Extreme foot pain. Mostly when I wake up in the morning. Ot

I also wake up with foot pain- stinging across my soles and especially bad in my toes. I’m a retired OT, so when all this started, I bought a bedside handrail and non-skid socks (poor balance too) for safety.
Upon awakening, I sit up, hold the rail, put the socks on, slide forward a bit, and start marching and singing the alphabet song. After 2-3 sings, the pain has calmed down enough to stand and head to the bathroom.
I’m a big believer in neuroplasticity. A PT told me that with neuropathy, the fake nerve signals coming up hit the brain as an “explosion”, the brain interprets the signals as maximal pain. Singing the alphabet redirects the brain from the fake signals and allows it to calm. The marching provides alternating pressure to the soles, in a consistent, predictable cycle, which also helps the brain to redirect and calm.
This probably sounds wacky, but worth a try, don’t you think? When introducing something new to my patients, I would say, “Give it the old college try, do this for three days and see what happens”.

Mostly wakening with pain in heel. Lasting few minutes.,Found that 1/2mg klonopin at night helped relieve. Of course beware addicttion. Doctor should advise.

@centre
Redirecting the brain definitely works. I use this method when I really need to go pee. I usually will count backwards from 100 by sevens. Causes my brain to ignore my bladder so I can make it to the bathroom. 🙂

Find a chronic pain doctor (M.D.) and have him get you out of your pain. I take Naltrexone. 90%of my pain gone. There are others if that doesn’t work. Then get some tests done to find the problem. Good luck!

Sounds like your sleepy feet just need more circulation to wake up. Try foot tapping out/in for a minute. Take a look at the senior exercises on YouTube for different exercises to increase the circulation wherever it hurts. My right knee was swollen and painful for months even after an injection that just worked for 2 months but after doing leg exercises for a while, the swelling and pain is gone. I'm as surprised as you are. If you begin breathing hard while exercising, stop and do more repetitions later in the day for the same results. This might take a few days to wake up your feet, so stay with it. Vyolet

@tris
I've never thought of redirecting my brain on the way to the bathroom, hope it works for me.
Thank you! Vyolet

@vyolet
It will! Because you take your mind off your bladder and put it on something else. It just needs to be something you really have to think about, i.e., don't sing a song that you know really well or recite a scripture that you memorized years ago. Make it something on the difficult side. Best wishes!

Yes, a few decades ago I got up one morning and had bad pain in my foot/leg. Then after a while, it would go away. Kept happening when I was not on my feet, like sitting, laying, etc., and then stepped down. I went to an excellent podiatrist and he did various tests on my legs and ordered a pair of orthotics to wear in my shoes. Voila, after a short period of time of wearing them faithfully, the pain went away and never returned. I still have those orthotics which are made of fiberglass so they don't wear out. Took just a little time to get used to wearing them, but it was so well worth it for me. It may be that is your problem, so I suggest at least having your feet checked out. Hope that's the problem because it's easily correctable.

This sounds like you have Plantar Fascitis, a VERY common foot problem. My wife got it from marching in place as part of an exercise program. She would wake up and have terrible pain the moment she stepped out of bed. The doctor recomended an exercise while watching TV where she rolled her foot over a (full) soup can on the floor to help the normal arch of the foot. The long term solution was to ALWAYS have a strong arch under your foot, Foot pads with an arch are available everywhere (think Dr. Scholls). Never wear any footwear that does not have an arch (like flip-flops). Now she puts on her shoes as soon as she gets out of bed. Minimal barefoot time.

@crossette

Some feet exercises can do more harm than good if overdone. I do feet exercises to help with my neuropathy and after having shin shave biopsy on left leg, that foot feels stiff and achy. However, overdoing calf exercise and rocker at physical therapy was just getting me into more pain. I also agree that arch support in shoes is important. It also provides support for one's back. At night I will sometimes do roller and sensory ball to relax my feet. There is a way of getting into the comfort zone and voila! No medicine needed.