Hi everyone, obviously new here. I know everyone hates the "is my problem <insert diagnosis here>" here question from newbies so bear with me.

I am curious what else can impact hands and feet besides PN that can mimic PN. About five months ago, my left foot swelled up for two days, then it went away. Ice on it made it VERY painful. Then my toes started hurting. Not numb, more like I had walked on very hot rocks and burned the pads of my toes. Then it spread to my right foot after a few months. Tops of toes are very white, bottoms of toes are "normal" (pink) or red. They hurt on and off, more on than off. Same burning sensation like they have been burned on hot rocks. My Primary Care doc added Hydalazine to my blood pressure meds (also on Lotrel) as it is a vessel dialator and helps BP. This seemed to "help" in that the burning went away, but the toes went numb instead. I think I prefer the burning! I had to stop the hydralazine as it is contraindicated for Lupus (and I have been diagnosed with Lupus SLE as well) and once I stopped it, the burning pain came back but the numbness went away.

Fingers hurt but not bad. This comes and goes. The reason I question PN is because the ONLY time I get relief is when I sleep. When I wake up in the morning, my toes feel almost normal. It is after getting up and walking a bit they start to hurt. I sit a lot for work (computer geek) so I am wondering if there are other leg issues that can mimic PN, like Deep Vein Thrombosis or something.

Excercise sometimes helps, sometimes makes it worse. I try to do 10 minutes twice a day on an eliptical trainer. Sometimes my thighs give out first, sometimes my lungs! Yes, I am horribly out of shape but working on it.

Anyway, probably PN and I just called a Neurologist my Rheumy recommended to do the study, but wondered if I should call a Podiatrist as well. Oh, I am not diabetic but know that SLE can lead to PN as well.

Thanks. Appreciate any opinions. I started on a Vitamin B multivitamin the other day with 800MG of B12 in it but not sure that is helping or not (only been a week). With the Lupus I need to be careful what suppliments I take.

dave