Hello to @Sorefeet, who is a new arrival. Guess what … they’ve got sore feet. Tell us about it! If you’ve been lurking and searching here before you joined up, I hope that you saw the threads that we have about feet.
The bottom line (if you’ll excuse the expression) is, pester the medics for better/different treatment until your feet feel better. Because this can be a destructive disease and if it trashes the joints in your feet, you’ve got a big problem. Sorry if that sounds a bit blunt or pushy, but really, you can’t sit around taking naproxen waiting for the PsA to retreat. You can get new knees, you can get new hips (and they are fantastic) but when PsA wrecks your feet … they are done, and not much can be done.
If you haven’t already done so, use the magnifying glass search engine and try the key word “feet”. You’ll be reading for a while.
So tell us a bit about yourself, besides what’s in your profile (that you also have COPD). Do you have any hobbies? A family? Pets?
We’re a pretty friendly (and mouthy) bunch here. But I’m guessing you know that already.
We are virtually twins … well I have sore feet too and live in the UK. Quite a coincidence
Tell us how things are, have a moan or demonstrate an admirably stiff upper lip … whatever works for you. We’re looking forward to getting to know you.
Hi all - diagnosed PsA four years ago, rheumy put me on 200 mg Ciclosporin and 500 mg Naproxen daily which kept arthritis in knees well controlled. Two months ago started having HORRENDOUS foot pain in left heel. Rheumy injected with steroid (ouch!) and pain went away. A month ago did longish walk - two hours without sitting down. Next morning had terrible pain on the top and side of foot and little toe was bright red and squashed looking.
Over last four weeks have tried loads of different things - bought new squashy trainers, kinseology (is that the right spelling?) tape , compression socks, gel insoles, open toed sandals. Nothing has worked and compression socks particularly make the pain on upper foot far worse. Have also noticed it gets even worse if I eat red meat, seafood or anything sugary.
Am terrified that I’m becoming disabled as I can only walk short distances and the pain is still an 8 out of 10. Any tips/advice/miracle cures welcome from fellow sufferers. The only thing that seems to give respite is hot baths and soaking feet in water with Epsom salts, vinegar and tea tree oil. Rheumy thought maybe it was a stress fracture but neither X Ray nor ultrasound showed inflammation. Meanwhile counting the days until I see rheumy again on the 11th. Yours hobbling - Sorefeet.
First, I just returned from a 3 week vacation in the UK. It’s our 3rd trip to your beautiful countries and I would go back today in a minute. I rented a mobility scooter in London from a wonderful businessman and was deeply grateful that my husband and 37 year old son were with me to handle loading and unloading my scooter into cars, cabs, buses.
I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but find something e.g. a biologic med, a DMARD or something to stop the progression. I am 62 years old and became a wheelchair patient within the last 6 months. PsA has totally decimated my spinal column and there’s really nothing left to do for me. Every disk in my back is either herniated or bulged - even with taking oral morphine and other pain relieving meds - there is no surgery that can fix me and no meds can relieve my constant pain. I was officially diagnosed more than 20 years ago when I had donor bones and an ankle fusion surgery revealed that the joints in my foot were eaten away as if a hole puncher had cut chunks out of the bones.
PsA is also a connective tissue disease. I often experience chest pain and neck pain that extends into the back of my head.
Don’t be me! Don’t fight through the pain and be stoic. The pain means that PsA is destroying your joints. Find someone (preferably a MD) that knows about PsA and will start a vigorous search for which treatment arrests your PsA. Even some rheumatologists know very little about PsA. Unless you’ve lived it, you will never believe how limited a wheelchair makes your life.
Feet! They can cause so much misery. I echo the advice above—do something about it soon. I also ignored (that’s not the right word because the pain was impossible to ignore!) — I tolerated the excruciating pain in my feet for months. Mine was neuropathy. Finally, my doctor put me on Nortriptyline, and that relieved the neuropathy. So I thought all was good. Fast forward a couple years. About 8 months after I started Enbrel the tops of my feet started hurting bad. Xrays and an MRI showed complete loss of cartilage in the joints there. Ask @Seenie about foot surgery. It’s worthless. So, sorry to be a parrot, but I also suggest you listen to the advice here and get the meds that can stop or at least slow the damage.
@Joyfulteacher57 I’m so sorry to hear your situation. It must be awful to be wheelchair bound. I also have some bad discs and one of them is completely squashed—the disc is just the shell! Luckily, I can still walk, but as I do my legs get very weak, so I have to stop and rest every couple of blocks.
There are so many other things that can happen to you if you let the PsA do its damage. I had a 95% clogged coronary right artery and got a stent 3 years ago. I’m on pills to lower my platelets. Despite that, I got a blood clot in a vein in my right leg a few months ago. (Luckily a surface vein-not a DVT). It hurt and took awhile to feel better, plus since then my right foot swells up every day because my circulation has been compromised.
I attribute all the above (and, like everyone else here, that is only a part of it) to PsA and waiting too long to start treatment. Maybe, maybe not. I do think by taking Enbrel I have slowed the damage and I can’t imagine how bad this would be had I not started taking Enbrel 5 years ago!
Please heed the advice given here. We are all in the same boat—it’s not the best boat to be in, because it seems there are constant leaks that need our attention, but we’re still above water and there is hope to stay afloat with the right care!
and try the key word “feet”. You’ll be reading for a while.
I also have some bad discs and one of them is completely squashed—the disc is just the shell! Luckily, I can still walk, but as I do my legs get very weak, so I have to stop and rest every couple of blocks.