philippa

I'm sorry if I'm talking to the wrong people - I've got a problem which is probably neuroligcal, and I can't find anywhere else on the Net to put out a query. If I'm in the wrong place, I apologise. I'm looking for an explanation. I'm having a sensation which feels all wrong to me, and didn't sound right to the neurologists at the local teaching hospital. But they seem to be without an explanation, and I think that maybe I just haven't got my description right. If I'm in the wrong place, I apologise. I have ME/CFS and I'm used to having odd things go wrong with my body. However, this time the problem has lasted for a month, and I need to try for some better answers than, "Well, it al sounds odd to me." The particular symptom that I'm focussed on is a "funny feeling" inside my feet. Both feet are affected, but the left one slightly more than the right. I feel as though someone has inserted a sole-shaped piece of leather a millimetre or so under the skin on the soles of my feet. And that's the principle symptom. If I curl my toes up, I can feel the "leather" pulling away from - a bit that feels like me, so that there's a gap between "me" and the leather inside my foot. If I curl my toes in, then I can just feel them brushing over the "leather". My feet are generally much stiffer and less responsive than they used to be. Although I can feel the floor underneath my foot, I don't feel it as "clearly" as I did, and find keeping my balance trickier. Imagine walking with bubble-wrap underneath your feet. My lower legs aren't getting the "leather" feeling, but both they and the feet a little bit as though they bloated. I have tried exercise, massage, changes of posture, rest and none of them seem to make much difference. The massage helps a little, but the effects don't last more than a minute or two. the tested my muscle strength and joint flexibility, and jabbed the soles of my feet with a pointed tool. I didn't get quite as much response as I used to, but still enough to satisfy them. I kept telling them, "The problem with the soles of my feet is *inside* the foot." But they could hardly cut the feet open to have a look. I've looked at a variety of websites, and can't find any description that sounds like a really good match for mine. I did find some sites on the anatomy of the foot, and the leathery feeling is geographically quite similar to the diagrams showing the muscles of the foot. But that's just speculation, since I don't have a clue as to how muscles could feel like this. Does anyone recognise the description? Can anyone say, "Oh, yes it's known as Quabba's Funny Feeling." Then at least I'd have something to look up. Understand, I'm not after a diagnosis, (I have other medical problems as well) just some way of describing this to the neurologists that might make sense to them. Or, of course, contact with someone else who's in the same boat. Philippa