Burning Soles of Feet???

[Yvonnea]

Hi all,

Looking for advice for a fellow weggie friend who is not on this site..
He is complaining of a sensation of burning feet. He describes it as "hot water bottles under his skin".
Never had this symptom so could not advise. Anyone know if it is a sign of flare or maybe side-effect from imuran/pred.
Many thanks for any advice.

Yvonne

[Dirty Don]

There are some on this site who have had that exact same sensation. They will get to you soon. I believe it has something to do with neuropathy.

[drz]

Neuropathy can cause lot of weird sensations, but burning sensation is often a skin problem like athletes feet or a fungus. A doctor should be able to sort that out easily through an examination of his feet.

[mr.g]

This may be more information than you need. I have the same problem. I have NOT linked my foot problems to a flare. I had some of my foot problems before I started the Prednisone. As for the burning feet, here is the story about my foot problem. (My Rheumatologist referred me to a Neuro Surgeon who is a pain specialist.) I have lower leg and feet problems. My feet problems were/are: a feeling of burning, stinging, needle like jabs, itching, cramps, rash, dermatitis red spots, skin that is super sensitive to touch, severe pains, and numbness. These "come and go." In the beginning I had "numb skin" and "fire" on the bottom of my feet and the numbness worked it's way up to my right knee. Treatment: I am much better. The problems are still with me but are much less severe. I take Gabapentin. The bottoms of my feet are still so numb I can't flex my toes and at times I cannot feel the ground. I can still walk and run without pain. The "foot fire" is much less often. I can't say if I was given the Gabapentin to control the foot fire or for my other problems or the other way around. To control the dermatitis I use Econazole ointment. Peripheral Neuropathy is what they called it with possible nerve and blood vein damage...Vasculitis? That sounds like Wegeners???? When the foot fire arrives, I wait for a while then I massage my foot. That is about all I can do. It seem that it does not occur when I am walking so message seems logical? I know my reply is too long, but, I feel we need all the information we can get. I hope this helps.

[Yvonnea]

Thanks so much for the info, all very helpfull...I will pass it on.

[Ian]

Hi all - I am the "owner" above of the burning feet. Yvonne kindly posted on my behalf but when she sent me a link, I recognised the site. I had registered in 2008 but hadn't been back in a long time. So thanks to Yvonne and to you all for kindly replying.

A quick account of my story. Diagnosed in 2005. Seven-and-a-half months in hospital including three-and-a-half months in ICU. Endless list of things happened to me including renal failure (dialysis, only have one kidney), lungs haemorraged, pneumonia, pleuresy, two collapsed lungs, C-Diff, septacaemia, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, paralysed for almost 6 months due to total muscle wasting and myopathy, feed tube 5 months and things I've forgotten. Intensive physio to learn to walk again. Had to also learn to talk and eat again. Absolutely horrendous time in my life.

Amazingly afterwards I got through to 2012 on a low dose of pred without any flares. However, last year I flared and went back on chemo. The chemo went for my gall bladder and had to have an op to remove it. Since then they have tried various combinations of drugs to keep me stable but Methotrexate damaged my already impaired single kidney even more.

So, started Azathioprine 50mg 11 weeks ago. Was on 7 1/2 pred and tapered it down over 6 weeks to zero per rheumy instructions.But soon after coming off pred, my feet started to burn. Very very hot. Obvious concern is a flare as I had feet involvement pre-diagnosis in 2005 and also in the flare last year.


Got talking to my rheumy's colleague on the phone Tuesday (rheumy on holiday). She said he took me down off the pred far too quickly and this could be the cause of the neuropathy. It appears I could have been "running on empty" as regards cortisol. So she has me back on 7 1/2 pred since Tuesday. I feel "possibly" a slight improvement but I'm not absolutely sure this is not a flare.

Has anyone else had a similar experience that appeared to be caused by coming down too fast on pred?

Thanks again!

[Ian]

Update on my burning feet. Being back on pred hasn't improved things. Spoke to rheumy Friday and she has now increased pred from 71/2mg to 15mg daily. Here's hoping!

[renidrag]

I have had peripheral neuropathy now for 3 years. I enjoy all the same symptoms as everyone here. However, the pain in my heels was escalating to the point of almost having to walk on my tip toes. When I saw the
podiatrist she recommended a shot of cortisone in each heel. A little uncomfortable but boy did it work. Going on three months now with little to no pain in my heels and swelling of ankles and legs went down.
Dale

[Ian]

Thanks Dale. My heels are very sore too - similar to what happened last year during my flare. I've heard of the "shot" in the heels as being very painful but "magic". Glad the magic has worked for you! What other neuropathy symptoms do you have?

[HopeinTN]

I relate the feeling in my feet as a frost bite feeling or burning. My nuerologist says it's part of the fun from the Weg's medicine. I also took Gabapentin and it helped. Goo dluck and I hope you get relief soon!

[mdjazz01]

yes it is neuropathy....not sure its from the WEGS or from prednisone .... I wonder if it ever goes away? I have had it for months.

[gilders]

Hi. I have many problems caused by WG and although I have 2 kidneys, unlike your 1, they are only working at 5%.
As suggested neuropathy could be the cause of the burning sensation, but I'll list the 3 conditions that my left foot suffers from and can all have a burning sensation;
Gout - Could be due to poor kidney function
Morton's neuroma -Possibly linked to WG/vasculitis
Rheumatoid Arthritis - Definitely linked to WG

Morton's neuro tends to originate from between your smaller toes and if you hold your foot in your hand and manipuate your foot you might be able to get it to clunk/click (more of a feeling than a sound)
Gout usually starts from the large toe joint (but mine seems to more of a central/overall foot pain). Your foot will swell during a particularly bed flare.
Rheumatoid arthritis - Tends to be worse when you've been resting your foot, i.e. getting out of bed in the morning is really painful.

These are just suggestions and to be honest although they sometimes cause a burning sensation with me, the over riding sensation is a lot of pain rather than burning. But different things effect different people differently, so they might be worth asking your Dr about.
Good luck.

[Ian]

Sincere thank you to everyone for their help and advice. It's now also an all over pain and discomfort as well as heat. Got bloods yesterday and will be interested to see what the CRP is. Don't think it's gout. Quite possibly linked to WG/RA. I have a suspicion that Azathioprine might be the culprit although I'm on a low dose 50mg. Will keep you posted and thank you all very much!