Charcot foot?

daisy22

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I thought I would need insoles specifically for Metatarsalgia (Sorry not sure of spelling) as I've been having pain on the ball of my feet, on moving but also when in bed.

Nothing so simple. The podiatrist is sending me for xrays and seems to think it's a diabetes related problem. He stood me on a machine and said my feet aren't shaped properly.

Does anyone have/had Charcot foot?
 

Grant_Vicat

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I thought I would need insoles specifically for Metatarsalgia (Sorry not sure of spelling) as I've been having pain on the ball of my feet, on moving but also when in bed.

Nothing so simple. The podiatrist is sending me for xrays and seems to think it's a diabetes related problem. He stood me on a machine and said my feet aren't shaped properly.

Does anyone have/had Charcot foot?
Hi @daisy22 I had Type 1 for 54 years ending in a kidney/pancreas transplant 5 years ago. Ironically I started to have sharp pain straight through the ankle at a diagonal, only 2 months after stopping insulin. I was told it was Charcot foot and that it was a diabetic complication. I have had prescribed orthotic shoes ever since. Regularly I wear normal shoes around the house, which have helped to strengthen the muscles. I have been advised to use orthotics whenever I am away from even surfaces, in other words anywhere I might twist my ankle. Most people are totally unaware that I have had a problem. I hope you fare at least as well as I have. Good luck!
 

daisy22

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Wow. Grant thank you for your reply. I have always been clumsy so I wonder if I've done some damage by tumbling over.

I didn't know that your type of transplant was available. I hope you stay well and keep active. I've been t1 for 50 years.
 

Grant_Vicat

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Wow. Grant thank you for your reply. I have always been clumsy so I wonder if I've done some damage by tumbling over.

I didn't know that your type of transplant was available. I hope you stay well and keep active. I've been t1 for 50 years.
I would hope a scan or Xray would shed some light on this for you. I was lucky to be referred to a fantastic Diabetic/foot specialist in Cambridge.
The problem with transplants is that in 99% of cases, the patient has to be in a condition where a transplant is more likely to prolong the patient's life than their present treatment. My kidney function had showed poor results as far back as 1973, when I was 15. The kidneys staggered on till a dialysis was booked for 22nd August 2013. I had the transplant on 13/14th August! Congratulations on achieving 50 years - I hope the future treats you kindly.
 
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tim2000s

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I had a sore foot this summer and insisted on an MRI scan, being concerned I might have broken a metatarsal. It turned out to be metatarsalgia. Whatever they think is wrong, insist on getting a scan done ASAP.
 

Antechinus

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Charcot's foot only occurs under specific circumstances. It occurs when a person has severe neuropathic feet with normal vascular health.

It is triggered by some kind of injury, which typically is not felt, and an out of control vascular response occurs which allows excessive amounts of blood to flow through the foot. This causes rapid bone degeneration and eventually bone collapse.
Often the only signs this is happening is the foot is hot, bounding pulses and distended veins. Any neuropathic foot that has pain should be investigated for Charcot.
Charcots foot can be very debillitating and the deformity that results is very challenging to manage. Caught early it can be treated and the deformity can be avoided.
 

Antechinus

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Hi @daisy22 I had Type 1 for 54 years ending in a kidney/pancreas transplant 5 years ago. Ironically I started to have sharp pain straight through the ankle at a diagonal, only 2 months after stopping insulin. I was told it was Charcot foot and that it was a diabetic complication. I have had prescribed orthotic shoes ever since. Regularly I wear normal shoes around the house, which have helped to strengthen the muscles. I have been advised to use orthotics whenever I am away from even surfaces, in other words anywhere I might twist my ankle. Most people are totally unaware that I have had a problem. I hope you fare at least as well as I have. Good luck!
Hi Daisy 22. It sounds unlikely that you have Charcot's. Can you decribe how they diagnosed it? Was there any other treatment besides orthotics? Did your arch collapse suddenly?

Thanks
Paul
 

Alison54321

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I would hope a scan or Xray would shed some light on this for you. I was lucky to be referred to a fantastic Diabetic/foot specialist in Cambridge.
The problem with transplants is that in 99% of cases, the patient has to be in a condition where a transplant is more likely to prolong the patient's life than their present treatment. My kidney function had showed poor results as far back as 1973, when I was 15. The kidneys staggered on till a dialysis was booked for 22nd August 2013. I had the transplant on 13/14th August! Congratulations on achieving 50 years - I hope the future treats you kindly.

You were very unlucky with those complications, weren't you. I'm sure there's a genetic factor that makes some people more susceptible to them. Anyway, good to see you doing so well, post transplant.
 
