Erythromelalgia (EM) - this is a rare medical condition affecting the capillaries, mostly in the extremities, causing an extreme sensitivity to warmth/heat. When a body gets warm, the capillaries expand to help cool the body. With EM, the capillaries do not shrink once the bodys cool; they keep expanding. The affected area gets really red, hot to the touch and swells. This can occur from getting warm, being in the sun, standing, being active, wearing clothing/shoes on the affected areas, eating certain foods, taking certain meds. The nerves around the capillaries send signals of pain, stinging, and pins and needles. It affects mostly my feet, but also affects every other area of my body. We are unsure what effect it has internally. It is such a rare condition there has only been one study on it and that was in Norway. For me, it feels like a really bad sunburn from the inside out with bad bruising at the same time. Im unable to tolerate any of the medications that can treat it. I must keep the house cold (61 in the winter, 70 in the summer), wear no closed shoes or hosiery, wear open sandals very seldom, stay off my feet as much as possible, run the A/C or cool air in the car all year long, cool the feet down for three or more hours every night by placing them on ice packs in front of a blowing fan. Last summer it reached the point of having to cool down the feet for five hours before they were cool enough for me to sleep. This condition controls every aspect of my life. However, I refuse to let it control me and keep me down. I still go out and do things and just deal with the pain afterward.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 07:23:13 +0000
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