Health Problems

Izo Part of what was/and still is wrong with my toe is that my muscles, ligaments, and tendons are tangled up and too tight. The middle toe on my left foot is where the heart of the problem is. After a day of walking, or any sort or run, the middle toe goes completely numb, like it's cold. Then the bottom of my foot, medial plantar will have pins and needles, sometimes it even moves up to my ankle.

If it's after exercise, it's no big deal, I rest and it goes away within 30 minutes. If it's a long day of walking around the house/doing chores, it's not too bad because I won't wear shoes and will sit when it bothers me. If it's a day out running errands or at Children's Muesum/something with the kids-- it kills. I'll often start putting the pressure of my weight on different parts of the sole of my foot to try and relieve the numbness or pain...then I'll notice a random sore muscle in my back or leg the next day. I know my shoes aren't squeezing, I used to have to special order my dance shoes because my feet are so narrow, plus it's been an issue for 12 years and I've had 1000 different shoes since then.

And when I bend down, as if to touch my toes I've been getting this quarter sized pain, not numbness/tingling, on the RIGHT anterior side of my sacrum. I'm guessing this is from walking funny, but seriously so uncomfortable.

Why do they abuse it? I'm noticing no buzz-- I don't think. I take 300mg/3x daily. Did I mention that? Does that seem like too much?

a_skeleton_03 said:

I have a sleep study on Sunday night. Wife was annoyed by my sudden snoring and also I brought up that I thought I was having night sweats again and couldn't sleep so my doc scheduled it for me.

Can you do those things naked? Because that's how I sleep. I really wonder what kind of information they are going to get from me when very little sleeping is going to happen. I am sure they get what they need though.

Click to expand...

You might be stopping breathing temporarily, your throat can close up, neurological abnormalities, there's a lot of stuff that can be the reason. Night sweats are one of the signs of lymphoma, but there are more direct tests than to run a sleep test. I'm pretty sure nobody will bat an eye at a naked dude, patients are usually the ones embarassed.

a_skeleton_03 said:

Yeah my wife has to wake me up sometimes is why I am taking it seriously.

I know that I am in remission right now but man when I get warm at night and can't sleep that brain starts working over time and I start thinking about the last 4 nights that I was a little warm and then I start checking my temperature at night and freaking out. It sucks and I have it managed but definitely some PTSD there.

Click to expand...

It might sound dumb, but have you tried sleeping in another, colder room ? Another way for me to fall asleep in ~15 minutes is to focus all my attention on something for a few minutes, I usually try Duolingo for language learning or reading a textbook that I need for an exam (the habits of a med student...), that usually wears me out that I'm ready to put it down, roll over and fall asleep almost instantly.

trex : What are you are describing sounds like either your lower spine pushing on your nerves that presents as pain in this area, however due to the coldness it sounds more like there's a problem along the way, you should probably see a neurologist, although I'm not sure how common things like EMG are on the leg.

trex said:

Izo Part of what was/and still is wrong with my toe is that my muscles, ligaments, and tendons are tangled up and too tight. The middle toe on my left foot is where the heart of the problem is. After a day of walking, or any sort or run, the middle toe goes completely numb, like it's cold. Then the bottom of my foot, medial plantar will have pins and needles, sometimes it even moves up to my ankle.

If it's after exercise, it's no big deal, I rest and it goes away within 30 minutes. If it's a long day of walking around the house/doing chores, it's not too bad because I won't wear shoes and will sit when it bothers me. If it's a day out running errands or at Children's Muesum/something with the kids-- it kills. I'll often start putting the pressure of my weight on different parts of the sole of my foot to try and relieve the numbness or pain...then I'll notice a random sore muscle in my back or leg the next day. I know my shoes aren't squeezing, I used to have to special order my dance shoes because my feet are so narrow, plus it's been an issue for 12 years and I've had 1000 different shoes since then.

Click to expand...