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Alison54321

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I thought I would need insoles specifically for Metatarsalgia (Sorry not sure of spelling) as I've been having pain on the ball of my feet, on moving but also when in bed.

Nothing so simple. The podiatrist is sending me for xrays and seems to think it's a diabetes related problem. He stood me on a machine and said my feet aren't shaped properly.

Does anyone have/had Charcot foot?

It's probably a good thing that they are going to check, because if it were Charcot foot, it's better they catch it as soon as possible.

Hopefully you're right. though, and it isn't.
 
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Grant_Vicat

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Hi Daisy 22. It sounds unlikely that you have Charcot's. Can you decribe how they diagnosed it? Was there any other treatment besides orthotics? Did your arch collapse suddenly?

Thanks
Paul
Hi @Paul the Footman I think this might be addressed to me! All I can tell you is that I had such bad oedema in the right foot that I was unable to wear any kind of shoe for some weeks. The pain was akin to gout, which I had had many times with poor kidney function. The first person to suggest Charcot was a GP in our village. I then went for a transplant check up at Addenbrooke's Hospital where they referred me to the lead diabetic foot doctor in the hospital. He said that the blood tests ruled out gout and that the scans indicated Charcot. Maybe I was lucky in that I had been diagnosed early and was benefitting from a working pancreas, having had a duff one since July 1959.
 

Grant_Vicat

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You were very unlucky with those complications, weren't you. I'm sure there's a genetic factor that makes some people more susceptible to them. Anyway, good to see you doing so well, post transplant.
Thank you for your kind remarks. Funnily enough I had a scare exactly five years to the day since the transplant. My blood showed lipase levels 3 times higher thn they should be and amylase levels 50% more than they should be. I have had many blood tests and a CT scan to find out whether it is pancreatitis, cancer or transplant rejection The lipase level one week ago now shows it has reduced by 50%, so it may just be a blip. Nail-biting stuff even so! It reminds me that I mustn't take anything for granted, much like all those with diabetes. I trust you are doing well. You certainly have empathy!
 
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Alison54321

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Thank you for your kind remarks. Funnily enough I had a scare exactly five years to the day since the transplant. My blood showed lipase levels 3 times higher thn they should be and amylase levels 50% more than they should be. I have had many blood tests and a CT scan to find out whether it is pancreatitis, cancer or transplant rejection The lipase level one week ago now shows it has reduced by 50%, so it may just be a blip. Nail-biting stuff even so! It reminds me that I mustn't take anything for granted, much like all those with diabetes. I trust you are doing well. You certainly have empathy!

Hopefully you're right that's just a blip, keep well.

I've got a libre prescription at the moment, had it 7 months, and I'm managing around 90% in target with it now, it was a lot of work to get there, and stay there, but I do feel that after 42 years my body needs a rest, so I'm trying to give it one, at least for a bit.
 
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Grant_Vicat

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Hopefully you're right that's just a blip, keep well.

I've got a libre prescription at the moment, had it 7 months, and I'm managing around 90% in target with it now, it was a lot of work to get there, and stay there, but I do feel that after 42 years my body needs a rest, so I'm trying to give it one, at least for a bit.
I remember many times thinking 'When will this balance out? In other words give the body a rest. I think it's exactly that which gets patients down. It's good to hear that the Libre helps you achieve 90%, even though you are bombarded with germs and daily life which calls on the adrenaline, yet another aspect which I found very trying. You have done very well by all accounts - DAFNE was still 23 years away when you were diagnosed!
 
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Alison54321

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I remember many times thinking 'When will this balance out? In other words give the body a rest. I think it's exactly that which gets patients down. It's good to hear that the Libre helps you achieve 90%, even though you are bombarded with germs and daily life which calls on the adrenaline, yet another aspect which I found very trying. You have done very well by all accounts - DAFNE was still 23 years away when you were diagnosed!

I am sure that luck, or genetics, has been a big part of my surviving, reasonably complication free. I've never missed an injection, or anything very reckless, but I mostly just stumbled along not really knowing what I was doing.

But libre is great, I wish they'd just get moving and give it to everyone who can use it.
 

Antechinus

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Hi @Paul the Footman I think this might be addressed to me! All I can tell you is that I had such bad oedema in the right foot that I was unable to wear any kind of shoe for some weeks. The pain was akin to gout, which I had had many times with poor kidney function. The first person to suggest Charcot was a GP in our village. I then went for a transplant check up at Addenbrooke's Hospital where they referred me to the lead diabetic foot doctor in the hospital. He said that the blood tests ruled out gout and that the scans indicated Charcot. Maybe I was lucky in that I had been diagnosed early and was benefitting from a working pancreas, having had a duff one since July 1959.
Hi Grant
Yes my post was intended for you, but replying late at night in bed on my mobile I got it all back to front. Glad you got an early diagnosis with knowledgeable health providers and rapid treatment, good luck with healing. I have seen feet go pear shape because of poor advice; and Charcots left untreated is not something the foot recovers from.
 

