Foot/Ankle weirdness - BAD

[Deedee]

Does anyone else have where their feet will turn bright red or dark purple and sometimes very HOT and tingly almost like an itch but only enough to really annoy you and creams or lotions have no effect because something internal is causing it.

Something is up with my feet anyway as for the past few years I often feel something crawling on them and have to physically LOOK to assure myself there is nothing there, which of course there is nothing.

But the REAL BAD problems are the tingly, red or purple hot and/or itchy feet which gets incredibly bad while sleeping so I have to get up to just get away from it, for instance if I wake in the night with it, it's too annoying and/or uncomfortable to go back to sleep.

It has really played major havoc to my life but my doctor seems at a complete loss to explain it. He looks at my feet and says "Well you don't have athlete's foot" *sigh* Mr. Useless.

Anyone got any ideas what this is all about other than just poor circulation?

Deedee

[Burton Borrok]

Re: Foot/Ankle weirdness - BAD

Hi Deedee,
To my untrained mind it sounds to me like the arterial blood supply to your feet is fine, but the venal return is not doing its job sufficiently. Your feet are becoming gorged with blood which accounts for the deepening color, the heat, and the tingling or crawling sensations.

We have ‘pumps’ in our heels which help to pump the blood back up out of our legs as we walk. Therefore I would suggest when they become bothersome in bed causing you to get up, try walking up and down a bit, as it may help pump some of the blood back out of your feet and give you some relief. I’d also try sleeping with my feet raised to help prevent the problem from arising in the first place.

I also would think that your cardiologist may be in a position to help with this more then your PCP, as he obviously has more training in the circulatory systems then a GP or internist would. It may in fact be some kind of easily curable problem.

My opinion may be all wet on the above, but I don’t think you can go far wrong seeking help from your cardio as well as your PCP.
Burt

[Lisa Salberg]

Re: Foot/Ankle weirdness - BAD

I am not sure what may be causing this. Interestingly I have a similar thing occure to the palms of my hands from time to time, no redness simply heat??

I wish I had an answer.

Lisa