Burning painful soles of feet.

[Guppy70]

Anybody else that have this?

I had this before my subacute thyroiditis started last April. Then my feet were fine this whole summer. But now it's back again with a vengeance.

The soles of my feet hurts, it's like they're on fire. They're also very rough, like sandpaper. I can't  bend my knees when sitting on the couch so I rest my legs on my feet. I have to sit so my soles don't touch anything. Same in bed at night, I have to sleep on the side so my painful heels don't touch the bed. I can constantly feel the pulse in my soles.

They're also red, and the palms of my hands are also red most of the time. And since a few weeks back my palms are also very dry. It's like the skin is stiff and a size too small.

I'm sure this is connected to the thyroid. I'm currently on 75 mcg of Levothyroxine, which I think is too small of a dose. I'm going to get a new thyroid panel in 2 weeks.

[Red_Star]

Thanks. :) You might be interested in checking out Wikipedia's article: Peripheral Neuropathy.  

[Dee1956]

Thank you for this great question and answer.  I have been suffering since the beginning of January with foot pain.  If I rest it I seem to improve.  If I don't the pain becomes a burning pain.  I did not realize this could be a result of diabetes and a thyroid problem.  They may be contributing.
Thank you both so much.  I just happened to be here for another, noticed this thread decided to take a look.

[Guppy70]

Thank you Red Star! Unfortunately I guess there's no prevention in these diseases.
I always hoped that the RA would skip myself but since I did get SAT I'm afraid it won't. Not looking forward to it, I know how painful it is.

Perhaps HRT can hold it off at least for a while but then we have the risk of breastcancer instead. We just can't win, no matter what, lol.

[Red_Star]

"That theory received a boost by recent research suggesting that the age at which a woman enters menopause—which is marked by a steep drop in production of the hormone estrogen—influences not only her risk for RA, but the severity of symptoms should she develop the disease." Arthritis Today - Menopause Increases Risk of RA

Reading that, I'd be taking phytoestrogens as soon as I realised I was heading into menopause.  My mother started a phytoestrogen supplement which got rid of her menopausal symptoms.  I have read phytoestrogens may also help to also reduce inflammation associated osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.  I talked about phytoestrogens in more detail on another answer...

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Thyroid-Disorders/can-I-use-wild-yam-cream/show/1955167

There are various genes associated with rheumatoid arthritis which include HLA-DRB1, CD40, CTLA-4, PTPN22. Genes associated with Graves include HLA-DR3, CD40, CTLA-4, PTPN22.  HLA-Bw35 gene is also associated with severe Graves' eye disease and increased risk of gold toxicity with rheumatoid arthritis drugs.

"Graves disease is associated with pernicious anemia, vitiligo, diabetes mellitus type 1, autoimmune adrenal insufficiency, systemic sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, Sjögren syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus.[2]" - Medscape - Graves Disease

"The frequency of another autoimmune disorder was 9.67% in Graves' disease and 14.3% in Hashimoto's thyroiditis index cases (P=.005). Rheumatoid arthritis was the most common coexisting autoimmune disorder (found in 3.15% of Graves' disease and 4.24% of Hashimoto's thyroiditis cases).

Relative risks of almost all other autoimmune diseases in Graves' disease or Hashimoto's thyroiditis were significantly increased (>10 for pernicious anemia, systemic lupus erythematosus, Addison's disease, celiac disease, and vitiligo)." - Pubmed - PMID: 20103030 - Prevalence and relative risk of other autoimmune diseases in subjects with autoimmune thyroid disease.

[Guppy70]

My grand mom had a thyroidectomy in the early 60s, we think it might have been due to Graves or toxic nodules. It did effect her heart and made her sick (but no eye problems) She died '81, and they just called it "struma" back then which included all the thyroid related problems (Europe)  She also had RA.

