Cramps and foot numbness

[thenortherngal]

Does any one else here suffer from lots of cramps in their feet/legs? Every night when I go to bed I i have about 30 minutes where my toes cramp so badly they actually cross. My poor husband often has to lend me a leg so I can press my foot against it and work out the cramp. I've also been getting increasingly numb big toes - the first inch or two of both of my big toes now has odd sensation which is almost pins and needly although it's always like that. I mentioned it to my gp and my biologics nurse who didn't know what the cause was, but I forgot to mention it to my consultant as I had a massive long last of things when I saw him last!

It would be useful to know if this is something other people experience or whether it is an unrelated idiosyncrasy of my strange body.

[Matilda7]

Yes, my feet are increasingly odd. They cramp, I have Reynauds, there are numb areas, they burn, I have painful bunions.......buying shoes is a nightmare. They are the part of me that gives me the worst problems, and continues to come up with more and more variations...none of them good, but I love them dearly. Where would I be without them!

[smithfield in reply to Matilda7]

Yes I go to bed my feet and legs wake up. They jump,twitch,burn and I often get crawling sensations.

Some over the counter medication like benalyn may cause restless legs but that is the only one I know about.

Apparently salt intake can also effect them And as already mentioned alchohol.

If it is ages away to your rheumy appointment speak to your GP mine was really helpful there is some medication you can take but I am on so much I decided against it.

I often regret this decision.

Hope you find some relief.

[Matilda7 in reply to smithfield]

Consultant has organised USS with view to injecting bursae and / or Morton's neuromas......not sure how keen I am on injections into very fragile feet....we'll see.

[smithfield in reply to Matilda7]

Hope it goes well

[Hidden]

I think cramp is commonplace and I think rheumys generally do not have a great deal to say about it except that it's something that people with inflammatory arthritis tend to suffer from.

I've had cramp of varying severity for about 10 years, mostly at night but in the day too sometimes. It can be extremely painful and involve pretty much all of both legs & feet. I swear my toes cramp up if someone looks at them funny - just about anything can start them off.

Someone on another forum suggested that dehydration makes it worse & I think that's true. My worst cramps occur after a few glasses of wine. But I think it is a little more complex & just drinking a whole lot of water afterwards doesn't seem to help ..... What does help me is to keep steadily well-hydrated on a regular basis (which I have to do anyway as I take Mtx).

Apart from the link with dehydration, I think the main underlying cause in our case must surely be inflammation. And yes, I've had the most dramatic cramps when my disease was out of control. For the last couple of years it has been very well controlled and last year I had less cramp than ever. What I don't understand is that I am still doing very well but cramp has recently come back with a vengeance. It is getting to be a real problem because sometimes my feet and toes have that annoying 'pre-cramp' feeling, as if they may spasm at any minute, pretty much all night long.

Thing is, you can nail one possible cause, but the things that are going on in our bodies are all inter-linked. So those big toes of yours may have a degree of neuropathy (I'm not remote-diagnosing, it's another common thing worth mentioning, that's all) which, as I understand it, is a little bit of nerve damage caused by persistent inflammation. I'm pretty sure I have a fair bit of that going on and also that it's not something to panic about at all. But you could run that possibility past your rheumy and see what he / she thinks. Like cramp though I reckon it is usually found at the bottom of our massive lists and unless it's really bad rheumys probably don't have any answers other than to treat the inflammatory arthritis that's behind it.

I'm sorry this is so long...... last night featured some flamboyant cramps .... then I woke up and read your post over my first cup of tea.

[swisslass]

I also often have cramp at night either in the feet or legs but this has been going on for a few years before my RA- tried magnesium, stretching muscles before bed, lots of water even tried a tablet of soap under the bottom sheet by my legs ( old wives remedy) however when I was on Leflunomide I was mostly OK ! Now I have stopped the cramps have returned and I also often feel as if my toes have gone to sleep or are tingling and the balls of my feet feel as if they are on fire at night. Today I have decided I must put my feet at the top of my Questions list when I see my Doc next.

[helenlw7]

I suffered terrible cramps in my legs and feet for many years, as well as restless legs - the latter since I was a child. At a medication review with my gp about two years ago, he said he couldn't do anything about the restless legs, but prescribed quinine for the cramp and I have had very little since then. I hate the number of drugs I have to take, but quinine works for me

[linda-5502]

I do sometimes get a similar sensation in my toes or cramp in the back of my legs but my problem is my hands and fingers they go totally numb but hurt like hell I don't know why am going to have ultra sound on them in 2 weeks

[Hands_1]

The cramp I had in my legs where brought on with drinking lager. If I drink I can get away with a short,vodka and orange.

A few years ago I had a sore on the back of my leg which never healed properly, it was with the sun, I was prescribed my my gp quinnine for a short while (fantastic) I was taken off it as she said they had found quinnine effected the eyes.

It is in Sweppes tonic water, maybe a glass at night may help.