poor circulation in feet

    • Anonymous
      February 20, 2007 at 6:13 pm

      Hello again,
      After a blood clot scare that left me back in hospital and a visit home to Boston (only to be stuck in the Jet Blue chaos with a 4 day stay at Logan Airport), I am now concerned about poor circulation in my feet and pain management. Pain medications have made me weaker and confused so I am currently off them.
      Has anyone experienced poor circulation in the feet? My feet are really cold and hurt alot these days. Perhaps it’s just the cold.
      I am slowly getting stronger and can now take a few steps with help.
      I tell myself this is a slow recovery and most days can stay upbeat. Today, it’s hard.
      Many thanks,
      Claire

    • Anonymous
      February 20, 2007 at 6:33 pm

      Have you had your feet and circulation checked by a doctor?
      They can do a quick and easy test for circulation.

      Cold feet can be a symptom of a circulatory issue…. My circulation is fine (and routinely tested just a few weeks ago). With GBS, which started in my toes/feet, any cold on the feet has been painful, so I make sure to keep socks on around the house.

      I take Cimbalta (double-dosage) for foot pain. When at first my feet were at their worst I found that eating chocolate helped relieve the pain….momentarily….but at least it helped. But I didn’t want to become “addicted” to chocolate and get even fatter……:p

      Recently I started taking Mangosteen capsules. I tried the 100% pure liquid when my feet were hurting and it seemed to work like chocolate.

      Interestingly I found that the Mangosteen helps with my BPH! So, I’m continuing the Mangosteen capsules.

      I also take Maca Root, which seems to have coincided with more feeling in “dead” areas of my feet.

      I talked with my doctor about those “supplements” on my last visit. He is a professor of internal medicine at UC Davis. His nurse knew of the mangosteen because she is from the Philippines where it grows…. The doctor was quite interested in the effects I have noticed and wants to be kept posted.

    • Anonymous
      February 20, 2007 at 10:38 pm

      Yes, unfortunately I do suffer from poor circulation. Unfortunately since my residuals have flared up, my feet (and body in general) become far colder than before, its that painful cold that seeps into the bones, and only a warm bath or some microwave rice/bean slipper “thingy’s” for my feet help me warm up. Feet and hands also suffer pain if I use them, and I take Cymbalta for overall body pain, but doesnt seem to help the concentrated pain in hands and feet.

    • Anonymous
      February 21, 2007 at 5:55 am

      Santafe have you actually had Dopplers to confirm poor circulation, and are the foot pulses absent? A blood clot scare without a clot is not significant, the symptoms you describe occur to many of us with peripheral neuropathy
      If you have had poor circulation confirmed then investigations need doing as to why. DocDavid

    • Anonymous
      February 21, 2007 at 1:27 pm

      Claire,

      I agree with Ali that most of us experience fatigue and poor circulation of our feet. I seem to do fine most of the day, but when it gets close to bed time my feet turn to icebergs. I put a heating pad on them that turns off automatically and most nights it seems that I cannot go to sleep until they start warming up. Then of course, I wake up a few hours later and my feet are completely the opposite. Oh what fun we have with our feet!

    • Anonymous
      February 22, 2007 at 10:59 am

      My experience is different. If I stand for 4/5 minutes without moving my feet, then only numbness starts in left feet, especially at thigh. The solution is to keep it moving.

      I feel, the cold whether of USA may be playing bigger role in GBS. In comparison, weather in western part of India is much warm/hot and may be due to this we have less fatigue or poor circulation problems.

    • Anonymous
      February 22, 2007 at 11:42 am

      I have CIDP and mine get cold too, at night. I just wear socks to bed most nights. At least I can feel that they are cold!

    • Anonymous
      February 22, 2007 at 4:41 pm

      As the day goes on my feet hurt more. I often go out on photo shoots that last all day and don’t get off my feet until late evening. Just wearing shoes makes the feet hurt from the moment they go on until they come off.

      Sometimes the pain is so bad I can barely take a few steps, but it’s “only pain”…..so I do it again and again!

      Once I get my feet up they feel better. I have some transdermal gel to use but it’s effects are temporary and it’s messy……so I rarely use it.

      As I get more feeling in the “dead” areas I also get new pains. It helps that I can tell myself that the pain means the nerves are not dead and there will be improvement.

      At one time when I had very little pain I really got worried that I would not continue to improve……!

    • Anonymous
      February 22, 2007 at 8:02 pm

      Many thanks for sharing your experiences. The dopplar confirmed circulation is fine. I will ask about Cymbalta when I see the dr next week. It’s very disconcerting. Does it get better over time or do should I expect this to be a new part of life?
      Again, many thanks.
      Claire

    • Anonymous
      February 22, 2007 at 8:50 pm

      Claire,
      I read in Dr. Gott’s newspaper column that someone used Linement that they rub on animals for foot pain. I have not tried it as I have not experienced the foot pain with my GBS. I think it is because I take 10 grams of vitamin C a day and 100 mg of B complex four times a day. OR that I waited to walk…since I crawled for three months until I was ready to stand up…..I wrote on another thread that I think waiting to walk is better…it is just my intuition…..but I have been blessed in that I have no foot pain…..I crawled at home for three months and am now using a walker happily.

    • Anonymous
      February 23, 2007 at 12:13 am

      [QUOTE=santafe]Many thanks for sharing your experiences. The dopplar confirmed circulation is fine. I will ask about Cymbalta when I see the dr next week. It’s very disconcerting. Does it get better over time or do should I expect this to be a new part of life?
      Again, many thanks.
      Claire[/QUOTE]
      That’s the “$64,000 Question”…..one we would all like to have the answer to!

      Although I have steadily improved, and continue to do so, it has been slow, and I have no way of knowing if I will ever have all the feeling back, or be pain free……