but thank you reeling me in!
Hi Seenie! Welcome to the group. There are lots of good people here with good information. My next step is to go in for a nerve conduction study as prescribed by my Rheumatologist. We'll see how that goes.
I had a nerve conduction study done this past winter. Doc thought I might have tarsal tunnel syndrome. Study showed nothing. Be sure to tell us how yours goes.
My journey has been identical to yours and I feel for you.
I was feeling great on Enbrel but a couple of months ago it started to lose its efficacy. I'm now on Humira but have had a couple of really rough months with my feet playing the starring role this time. First time I have been unable to walk.
As the pain was as bad or even greater than that in my knees before they were replaced I reckon amputation and replacement with those prehistoric looking spring steel feet I see on people in the disabled Olympics are the way to go!
After constantly searching for answers to why the pain is so great I've decided it has to be caused by someone sticking pins into a voodoo doll in my likeness. A simple explanation is always the best!
Good luck to you and time for me to be positive and enjoy the relief Humira is starting to have.
Hi Suzanne! I'm sorry you are having a tough time. I definitely can relate. Remember I told you I was having toe problems? It's between my second and third toes, and kind of feels like the problem is on top in my case. I noticed that the toes were sort of spreading apart, forming a kind of 'peace sign'. Unlike you, I do not have numbness; I feel an ache in the tops of my toes. (Stick with me--it can still be related to what's going on with you.) Rheumy said it was caused by PsA and that's when she put me on MTX. Three months later the toes are no better, so I went to a podiatric surgeon. He did an x-ray and diagnosed Morton's Neuroma. I was in shock, because MN usually presents with really bad pain right behind the toes on the bottom of the forefoot. But the doc told me that this is only one possible presentation. It can also present with numbness or tingling, or anything from mild to moderate pain. Often, he said, people report it feels like their socks are bunched up under their toes. I know it's a stab in the dark that this is what's going on with you, but it was so coincidental to my discussion with him that I thought I'd let you know about it. It is NOT cancer. You can read about it here: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mortons-neuroma/DS00468
I hope you are feeling some better by the time you read this. I know what it's like to be sick of being sick!
That's interesting. When I first started having foot issues, I went to a sports meds doc. She diagnosed morton's neuroma. I thought she was wrong at the time (kind of "I don't think so ...", but I had no idea what _was_ wrong). Two years later, I'd be happy if that was all that were wrong ... but who's to say it isn't MN? There's no rule that says you can't have two things wrong with your feet at the same time. Unfortunately, LOL!
This week, I'm on a course of prednisone and I'm feeling so much better. (These days are numbered: I have only 3 days of pills left, and doc will not give me more for a while.) The numbness in my feet has improved a lot, which points to the numbness being caused by inflammation.
I'm glad the prednisone is giving you some relief.
I was told MN usually only affects the area between the third and fourth toes. The cause is the same as PsA, inflammation of the ligament sheath, but we lucky PsA people get it all toes and other areas of the feet. It causes the sort of surface numb feeling because of the pressure on the nerves and the deeper pain is at the source of the pressure.
I always ask my rheumatologist first about anything new because I have found other doctors have little knowledge of PsA that they always come up with other causes. Even when you tell them about PsA.
Which is why it took so long to get a diagnosis of PsA before seeing a rheumatologist. MY toe nails falling of was caused by a fungal disease even though the treatment for that didn't work. That my knees were destroyed over a period of 6 months was because of osteo arthritis even though this rarely works that fast. My foot problems were MN even though the allover the foot symptoms didn't match the MN pattern.
I'm glad these people don't service my car!
Seenie said:
Hello there, me again
That's interesting. When I first started having foot issues, I went to a sports meds doc. She diagnosed morton's neuroma. I thought she was wrong at the time (kind of "I don't think so ...", but I had no idea what _was_ wrong). Two years later, I'd be happy if that was all that were wrong ... but who's to say it isn't MN? There's no rule that says you can't have two things wrong with your feet at the same time. Unfortunately, LOL!
This week, I'm on a course of prednisone and I'm feeling so much better. (These days are numbered: I have only 3 days of pills left, and doc will not give me more for a while.) The numbness in my feet has improved a lot, which points to the numbness being caused by inflammation.
I looked up MN, and I don’t think it fits into that category. My numbness has occurred on the fourth and fifth toes of both feet, although the left feels “more dead” than the right. The pain in my feet tends to go more in the area of the arches and achilles tendon area. Initial Dx is Neuropathy which pretty much is kind of bogus because it just means the nerve is inflammed. I figured that out on my own - I just want to know why this disease has gotten so aggressive over the past year and what can be done so slow it down. It seems like it’s something new everyday…this morning I had to go into work and I was also cleaning a spill on the front of one of my file cabinets. (I drop stuff a lot lately) While cleaning this spill my right ring finger “locked up”. It was so weird…I kind of panicked because it looked broken…it was in the oddest position…and then I kept trying to move it/bend it and it “clicked” back into place. Every time something weird or different happens I have to wonder if it’s related to the PsA? I’m also pretty sure that I am having some reaction to the MTX because after my dose yesterday, the hives/rash has returned. I often find myself thinking about my near future and wondering if I should start investigating disability benefits in the event it comes to that… Oh yeah…I suffer from depression and anxiety which just adds to the worry, which I know isn’t good…I try to relax and be positive, but its hard when pain is always prevalent. Sigh…
That exactly it. PsA causes europathy which causes all these odd problems we have. End of Dx!
The real issue is living with it. For me, getting off MX and on to Enbrel and now Humira was great as they slow the progression of the disease without the side affects. I was told Enbrel was the long term answer but it is now known to lose its efficacy for many patients after a while, hence the Humira now, in my case, which will last how long? I initially thought these medications would get rid of the pain which they don't although I am very grateful that they reduce it. This, coupled with return to extreme pain and feeling so ill between medication changes, hits the mind and knowing you are living with both increasing restrictions and with a time bomb, barely suppressed, causes depression which discussions with a physcologist has helped me to deal with even though my mind never leaves off questioning it all.
And all the little losses. I couldn't walk in the rainforest with my wife yesterday because of the pain and not only could I not enjoy the walk with her but she came back with a photo of a beautiful, rare, 6 ft python I have always want to see. Blast you PsA!
Suzanne Hall said:
I looked up MN, and I don't think it fits into that category. My numbness has occurred on the fourth and fifth toes of both feet, although the left feels "more dead" than the right. The pain in my feet tends to go more in the area of the arches and achilles tendon area. Initial Dx is Neuropathy which pretty much is kind of bogus because it just means the nerve is inflammed. I figured that out on my own - I just want to know why this disease has gotten so aggressive over the past year and what can be done so slow it down. It seems like it's something new everyday....this morning I had to go into work and I was also cleaning a spill on the front of one of my file cabinets. (I drop stuff a lot lately) While cleaning this spill my right ring finger "locked up". It was so weird...I kind of panicked because it looked broken..it was in the oddest position...and then I kept trying to move it/bend it and it "clicked" back into place. Every time something weird or different happens I have to wonder if it's related to the PsA? I'm also pretty sure that I am having some reaction to the MTX because after my dose yesterday, the hives/rash has returned. I often find myself thinking about my near future and wondering if I should start investigating disability benefits in the event it comes to that.... Oh yeah....I suffer from depression and anxiety which just adds to the worry, which I know isn't good....I try to relax and be positive, but its hard when pain is always prevalent. Sigh......