If I recall correctly you have some form of hammertoe / deformity. Same foot? Is this fixed / getting fixed? I'd see a neurologist too in addition to the orthopedic surgeon, no doubt. They can help differentiate between peripheral neuropathy and root affection. An MR of the lumbal columna can see if you have disc protrusion/herniation -> nerve root affection, or say, spinal stenosis. Red lights are if you have trouble holding your pee and/or poo indicating possible cauda equina -> ER. Our health care system is free, so bare with me if an MR is a trillion dollars - I've no idea how accessible it is to you

Pain/temperature and proprio/touch/pressure/vibration below T6 all pass through the dorsal horn, but travel in different tracts and cross at different levels (spinothalamic/spinoreticular vs DC system). This can explain some of the symptoms you experience and may help to differentiate spinal location if relevant - more modalities for cross reference are needed. This is basic, any GP can do it too.

Physiological testing like EMG, and more relevant here, ENG, supplement each other. The neurologists / neuro physiologist nerds know if and what's relevant.

trex said:

And when I bend down, as if to touch my toes I've been getting this quarter sized pain, not numbness/tingling, on the RIGHT anterior side of my sacrum. I'm guessing this is from walking funny, but seriously so uncomfortable.

Why do they abuse it? I'm noticing no buzz-- I don't think. I take 300mg/3x daily. Did I mention that? Does that seem like too much?

Click to expand...

300mg Gabapentin x 3 is a normal maintenance dose, no worries. When did you start this and do you feel any effect? Usually takes weeks for the medically relevant effect.

I believe it's approved up to 1200mg tid for seizures. I'd use 100-300mg tid often. It is frequently used off label in psychiatry for anxiety/irritability, but I will probably avoid it (primarily was giving it to people who had substance abuse history complaining of anxiety).

3 hour band practice standing last night and my feet started really hurting. Same feeling as the end of my hike, sharp pain with every step on the upper/outer side of my foot basically a bit forward from the ankle. Wonder if I caused some trauma there. It's in both feet.

Well, a sharp pain isn't just sore feet. But it's a little bit odd that it's in both feet. It does kind of sound like you may have over extended that tendon. In both feet? That can happen. Especially if you normally don't walk a whole lot in the course of a day and then see a sudden spike in activity. I do personally have a habit that when my feet start to get sore, I'm more inclined to curl my toes. I have to stop myself from doing it when I notice. It's like clenching your jaw. It's some kind of unthinking animal response, but if you keep pushing on while you're doing it it can lead to more than just sore.

It gets better after you sit for a while, doesn't it? Does it hurt to curl your toes when you're sitting down while you've got that pain? I really don't know, but that kinda sounds like yeah. Be easy on your feet for a while but not TOO easy. Your feet can get fat and out of shape too.

I doubt it's related to the beetus. I mean only tangentially. Tendons take a while even without beetus, so it'll take longer.

AladainAF said:

Fuck diverticulitis. God damn this shit hurts.

Click to expand...

Been there man, fucking sucks.. Wish I had a suggestion that worked-- after two years of oddball diets and fiber supplements with a mild attack every few months or so I've been flare up free for about a year. Basically whatever was turning my poop into ribbons stopped, but I have no clue what the cause was. They did a colonoscopy and said that they were surprised I was having attacks at all because my diverticuli were so small.

Only thing I can say that consistently helped was a) keeping regular and b) eating small and healthy meals. Losing weight too.

iannis said:

Well, a sharp pain isn't just sore feet. But it's a little bit odd that it's in both feet. It does kind of sound like you may have over extended that tendon. In both feet? That can happen. Especially if you normally don't walk a whole lot in the course of a day and then see a sudden spike in activity. I do personally have a habit that when my feet start to get sore, I'm more inclined to curl my toes. I have to stop myself from doing it when I notice. It's like clenching your jaw. It's some kind of unthinking animal response, but if you keep pushing on while you're doing it it can lead to more than just sore.

It gets better after you sit for a while, doesn't it? Does it hurt to curl your toes when you're sitting down while you've got that pain? I really don't know, but that kinda sounds like yeah. Be easy on your feet for a while but not TOO easy. Your feet can get fat and out of shape too.

I doubt it's related to the beetus. I mean only tangentially. Tendons take a while even without beetus, so it'll take longer.

Click to expand...

Well I looked it up and... CANCER

just kidding it sounds like stress fractures. I did a 12 mile (1 mile in elevation up and down as well) hike and that's where my feet got the pain. Pretty sure it was caused that day, I just didn't know what it was. It's not a tendon, when I touch my foot it's tender. Looks like it should heal if i ice and rest it some over the next few weeks.

Otherwise gotta go to the doctor