toe issue | Arthritis Information

Hello all, I am new here and wanted to know if any of you have had a flare up that concerned a toe? I am newly diagnosed with RA (since end of May) and have been on Mtx and prednisone with folic for just over 2 months. I had complete joint problems and on Memorial weekend, could not even walk much or move about without severe issues. By the 4th of July I was skipping, it was that dramatic of a change. The past 2 weeks or so I have been having issues with a middle toe on my left foot and a bit of neck pain also on the left side. Any thoughts? I am so glad I found this board, I have not been sick almost my entire life, so to have this happen so suddenly is very depressing.

Thanks for any and all help..........

sadly, we all know too well how depressing and unsettling the diagnosis of RA can be.

What is the toe issue? pain? swelling? both?

I had weird movements of my foot digits when I was in flare... would just wiggle of their own accord for no reason.. and had shooting, fire pain for no reason.... that was the peripheral neuropathy that was started up by the RA.

good luck!!

Hi Sharwen, welcome I am newer also, diagnosed in July. I really appreciate the results you've experienced, it gives me lots of hope; I am not on any RA attacking meds yet, just pain/inflamation treatments. Doing some skipping and walking in a couple of months from now sounds great. Hi babs & Ramen,

thank you for your replies. I have a toe issue, with the middle toe on my left foot, just to the first knuckle area. It started out like it was asleep when I started to talk on the tip and has progressed to the 1st knuckle. the reason I think it could be a pop up flare as it is not always so pronounced to cause me to limp and other times I limp to alleviate the pain in the toe. Stairs are also an issue again when the toe does not want to bend properly.

Ramen, I hope that you get a good result like I have, I just would like to keep it this way and not progress downward.

Thanks again.

My toes my feet and my ankles are ususally the worst of my problems. Today it is my hands and my neck.

RA can bother you basically anywhere i have found.

Thank you Milly, I have an appt early next month and just had bloodwork done again, so I guess I will sit tight and wait it out. I really do not want to increase the meds at this point. I have done lots of reading and found that it is life long and just have patience, whether you want to or not.

Blessings.

All my toes bother me 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I've had x-rays and an ultrasound. The pain is not severe, just constant. My little toes have now turned under the next toe. Most all toes seem to be changing their shape. Just this week I noticed what I think might be a nodule on the top part of my foot.

The ultrasound showed inflammation. The RD said that for some reason I seem to "feel" the inflammation going on in my feet more than in my hands. I can now see that a couple of my fingers seem to be starting to "turn".

It could be worse as I'm not having any severe pain right now.

I agree the toe pain seems to break past my pain meds while my hands I tend not to notice as much.

I am sure if I did not take so much pain meds I would probably feel the pain in my hands plenty more than what I do. I see bone changes in my fingers and hands but I have to be swelling pretty bad to feel it in my hands.

My opinion or experience is I get alot of muscle spasms in my feet as well. I think that is part of the process of turning the toes under. With my mind I can not force my big toe to bend. It has narowing of the joint space and a large bunion. I have swelling under my big toe and the toe next to it every day.

I have less muscle spasms now that I have been on the Lryica long enough to have it raised to 250 mg a day. One day a few weeks ago I got a muscle spasm that bent my big toe all of the way under till it touched the sole of my foot.

I took a flexeril that night for sure. It was terribly painful. I was in awe. I mean my jaw dropped in amazement. It just did not seem physically possible to me. Yet I was looking at my toe bent all of the way down. Ouch!

I mean maybe a normal healthy foot it may have seemed possible. Just not my foot with all of the damage and limited motion.

Like I said that happens alot less on the Lyrica. I am thankful for that.

milly2010-08-13 13:06:49I have had a single joint on one finger "go bad" and hurt like hell. Then it subsides after days, or weeks, and something else happens. My toes all get swollen, hot and red every night, but the worst pain is in my right heel.

It's very true that joint pain can show up anywhere, anytime. Frankly I often think "Gee, I'm sure glad that my (fill in the blank) DOESN'T hurt." The neck that used to bother me something awful is fine now, and when I turn to see when I'm backing up the car, I still smile happily at being able to do it without emitting little screams. Ditto when I open my mouth to put in food, when in the recent past I could barely get it open far enough to eat without pain. Small mercies!

My sister bless her heart her bottom has been hurting. I think that is a fibro thing. The ischiam is an area where all of the tendons attach.

My spine specialist years ago noticed everytime he past my room I was in a different place. First time he past I was on the chair. Then he past I was on the bed. Then he past I was standing.

So he prescibed a donut pillow. Ordered a bone scan and sent me to PT for ultra sound treatments on my bottom. I hope that does not curl up and twist over.