Pain in heels

[Caloo650]

After tapering down from 8mg to 7 two weeks ago I developed some muscle pain in my legs so quickly jumped back up to 8mg. That has almost taken care of the leg pain but I have been left with pain in my heels and ankles. Has anyone else experienced this with PMR?

[YuliK]

Good morning Caloo650

It could be that you are reducing far too quickly.

After 10mg I would only reduce by 1/2mg at a time. Slow reduction is much better.

Feel better quickly.

YuliK. 😷

[Caloo650 in reply to YuliK]

Thank you Yulik. Only going down a mg month and have just changed it to 0.5/month. Still a bit sore but feet are bad. Will ring rheumy tomorrow

[Judyliz]

Hi Caloo,

I have had heel pain for about 7 years, stops me sleeping and the first few steps in the morning are dreadful. Although I am aware of it all day it is much less painful when I walk.

It is deep in the middle of both heels and along the under outside part of my foot. To cut a long story short of mistreatment and diagnosis-all by me!

It was diagnosed recently at a bio mechanical assessment for something else as a Baxters nerve problem. I have been referred to the orthopaedic team for an assessment.

I am not for a minute suggesting this is what you have but it might be worth looking up. I had never heard of it, my right heel has always been worse and my right leg was symptomatic of PMR for about 2 years before I was finally diagnosed in 2016.

[Caloo650 in reply to Judyliz]

Thanks Judyliz. I'll look into the Baxter s nerve info. My pain is also in heels and towards inside of foot and yes it does improve when out walking. It just seemed to coincide with taper and pain in calves

[Hidden]

I too have a little heel pain, but it does go off. I'm more concerned about three toes on my left foot that are still numb, after at least 6 months. Still waiting for a neurologist appt....been waiting 3 months so far.

[Caloo650 in reply to Hidden]

Oh dear this is the trouble with the virus. Not here so much. I hope you get some feeling back in your toes soon

[Hidden in reply to Caloo650]

Somehow I fear not, probably stuck with it....just hope it's not vasculitis, but no other symptoms of that, so hope not. Hope you get sorted. I could pay to see a neurologist and pretty quickly too (amazing isn't it when we pay, they're soon available) but paid out enough over the years, so will just wait my turn.

Kind regards

Anne

[Caloo650 in reply to Hidden]

Yes me too and I'm still paying the rheumy. I'll ring him tomorrow and describe the feet and see what he says

[Hidden in reply to Caloo650]

Are you in UK ? It was my rheumy that recommended I see a neurologist

[Caloo650]

No I'm in Sydney Aus. I started with a neurologist who referred me to a rheumatologist

[FowlerVF]

I have GCA, was on 50mg pred initially and had begun reducing. Had the usual puffy face etc and then began to have a lot of muscle wasteage. Around this time, almost 2 years ago I began to get pain in the heels, made it awkward to walk, had to go on tiptoes. Thought it was a side effect of the pred. Rheumatologist wasnt convinced, sent me for MRI on lower spine. I have always had an old back injury, but have been careful and had coped. MRI showed up severe stenosis, nerves pinched in spine. We think that I had been coping with this previously, my body and muscles had developed so that I was able to minimise the effects. High Pred dose caused muscle wastage and as a side effect my spine was less supported by muscle, hence the pain. Its a sort of phantom pain, nothing wrong with my heels at all, just feels like it. A bit like a short in a wire! Problem is in my spine, vertebrae 3,4,5. Now booked in for an operation, but a long wait. No ops of this type during Covid. I am tapered down to just 2mg pred now, no return of GCA symptoms. So, the pain in my heels and difficulty in walking probably isnt a direct effect of GCA (or PMR), and isnt a direct side effect of prednisolone; but it is an indirect side effect of pred (muscle wastage) that has been instrumental in bringing this stenosis to the fore.

[Caloo650]

Oh my goodness. That could be the problem. It's always sometning new just when you think things are under contol. Thanks for you reply

[kulina]

Yes, I did! Around the 6 mg reduction I had pain that felt like plantar fasciitis and I ignored it at the beginning thinking it was my shoes. Unfortunately, it didn't matter what shoes I wore, it was very painful. It lasted about a year but that's because I started doing plantar fasciitis exercises very late. Once I did the exercises given to me by my physical therapist I started feeling much better and now at 3 mg it's gone. I still do the stretches. These are the exercises she recommended: healthline.com/health/fitne...

[Marcy47]

Hi Caloo650, I started to get heel pain last December which was the same as your description, and after Googling it I diagnosed myself as having Plantar fasciitis. I bought a small unit which gives pulsed shockwave treatment for this condition and has been on the market since 2013. It is called Heelease, and I found after using it for a few weeks the pain was much reduced. I don't think it is particularly related to PMR or taking steroids.