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Chronic foot and hand pain entire life
I posted this in the chronic pain thread but honestly it could be a variety of different things so I’m posting it here too. Im currently 16 and ever since I was young like 4-5 I started getting these foot pains that would cause me to cry myself to sleep, to this day I still get these foot pains and they’ve continued to stay constant, they’re hasn’t been a time in my life where they really stopped hurting like this. As I got older around 10 it traveled to my hands and arms it’s the same exact pain that I have in my feet but it went to my hands too. The pain usually happens when I walk a lot in a day or I move or jump a lot, it also starts hurting when it gets cold. The pain starts and hurts the most in the middle of my feet but it’s like a pain you feel inside only and it spreads throughout my foot to my calf. Same with my hands and forearms. The only thing that makes it feel better is pressure and ibuprofen. A lot of doctors I’ve gone too tell me it’s growing pains but I’ve been dealing with it since I was little and I feel like it’s not normal. It is constantly an inconvenience sometimes the pain gets so bad I still cry myself to sleep , resulting to no sleep, especially when I’m not home and I’m not able to get to pain meds I suffer trying to even be comfortable. if it happens while I’m doing something too I won’t be able to focus on anything else when pain hits, especially when it’s both my hands and feet hurting at the same time. It brings discomfort to living honestly and even if I wanted to seriously get checked, healthcare is so out of my range now money wise, so I’d rather just live with it if I have been my whole life😔literally go through so many bottles of ibuprofen…
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@benisweniz where are your parents in all this? Are they not concerned enough to get you to a rheumatologist? Taking ibuprofen is just masking the pain (not to mention, possibly affecting your liver) - you need to get to the root cause of it by seeing a rheumatologist and getting some scans.
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2 Reactions@rashida I got tested a lot when I was little and no one ever referred us to any place or any specialist, so my mom gave up over the years it’s only me and her we don’t have anyone else, so I just kinda manage with it but I didn’t even know what a rheumatologist was till now, I’ll talk to my doctor about it.
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3 Reactions@benisweniz if you have access to a rheumatologist without having to get a referral, you might want to consider that. Or, you and/or your mom could insist that your family doctor refer you to a rheumatologist. Fibromyalgia is difficult to diagnose and can mimic other conditions (e.g. “growing pains”). I went years being told “it’s all in your head” till I found a new doctor who sent me to a rheumatologist, who in turn diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. You could be dealing with some other autoimmune condition too.
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I responded in your other post. I feel for you and it is just me and my 16 year old son, too.
Definitely look into juvenile arthritis, neuropathy and musculoskeletal specialists for MRI/X-rays/EMG/nerve conduction studies/small fiber neuropathy skin punch biopsy by seeing a pediatric rheumatologist, neurologist, and orthopedic specialist. You need updated imaging and bloodwork to get to the root cause of your pain.
Also, please lay off the NSAIDs and try Tylenol since large amounts of ibuprofen/Motrin can damage your stomach/gastrointestinal system. Getting to the root cause of your pain and getting the right treatments for pain management is critical. You are too young to be suffering with this on your own. You deserve to have an improved quality of life.
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