You may have a compressive issue in your back. I know my feet can hurt lying down on my back. On my sides or stomach much less so.

I do get the stiff ankle, but it is visibly swollen when that happens.
I felt it ping/stab climbing the outside cement steps 2 Sundays ago, and now it is flaring again.

Do you use any pain relievers? NSAIDs for example? If so take them regularly for 3 or 4 days, especially at bedtime. Aleve has a long duration, and may help with morning symptoms. If the NSAIDs work, then that points to an inflammatory process like arthritis, spurs, etc and maybe in your lower back.

Numbness and pins and needles in the morning may reflect low blood sugars. A heavy carb meal the night before could push you low when waking up. Once you eat you secrete cortisol after breakfast which is an anti-inflammatory like NSAIDs only stronger. So if the symptoms change during the day, keep a journal with times/duration of the symptoms and match it up to activities, food intake, and even the types of shoes you wear.
Cortisol falls around 4pm, and if you start to feel the symptoms again, then that means there is inflammatory stuff going on.

You may have paresthesias and not real PN damage. They feel similar but have different outcomes. Paresthesias will go away when you identify their triggers and remove them, but the PN would need to actually heal up instead, if it even does and that takes a long time usually.