My first shift back at work 24th April I got an intense pain in my foot between the ball of my little toe and my middle toe and tight calf muscle. It improved when I sat down but my leg muscles would then twitch which wasn’t painful. I put it down to being back on my feet for longer periods.
It hadn’t occurred again but the last two days have been awful. I am wearing my support for my foot drop but as I had it before surely it can’t be caused by that? I get pain which quickly becomes so Excruciating I can’t walk I have to sit down, take my shoe and splint off and massage my toes & foot. It does settle, I can still feel it but it’s bearable however it quickly builds up again. The toe between my little and middle toe goes numb. At the same time my hamstring goes tight but that doesn’t hurt. Paracetamol & Ibuprofen don’t work on the pain.
Does anyone else get foot pain like this? I am wondering if it is spasm?
Hi Snowqueen, when I wear my foot splint I get pain in my calf muscles as they are being stretched by the splint. Toes are also stretched. It sounds like you might have spasticity - have they given you baclofen ? If not ask for it as it helps a lot.
That confirms what I thought Meds wise I am only on Movicol and Vit D3. I have seen on others posts that Baclofen can make people weak/ fatigue worse so I am a bit scared of that. I know you have to be careful with Magnesium. I think I should probably talk to my Medical Team. I can’t continue to ge this pain when I am trying to work.
Saw GP yesterday she said the correct drugs would be a muscle relaxant but she thinks I can’t have that and work. Her answer was to give me Naproxen she told me to take it before I start work. I took it 1 hour before with Paracetamol as she told me. Within the first hour my foot started spasm and I had to go and sit down take my shoe and AFO support off. Pain continued all shift like before I could get it to settle to bearable but when it builds its excruciating. I even took a second Naproxen and it made no difference. Fed up!!
Naproxen is no good for nerve related stuff, I cant understand why your GP gave you that. Baclofen is fine for me when you build it up slowly. People say it makes you weaker but that is only if they are reliant on spasticity for a certain amount of strength because baclofen reduces spasticity. Tizanidine made me very sleepy and I certainly couldnt work by taking it. Everyone is different as I have read on here that some prefer Tizandine over baclofen.
Spoke to GP again today by phone, this time they want to check my bloods (calcium, magnesium, potassium etc). Have told me to take 500mg Naproxen and also now Codydramol so will try that tomorrow. At least if it doesn’t work I see my MS Physio again 3rd June, and my Consultant the 9th. Have had my weekly massage and a lazy day today trying to recharge my batteries so we will see.
Hi Snowqueen, I take codydramol and baclofen and find both helpful. The baclofen has to be built up slowly as it good for reducing spasms and accompanying pain but if the dose is too high it can make your legs weak. At the moment I am on 15mg of baclofen 3 times a day and I am going to stay there as spasms are reduced and legs are no weaker.
I have emailed my MS Physio to see what she says. Spasms happened again yesterday despite the pain killers but the pills took the edge off and I didn’t need to take my shoes and support off. However when I got home I had to take them off And put my feet up as the background pain continued the rest of the day and my foot felt bruised, it hurt for the rest of the day and it’s still slightly tender today.
I am going to try not wearing the support today to see whether that helps. Had bloods done yesterday so will see if they shed any light on why spasms have become so regular at the moment.
I find 375mg of magnesium greatly eases problems with spasm & cramp and worth trying before moving on to the more serious drugs. It can act as a laxative in much higher doses, but generally is a beneficial mineral.
In my experience a fes is the best solution to dropped foot because it allows the ankle to flex and builds up muscle strength. A traditional splint will isolate the foot and muscles just waste. www.odstockmedical.com