A couple Saturdays ago, I attended a great party at some friends' place. I had a great time and met lots of great people, but my body had some major bitching about the experience. The bottoms of my feet are apparently averse to long periods of standing around - especially in cute, party shoes (even though they were made by Söfft®).
I have been dealing with tender soles since that point during the party when I decided my feet had had too much and I took the shoes off. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done by then, and my feet were in so much pain that standing or touching anything with the bottoms of my feet was unbelievably painful. I had to kind of grin and bear it for the sake of preserving whatever amiability I could muster for the party and other guests. "Regular" foot pain is pretty bad, but coupled with swollen, tender, hived soles, it gets pretty ridiculous! I don't know if I can explain the feeling enough to someone who doesn't deal with this.
My skin is apparently very sensitive to many things, including: chemicals, sun or heat, cold, and various kinds of touch. I'd been officially diagnosed with dermatographia, which means that my skin hives up just from a scratch. (Paper cuts really itch a lot, sometimes before I realize I've gotten the cut.) This was long before the Fibromyalgia started.
Since the FMS diagnosis, however, I've noticed that kneeling in the garden to plant my native plugs caused me to have red, tender knees even a day or two after the hour or less of kneeling occurred. It looks really stupid as red ovals on the areas of pressure (I wouldn't wear a skirt or shorts in public if I can help it), but if they are touched, the areas are very tender and painful. Kneeling after the hive wheals have appeared is not possible without intense pain.
I've now learned that this is yet another category of urticaria/hives of which I have to be aware. Any part of my body that bears weight for a few minutes can break out in a thick hivey patch that can last for days, especially if not allowed to rest. This is called "Delayed Pressure Urticaria" or DPU. It's delayed because the damage is not apparent immediately upon the first touch - it takes time in order for the reaction to occur.
The delay is the especially tricky part of this condition. Unlike touching a hot pan, the painful feedback is not immediate, therefore the damage occurs for some time before the patient is reminded that there may be something happening. Minutes or even hours may go by, depending on the body part and amount of pressure being applied, before even noticing pain, which seems to take much longer to relieve than to acquire. By then, it's much too late to stop the process.
So here I am, almost two weeks after the triggering DPU incident, still suffering with tender feet, even before standing up from bed in the morning. No matter what shoes I wear to work, my feet are just not liking them. Any walking seems to cause an increase in symptoms, preventing my speedy recovery. All I can do now is try to rest as much as possible between necessary standing, walking, shoe-wearing, etc. to try to ease back into the normal, everyday level of chronic pain in my feet. (Isn't it great to have to wish for normal chronic pain levels? I'll take what I can get.)
Do you have DPU? Is there anything you do that helps? Please comment on this post and let me know!
Hi there, have just stumbled across your posting as I myself am sat up on the sofa unable to walk due to a good day out yesterday which meant I was on my feet most of the day (in sensible frumpy shoes, I must add!). I totally understand and sympathise with you. I've had this miserable affliction for more than 10 years now. Pressure pain and deep tissue swelling can happen anywhere on my body - even on my chin a few hours after eating an apple!! Decorating is out of the question as my hands swell so bad and I cannot have my hair washed at the hairdressers if it means leaning backwards with the sink against my neck. I live in elasticated waist clothing and the condition permits me from living life to the full. My toddler loses out as I can't kneel down or crawl and the worst part is that I am out of action for a couple of days if I have a bad bout. I wanted to ask you - do you feel generally unwell in yourself when you have a bout of swelling and does the area that swells feel hot to the touch? Right now I have nausea, chills and feel stiff and achy all over - almost like flu. The only medication I can recommend doesn't solve the problem but does dampen things down. I did run out of pills a few days ago and am now suffering the consequences of not keeping my system topped up. Every day I take 2 x antihistimanes in the morning, followed by a Ranitidine (digestive disorder medication) just before bed. For some reason the combination of the two seem to keep attacks to a minimum and they are less severe when they happen. A dermatologist prescribed this. I am sorry you are having a rough time with DPU, it is awful and does impact on the quality of life but it is comforting to know there are others around that understand what it feels like. Apparently, there is no 'cure'. Nikki.
ReplyDeleteomg i am exactly the same for about 8 years now and my feet hurt so much when this happens i find a cool flannel relieves the itching and burning, i am prescibed 3 cetirizine and 2 ranatidine daily and this really helps me i also can skin write its horrible but its the pain in the feet thats the worst i have also been given steriods to take when it flres to see if that helps but not needed them yet, pharmacists cant beliieve the heavy dose of meds im on as cetirizine is usually one daily
DeleteHi, Nikki. Thanks so much for commenting and sharing your experiences. I notice that my bouts are not as devastating most of the time, but as I realized from my last one, they can sneak up on me and take me out of commission for a few days, especially if it's on the feet.
ReplyDeleteI can't say for sure that DPU causes me to feel ill overall, since I already have Fibromyalgia and other problems that make me feel ill, but it makes sense if that's the case. Urticaria an allergic reaction that can drain the body of resources and make you feel wiped out and cascade into other problems. I'm glad you have something that is at least somewhat effective for you. It sounds like yours is worse than mine is at the moment.
It's also odd you mention the apple thing, because I have a newish apple allergy that causes angioedema (swelling) and tingling of my lips and mouth. It seems to come from only raw apple skins, and some apples cause stronger reactions than others. I always carry Benadryl with me, just in case. I take asthma and rhinitis meds daily, too, so that may be helping me keep all of my allergic symptoms down a bit.
Hope you are able to rest and bounce back soon. I know how it sucks to be affected by things that "normal" people don't have to deal with at all.
Take care!
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI have DPU. mostly my hands, arms, feet have swollen red spots and It feels like they are burning!
At first I couldn't open doors, hold a pen or left heavy objects. I have had this condition for 8 months now.
It effected my studies since I work with heavy cameras and tripods. After every shooting I would have swollen hands and that is why I find DPU so irritating!!
Reasons for DPU are hard to figure out .. It could be food or a type of medicine. I went to see a dermatologist he told me there is no cure however there are medicines that lessen the pain. Once you stop taking those pills the red burning spots will return and that is happing to me now.
Hi Sara. So sorry to learn you've got DPU, too. It's especially difficult things you need to do lead to flare-ups. Taking meds is also tricky, as sometimes the side-effects aren't worth the main effects, even if they do work. I prefer to try to prevent what I can and treat as needed. However, I know some are not able to do that.
ReplyDeleteHope your body starts to cooperate with you soon.
Nikki,
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. I have suffered from idiopathic urticaria for about eight years now and within the past two years have notice dpu. I can't wear heels anymore and it's devastating to me. Most of the time I wear ugly crocks with thick soles because they are the only thing that takes the pressure off of my feet. The balls of my feet have gotten so bad that sometimes it stings. The only suggestion that helps me is putting icepaks on your feet. The coolness minimizes the itch for me and helps me sleep. Other than that I have not found anything that relieves the pain. I have recently started a blog where I can bitch about my hives. If you are interested check it out at: myurticaria@wordpress.com. Good luck!
I have suffer with DPU for 3 years now. It can be pretty bad. I have also found the cold to be helpful. Putting my feet under cold water in the tub helps when I first take my shoes off seems to help the swelling. I also use an ice pack when its really bad.
ReplyDeleteHi. Thanks for sharing. Here is the answer, a preventer but not a cure.
ReplyDeleteMy daily medicine is:
300mg of ranitidine
1 Zyrtec
The combination are h1 and h2
Please contact me. Benox2009@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteI suffer from DPU, but take two tablets daily which renders it inactive completely. Love to hear from you.
Ben