Late last night, my feet felt like they were on fire! I have had that tingling and numbness, static feeling since just before I was diagnosed. That was 17 years ago. There has only been a of couple times in my memory when parts of my body feel like I am on fire though!
Once, during undergrad, before I really knew what was going on after diagnosis, during class, my feet were burning! I went outside in a T-shirt in the middle of the winter to try to make myself feel better. Also, when I got fired, my entire body was enolfed in flames! It was kind of like Gwenyth Paltrow in Iron Man three. Then, it felt as if lava was surging through my veins.
Last night, the fire and extreme burning feeling was limited to my feet and bottom part of my shins and calves. It was not comfortable at all! It was torturous! Once I got in bed, my Mom began rubbing my feet. I still had my compression socks on but the rubbing made my feet feel better! However, my right knee hurt as my Mom rubbed my right foot. It felt like the bones were wobbly, rubbing, and bumping into each other as she rubbed. I told her that it hurt and she should stop.
She suggested that I put ice packs on my feet. Years ago, When I used to see Dr. Clark, (my NRT and chiropractor), his staff would give me a mini massage before I got adjusted. They would put a heating pad on my back to loosen me up before the doctor came in. I was able to purchase those heating pads. I have two of them. One is a square and the other one is for my neck so it’s a thin band. They are similar to the gel packs they have at ATI to ice my knee. After my surgery, I put those ice packs in the freezer.
I put them both in so I could rotate them while I iced my knee. My Mom went to grab them from the freezer and I was nervous that I wouldn’t be able to feel the cold. I can no longer feel my bathroom floor being cool because I am not working out at Barwis. I don’t really have blood flow in my legs.
She brought them over and wrapped each pad around my foot. I could feel the cold! She wrapped her hands around the pad and squeezed. This really did help to put out some of the fire! She had them on my feet until my feet were just a little bit uncomfortably cold. Because I wasn’t in so much pain, I could fall asleep. I haven’t had that fiery feeling in my feet for a long time! It kind of scares me until it goes away! Not that my feet feel normal by any means but at least they aren’t on fire right now.