My mom (only child) has RA and gluten allergy. And my sister found out she has Graves in the beginning of this year and and just had a thyroideectomy almost 2 months ago.
My mom also had an enlarged thyroid over 30 years ago which they biopsies but it just went away on its own and she never needed meds.

I think I'm honestly the most scared of this RA thing. For both my mom and my grand mom it started during menopause. And I think I'm heading into that soon. I'm checking my FSH at my next blood test in 2 weeks.

[Red_Star]

The gene has to be present to put you at an increased risk of disease/s associated with that gene.  What autoimmune diseases run in your family?

[Guppy70]

Red Star, thank you! :)

So this HLA-Bw35 thingy is not a good thing to have, right? Is it a gene mutation?

I didn't have a cold or URI prior to the SAT, so I don't think it was caused by a virus. Hm, I will have to read up about this HLA. We do have a lot of autoimmune diseases in my family. Yuck, I hate getting older.

[Red_Star]

It's a possibility at least.  One of my symptoms of Hashimoto's thyroiditis (I've had that condition for about 5 years) is dried blood scabs on my scalp. Ugh~!

"Histo-compatibility studies show that 72% of patients with subacute thyroiditis manifest HLA-Bw35 (115). Familial occurrence of subacute thyroiditis associated with HLA-B35 has been reported (116-119). Thus, the susceptibility to subacute thyroiditis is genetically influenced and it has also been suggested that subacute thyroiditis might occur by transmission of viral infection in genetically predisposed individuals (112)." - Thyroid Manager - Acute and Subacute, and Riedel’s Thyroiditis

There are numerous conditions linked to HLA-Bw35 but the two that stood out with your symptoms you mention are cutaneous lichen plantus and significantly low red blood cell magnesium.

When lichen plantus affects the scalp it's called lichen planopilaris. Symptoms include itching, burning, or scalp tenderness; tiny bumps can form on the scalp; in some cases hair loss occurs.

Low magnesium increases histamine levels. It is just one reason as there are others such as an unhealthy gut (just to note - antibiotics kill off good and bad bacteria so probiotics are recommended) and histamine rich foods.  I found an article entitled: Histamine Intolerance or Rosacea? which states: "Histamine intolerance is usually misdiagnosed as food Allergies, Eczema, Psoriasis, Rosacea or Candida / Fungal Skin Infection."

[Guppy70]

Thank you Red Star for your answer!

So it is most likely connected to the thyroid? Well, it's good to hear I'm not the only one with this odd sole burning.

Come to think of it, I've always had a red and burning scalp as well, ever since my teen years. It waxes and wanes but it's always there. When it's really bad I lose a lot of hair and I also get painful bumps/pimples in the scalp. I've been eating Minocykline for over 5 years because they said it's folliculitis, but I stopped the meds this summer when I was too sick to go and lick up my prescription. And it hasn't gotten worse without it, nor better. It's just always constant.

Maybe it has a connection to the feet/thyroid?

I also have rosacea, was diagnosed over 12 years ago. My face, mostly the cheeks were beet-red as if I've been slapped and I got weird pustules all over. That's currently under control after been treated with IPL laser many, many times and using Finacea cream.
I also have Ocular Rosacea that's been gone ever since starting Minocykline and haven't reared it's ugly face even when I quit the meds this summer.

That electric foot massager sound lovely, you're lucky winning one! (c:

[Red_Star]

I've had pain when applying pressure to the soles of my feet (over 25 years) and burning feet (over 13 years). Both are two of my various neurological symptoms of not enough thyroid hormone in the cells. Redness would also rise up my heel which I first noticed maybe 5 or so years ago when I was sitting in the supermarket ailse unable to walk due to the immense pain.  If I rest my feet the redness eventually goes away.

My symptoms are weird. It takes up to 45 minutes on my electric foot massager to get rid of the pain after walking (depending on the severity of the pain) and if I splash water on my feet the burning goes away temporarily. I won that foot massager in 2000. It was second prize but for me it was better than the first prize! :)