Does anyone else have tight calf muscles? I'm STILL trying to figure out what is wrong with my feet. I do finally have a Podiatry appt on May 1st but he's at the VA Hospital so I know he probably has no clue about Erythromelalgia.
I recently read that high doses of magnesium is one of the remedies for EM. Has anyone ever been given magnesium for their EM? The reason I ask that is, I have been foam rolling my calf muscles and it seems to help a little. The only thing is, it's like my calves won't really release. I was dx'd as hyperreflexive too which I think is caused by my thyroid.
Although my hands turn red in warm water, I have only seen my feet turn red once which went all the way up to my ankles, although the soles of my feet turn red and feel hot. So that's not going to give me a diagnosis, since most pictures show redness all over.
I recently HAD to take a job standing on my feet all day, and the pain is excruciating. The only way to get relief is to remove my shoes and lift my feet up. I do have Raynaud's I know.
Oh! And I read today from WebMD, that that to diagnose you, doctors give you an aspirin and if it makes you better, then you have EM. lol I thought that was funny, because if it was that simple, we'd be taking friggin aspirins to stop the pain. Sheesh!
Cheryl
Hi,
I had tight calf muscles for several years, it wasn’t until I was diagnosed with SLE Lupus and given hydroxycloriquine (anti malarial drug) that after 8 months my calves have now relaxed. Unfortunately my feet and hands still burn though…
Thanks Jon. I took that same drug once but it was long ago. Thanks for your response.
Cheryl
Yes I do have tight calf muscles- TIGHT ALL DAY EVERY DAY. Have so much else wrong that I have not mentioned this problem to any medic. The problem lies between top of ankles to just below knee.
hello Hayley
I don't have calf specific tightness but I do have migrating tightness all over. We believe this is due to my connective tissue disorder. I have massage regularly and my masseuses is in awe by how my muscles just refuse to relax and he feels as if we are just chasing these tense tight spots around. If he can get one spot loosened up there are 5 new ones to address.
Funny how they said to diagnose it is as easy as just giving the patient aspirin and if you respond it's em!! Just goes to show you can't believe everything you read on the internet!
I hope you find something that helps soon.
Cheryl, I have EM very bad in my feet and legs. I have extreme cramping in my calves that occur any time I move my legs the wrong way. This is so severe it drive me out of bed at night. Magnesium helped my cramping but did not help with the EM. It does sound like you have EM!!! You might want to see a neurologist.
JimmyY
@ Katriona...I never mentioned it but once I was allowed to see a physical therapist and she mentioned it to me.
@ Alina...Yes I get one spot loosened with my foam roller and the next day I have more spots somewhere else.
@ Jimmy....And yes me too, I turn over in bed and my foot or leg goes into a spasm and I have to get out of bed. I take magnesium every night before bed but sometimes I still get the spasms. I just bought a new magnesium called citramate which is supposed to be more absorbable.
Months ago, I thought I did have EM and then changed my mind but then read that a lot of undx'd people just have milder cases of EM and that's why they go undx'd. For instance my feet turn red on the bottoms not all over, except one time the redness went all the way up to my ankles.
I'm currently on a gluten-free diet and drinking smoothies trying to help my immune system.
Sorry for late in replying, question, if I may: if you took a anti malarial long ago, what was it for? Malaria? This drug, helps to regulate the immune system for those with auto Immune disease, the auto immune causes inflammation around the muscles, making them always spasm, my chiropractor that has worked on my for over a year, doing trigger point therapy was blown away by the change in my muscles between visits, he is calling it “a miracle drug”. The calves were the first thing I noticed, I woke up from a nap and they were complexly relaxed, this is after years of continuous muscle tension…
hayley3 said:
Thanks Jon. I took that same drug once but it was long ago. Thanks for your response.
Cheryl
It looks like I will have to refer back to my dermatologist to find a muscle relaxant for my calf muscles as I was allergic to hydroxychloroquine when I was prescribed that for rheumatoid arthritis some years ago.
Hey Jon, the rheum gave it to me for Lupus. But they have changed that diagnosis since then.
Jon_sparky said:
Sorry for late in replying, question, if I may: if you took a anti malarial long ago, what was it for? Malaria? This drug, helps to regulate the immune system for those with auto Immune disease, the auto immune causes inflammation around the muscles, making them always spasm, my chiropractor that has worked on my for over a year, doing trigger point therapy was blown away by the change in my muscles between visits, he is calling it "a miracle drug". The calves were the first thing I noticed, I woke up from a nap and they were complexly relaxed, this is after years of continuous muscle tension...
hayley3 said:
Thanks Jon. I took that same drug once but it was long ago. Thanks for your response.
Cheryl
Just wondering… My Dx might get changed, I am waiting on the blood test results, it may either be Psoriasis arthritis, or Ankylosing spondylosis. Both of these maladies use hydroxyclorequine, and Rx NSAIDS. So I guess the inflammation in the muscles might be from one of these. I also went Gluten free about the same time…
I was dx'd with Reactive Arthritis at one time...which is in same family but it's like my lupus diagnosis, depends on the doctor on what I have. I do have Sacroiliac arthritis though which is how I was dx'd with a spondyloarthritis.
Sorry to hear that you have to go through that pain. I am being tested for AS and PsA, after getting a MRI of the lumbar and SI joint. On the MRI, the SI joint is eroded and has a lot of “fluid”, that does not sound good. I will have to look up reactive arthritis, but I guess they are all in on big family of autoimmune diseases.
Most of the treatments for RA type autoimmune uses antimalarials, unless it is about of control.