Grant_Vicat

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Hi Grant
Yes my post was intended for you, but replying late at night in bed on my mobile I got it all back to front. Glad you got an early diagnosis with knowledgeable health providers and rapid treatment, good luck with healing. I have seen feet go pear shape because of poor advice; and Charcots left untreated is not something the foot recovers from.
Hi Paul, Many thanks for your kind message. It is good to have someone with your knowledge on the forum, since Charcot's foot is a phrase I only encountered in 2013 and it needs to be more widely recognised. I have been advised not to dance, run, skip, jump, or indulge in anything which might put undue stress on the arch and ankle. I occasionally have short twinges, but these are very rare. Although I have had complications in the eyes and kidneys, I consider myself to be fortunate in that I am still fit (71kg) and able. Keep up the good work!
 

Alison54321

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Hi Grant
Yes my post was intended for you, but replying late at night in bed on my mobile I got it all back to front. Glad you got an early diagnosis with knowledgeable health providers and rapid treatment, good luck with healing. I have seen feet go pear shape because of poor advice; and Charcots left untreated is not something the foot recovers from.

So that means then, that for @daisy22 the podiatrist did the right thing, in that it's better to check to see if she might have a diabetes related problem, than ignore it?
 

nicey1958

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Charcot's foot only occurs under specific circumstances. It occurs when a person has severe neuropathic feet with normal vascular health.

It is triggered by some kind of injury, which typically is not felt, and an out of control vascular response occurs which allows excessive amounts of blood to flow through the foot. This causes rapid bone degeneration and eventually bone collapse.
Often the only signs this is happening is the foot is hot, bounding pulses and distended veins. Any neuropathic foot that has pain should be investigated for Charcot.
Charcots foot can be very debillitating and the deformity that results is very challenging to manage. Caught early it can be treated and the deformity can be avoided.
What he said. I have diabetic neurop. I went over on my ankle back in June, it started to hurt, so went to the a&e dept. had an xray.. was told it was only soft tissue damage ( i gave them all the info on my diabetes type 2 etc.. they sent me home and said rest up a cpl of days which i did.. About 2 weeks later, the ankle really swelled up badly, so i went back to the A&E where they sent me for yet another xray. It turned out that since the last visit to a&e, I had broken both my tibia and fib in three places. I was put in a normal cast, made an appointment for fracture clinic in a weeks time, by which time, my ankle collapsed and displaced my foot by about 2 inches to the side( which the diabetic foot clinic and ortho surgeon diagnosed as charcot foot/ankle) They said I should have come straight to diabeic foot clinic and they could have put me in the correct cast for this type of injury. Anyway. after a ct scan and 2 mri scans ,I now due for an operation to fuse my foot to my leg by having a nail and plate put in from the heel to halfway up my shin in a major op. Never ignore and pain in your foot, no matter how small if u have Neuropathy.
 

DCUKMod

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What he said. I have diabetic neurop. I went over on my ankle back in June, it started to hurt, so went to the a&e dept. had an xray.. was told it was only soft tissue damage ( i gave them all the info on my diabetes type 2 etc.. they sent me home and said rest up a cpl of days which i did.. About 2 weeks later, the ankle really swelled up badly, so i went back to the A&E where they sent me for yet another xray. It turned out that since the last visit to a&e, I had broken both my tibia and fib in three places. I was put in a normal cast, made an appointment for fracture clinic in a weeks time, by which time, my ankle collapsed and displaced my foot by about 2 inches to the side( which the diabetic foot clinic and ortho surgeon diagnosed as charcot foot/ankle) They said I should have come straight to diabeic foot clinic and they could have put me in the correct cast for this type of injury. Anyway. after a ct scan and 2 mri scans ,I now due for an operation to fuse my foot to my leg by having a nail and plate put in from the heel to halfway up my shin in a major op. Never ignore and pain in your foot, no matter how small if u have Neuropathy.

Oh dear. It's shocking how quickly things can change - in your case, not for the better. Posts such as yours are very important on the forum, in my view, as a sharp reminder of that fact, and from an actual person, rather than someone writing an academic paper frorm a third party perspective.

I can't really add anything, except to wish you well with your op and recovery.
 
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