Help! Trying to figure out what's going on. I've had RA for about 6 years now. Did the prednisone, metho. and now Plaqunil. So, I have been doing much better. Now, the numbness started over 6 months ago, basically just bothering me when I did water aerobics. Now, it's been bothering me since last Friday. It's worse at the end of the day. I have been tired, overworked, etc., so I thought I was having a little flare.. which I hadn't had since the beginning... My RA dr. on Friday, said it wasn't related to the RA. I find that hard to believe. He wants me to go to a Nuerologist. What could it be?? I'm 48. It also bothers me when I sit at my computer at home only and sometimes in my recliner at night when I watch TV. The other day, it bothered me when I was in the car driving for over 30 minutes at a time. It starts in the ankle and can go to my toes, foot and up the leg a little bit. I'm very worried.... Someone I know who has RA said it happened to her too and went to a Neurologist, went through the tests.. and it ended up being related to the RA. Any comments welcomed. Thanks!! -Mimernote.
Could it be a circulatory problem, since it comes when you are sitting for a bit? There is a doplar test they can do to check your blood flow in your legs and feet - you should ask you doctor about that. See my reply under "Anyone with Neuropathy and RA. Hope it helps. DesI have a similar problem, but it located just to my toes. They are numb most of the time, and turn a dark blue, especially when I am sitting or walking... only elevation seems to help the color come back to normal. My doctor thought it was Reynauds and isn't too concerned. Did he mention that? Vickilee, hi, my doc didn't mention Reynauds and I know little about it. Perhaps you could do a Google search. Turning blue! That would be scary!Thanks for your comments. I did read the article on the Neuropathy. I'm going to look into that more often. It just bothers me alot lately when I do water aerobics and I love water aerobics and don't want to slow down on that. WAerobics makes me feel so much better.. except now with the foot numbness. It's tingling right now, because I'm in this chair... Any more advice out there?Vicki! Toes aren't supposed to be blue. They fall of and stuff when they get like that. LOL Your doctor is crazy...but I think I may have said that before."Knowledge is Power." Happy thoughts to all - Des
I didn't say they CAN'T. I said they're not supposed to. No part of your body is "supposed" to turn blue. As far as "putting the frighteners" on someone "like toes falling off" well, first of all, Vicki knows I mess with her. She likes to wait far too long to see the doc for things. As a lot of us do. It's just poking fun at her. But toes can fall of (in essence), it's not like I made it up. I did research Raynauds, and as far as docors not taking it seriously, well I think that's pretty ignorant. I'm not saying it's cancer, but come on. Use a little common sense - if you're not getting enough blood to a certain part of your body, that can cause problems. Even if it is just that pinky toe. Raynauds, like ANY OTHER condition, is fine if it's mild. But there's always those cases where its not. So you should always get odd things like this checked out. Always. Period. No if's and's or butt's. I'm pretty sure all of the people on here who blew off their initial aches and pains of RA, and who had doctors who blew off their first symptoms might at least understand where I'm going with this. If you have a symptom, and it bothers you, and it doesn't seem right, get it checked out. And don't take "eh, I wouldn't worry about it...it *might* be blah blah" for an answer. That's a pretty unprofessional answer. Once again, I'm sure the people on here who are still struggling for diagnosis of their other symptoms will understand what I mean by that. Google is a great tool, I use it every day. But google does not diagnose me. A doctor does. There's nothing wrong with researching something that you feel you might be suffering from. However it's a whole new ballgame when you start self diagnosing. Sorry if this turned into somewhat of a rant. Didn't mean for it to...it IS 4am and I HAVE been up for over 20 hours.
Only the RIGHT Knowledge is Power.
Hugs n Stuff - Katie
Oops!