Hi guys,

I know you all won't think I am crazy...but my feet are cold and it hurts. But when someone actually touches my feet they tell me they are not cold. And today I went to see my primary care and I explained my symptoms and sked about RSD and he basically told me I was crazy which more than hurt my feelings and I all the way back to work. This is the same bozo that told me I had MS when I really had TOS. Sometimes he can be a good doc but right now I feel like dumping him. I reminded him that I he misdiagnosed me then and maybe he should listen now. To no avail he brushed me off and told me to go see a rheumy.

Well luckily I also told neuro surgeon that did my TOS surgery and he told me to come in tomorrow and he will do SG block to confirm whether it is RSD since it sounds like RSD.

But in the meantime my feet are cold atleast to me and it hurts. And this afternoon it felt like the cold was going up my left leg.

What do you all do to help yourselves when you feet are cold? Drugs? Therapies?

Help and thanks!

Hi Shelly..
I like to take hot baths and elevate my legs, use epsome salts in the bathwater as the magnesium in it is a pain reliever and very relaxing.. I use a cup or two in my bath water.

Also the fuzzy cashmeir socks of the loose variety.

I have also been known to create a blanketed cosy cave around my legs while sitting and having a heater pointed at said cosy cave.

And on desperation when the ice is taking over I have been known to wrap a heating pad loosely around my legs and rest my feet on another.. but I do not recomend that as it can aparently cause the inner temperature control to go outa whack (*aint it already?*).

And perhaps we do not realy feel the cold as it is and we can easily cause burns.

Hugs,
Sandra

Shame on your dumpy PCP.

no reason for him to be so rude, right or not.




Johanna

Shelly,

I am sorry you also have cold feet, but ay least I know that I am not crazy, either. I have one foot that is "freezing" and one foot that is hot.

I don't have the sensitivity in that cold foot that others have suggested, so I can use a non-electric heating pad. You nuke it in the microwave. I can then test the temperature with something with "normal" feeling like my forearm (to make sure it is not too hot) and it will gradually cool, not get hotter and possibly cause damage.

Good luck.

Mike

Try An Electric Throw. It Is A Small Electric Blanket And You Can Wrap It Around Yout Legs ... It Is Good Because The Parts Of Your Legs That Have A Good Sense Of Feeling Can Let You Know If The Temperature Is Right For You. I Keep One Near My Computer Because This Room Is Cold.
I Also Use Fleece Socks All Winter.
And Last But Not Least Sit With My Feet Near The Wood Stove ... That Is The Best Type Of Heat.
And As For Your Doctor, Please Remember, He Works For You ... And Has No Right To Be Rude.

Thank you everyone for your great suggestions. I really appreciate your help and support.

Today I go for blocks. We'll see.

I am dealing with the same thing and I was going to say I posted last week I think about it so if you find my post you can see what some of the others said too.

I stood on my cold bathroom floor a few weeks ago and that sat my feet to burning on the bottom but they are cold and now it's going up my legs. I use a heating pad to wrap my feet in to help warm them up. The heating pads aren't quiet big enough though so I move it around or use the three I have.

I talked to my PCP about it Wed. and he is trying to figure it out. I would say though and I never thought about it, a Rhemy is a good ideal if you can find a good one. He would have the better answer. We got side tracked dealing with my pelvic pain and didn't talk about it anymore when I saw him. My problem is when I go in I have 10 things going on and we try to take care of the worst at the time. He was so excited about the VNS for me that we talked about that more then anything and he talked about Bill. After having a patient for 16 years I guess some Drs. get attached to them.

I also have like electrical shocks going up mine. It feels like sparks from sparklers as I describe it.

Some talked about it being from Cronic Pain Syndrome. I have a stupid Rheumy so I wouldn't even bother going to see mine.

It's great that your other Dr. is going to do the block to confirm or deny RSD. That will be good for you so you can start looking for the right answers for the RSD if it's there.

I'm sorry that you had such a hard time with the Dr. It's so common with them. I actually had a pain Dr. throw me out of his office and I believe it was because he didn't know what to do for me. My caretaker was with me and we filed a complaint against him with the U of C. So you are not alone in dealing with Drs. like that.

I was going to say also that sometimes the PCP get frustrated because they can't help their patient. Mine did with me and I think I'm the reason he lost a lot of his hair trying to figure me out for all these years. We have had our ups and downs also from frustration. I don't know how long you have had him but I do want to say good PCP's are hard to find and you need them to be the go between at times for meds and referrals. I think it's very important to have one and then when you start getting the meds you want you have 2 Drs. trying to help you with them and they know you are not Dr. shopping if you keep both in the loop.

Something else I have found, I have been turning my heat down to 60 at night for 2 reasons to save on the bill and also I can't stand to get too hot or I am in more pain so if your heat is down too low you might want to try turning it up some. I found when I did turn it up it helped. I had plenty of covers on me but they didn't help.

Take care,
Ada

Well I had my block yesterday and the doc who did it was very nice but not so chatty.

Here is what I was able to discern. He is unwilling to commit to any diagnosis at this time. Whch was frustrating but then one of his nurses said dont worry its not like its a tumor or anything....twit.

The block was painful as my skin was so sensitive to the touch going in there so the initial lidocaine shot was a big ouch. The rest of it was painful especially when he knicked a nerve and all these electrical feeling went down my arm. Then second deep pressure pain in chest. I made it through with a few tears.

Afterwerds he could feel the differnece in my hands, right warmed up quickly and left warmed up later that night. And feet warmed up. And today they are still warm and the skin sensitivity is still down.

Later the nurse practitioner (different one) explained he wants to track this since e said I am a complicated case and RSD doesn't usually present all over the body. Then she said however your symptoms do look like RSD.

So I wnt home, had a nice chat in the forum and hubby made me chicken soup and I relaxed

Today hands and feet warmer and slin sensitivity way down. Success who knows relief I'll take it.

This morning I went to acupuncture/pain doc and we discussed all that happened. She told me the next time the cold hands and feet happen to try the heating pad on the belly and the head and the upper back so as to tell the core it is warm and to stop hoggin all the heat and blood. Interesting. I'll try it.

Thanks for all your advice. The outcome remains to be seen but atleast I have some relief.