Hi again. So I've been diagnosed with a few things by a neuro in August, but the past two weeks have been just terrible. My feet are SO bad in the evenings and at night. They turn bright red and feel swollen. I actually even almost went to the ER a few nights ago. I've been dealing with pain for fifteen years, and have never had pain this bad. I was frightened that something was seriously wrong.

Basically I can't be on my feet a lot. They're bad even when I'm not, but flare up so much in the evening when I'm doing a lot of standing or walking. I don't ever dare to do steps though.
My neuro left his practice so I will ask my back doctor next week for another name. This is scaring me...having me this that it's something other than the things I've been diagnosed with.

Any advice?

Hi, sorry you are having so much pain. Not good.

Are you taking all the supplements that everyone talks about here? I have a friend who deals with neuropathy from so many yrs on statins and she always talked about the pain at night especially and her walking is very compromised. She's taken neurontin and gabapentin over many years and I don't think she is taking either of them now. Last time I talked to her she was feeling improvement vs how she has felt over a lot of years.

Along with all the statins she's taken, she also had many surgeries for squamish cell cancers on both legs, so this too I'm sure added to all the neuropathy.

Well, she's been taking grape seed extract for about 5 yrs now and she believes this antioxidant has helped her. I've been a constant taker of grape seed ex for 20 yrs.

So this is good news for her. I about finished with inosine and sphingolin for the nerve damage I've ended up with from hip replacement. Some nights my toes go into major pain but not for the last couple nights as I'm changing my sleep position and not sleeping on the hip surgery side of my body.

I can't say enough about grape seed extract and I've talked a LOT about it on NT.

How much of grape seed extract?

I'm right there with you....I have small fiber neuropathy and my feet are the worst part for me. Mine will also turn bright red, just on the soles, and feel swollen. They don't look swollen but at times, like tonight, I can feel places on the soles of my feet touching the floor that normally don't so I know they have to be swollen. I've had to walk around inside the house for 2 days without anything on my feet. Even a light sock hurts like heck !

I can't do heat so the best thing I've found is to put something cold on the soles of my feet. I'll sit with them on my chillo or those bags you put in the freezer that has the gel in them. That's calms them down quite a bit for awhile.

Too much walking always ends badly for me. Sometimes they flare up when I'm not doing much of anything too. The weather is looking cloudy and that is never a good sign for me.

Hope other posters come along to offer their suggestions.

Debi from Georgia

Walking a lot, especially on hard surfaces like the mall or food store, or even lots of back and forth on the ceramic floor in the kitchen will leave me with severe leg pain by nighttime. For me it is my legs and knees more than my feet. The stiffness will also be a lot worse on those days.
I have found that walking on softer ground is a lot easier on my legs.
I am not suggesting that something else isn't going on, but don't underestimate the pain that PN can cause all by itself. It is one of the more painful and difficult to treat conditions.

baba222, grape seed ex is not specifically for these neuropathies but addresses so much of our body health issues. It reduces diabetic issues. My friend is getting relief and she's on it as I said 5 yrs or so. I believe she takes at least 200mg daily which is a good dose for most. Some people take more, if you are really really thin one can take less. If you take a pharma blood thinner, you can't take both. Grape seed ex keeps blood thin and cleaner, and so many are on blood thinners today as they have thick dirty blood. I don't know which supplements you take but I would think Omega 3's would be good too, along with the B12 and others many have mentioned here. I take them ALL. Change can happen and often for many subtle. When I started on this antioxidant the sinus/allergy issue cleared up like almost immediately after a previous life of horrid issues and drugs.

. My feet have been extremely painful from the start.I have had neuropathic pain for 2 and a half years and my hands and feet are the most affected. my feet are swollen and discoloured and my toes have fallen over meaning I walk on them if I don't use toe seperaters. I have struggled to walk due to pain from very early on in my illness. I haven't worn socks at all. If I stood on them I'd probably scream. I don't mean to be melodramatic or alarm you. it is certainly possible for neuropathic pain to be causing what you are describing but I think that my situation (re feet) is one of the more severe based on what I've read from other people in the forum who can wear socks, etc. So hopefully not too common to have such severe pain. If you are having increasing pain make sure you get help quickly as that seems to be key to having a better outcome. All the best. I hope you find some answers soon.

I have days where I hobble, it feels like I may have breaks even, but upon inspection it must be misfiring nerves. Mine sounds much milder and not as constant as some others.

I have a small ottoman at work under my desk and stay off my feet as much as I can, though also get up every ten minutes, minimum. I wear boots for protection and stability.

I hope you can figure out a system that eases your symptoms.

High stress? Too much potato salad? Weather? If you use the search function on the toolbar and search "flares" you will se that there is a plethera of things that make us suffer more. If you experience burning and tender skin on the tops of your feet, I found Mortons Epsom Salt Lotion to be helpful enough to return to using bedsheets again. Good Luck, Ken in Texas.

Thank you everyone Nope...I'm not taking supplements, but I'm sure I need to. Ken in Texas, I wonder if it could be a flare, but I'm sure I've never, in 15 years, been in this much pain. It's been horrible. The problem is...I have a small children and I work full-time and my husband has been taking on way too much. Going to call another neuro who was recommended to me by a friend. Hoping for some answers. Still not convinced I have SFN b/c of the negative punch biopsy. We'll see. Thanks again...I appreciate everyone taking time to respond and help me out.