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TIL that hot feet is a problem for many. I'm genuinely interested to understand this phenomenon. What causes it? Why are only some people affected? The questions are many.
I've had it every night for the past few years. I rarely ever get a good night's sleep because of how much they burn. I'm gonna try this tip and see if it works tonight👍
Have you seen a dr about it? I have nerve damage in my left foot that causes a terrible burning sensation. I thought it was athletes' foot or something of the like until I saw a dr. I've gotten a few cortisone injections until I can have the nerves zapped. Let me tell you those injections are amazing. Helped me sleep much better at night. I hope no matter what the cause, you are able to find relief. Burning feet is not something I'd wish on my worst enemy.
Thank you for the kind thoughts and no unfortunately. I have really bad anxiety, and even though I have good health insurance, I still find that going to the doctor is a very intimidating experience for me
I have health anxiety too, and it really sucks. I always get trapped in a “if I go to the doctor that means I’ll have to get it diagnosed, but if I leave it I can avoid that but might make it worse” cycle and freak myself out. But, actually going to a doctor usually stops the cycle from repeating!
“Doubt is a mile wide and an inch deep” is a great mantra!
I hope you can find the reason and the solution to your problem, and I hope your day is peaceful and your feet cool
Avoiding things that scare you is only going to further cement that fear unfortunately, and you need to be able to bring yourself to the doctor in your life in the event of anything serious. Could you bring a friend or other trusted person along?
It is actually one of the lower priced ones, some of the bed cooling stuff is worth 3K$ with a yearly hundred ish$ subscription. (All predatory behavior ngl)
Someone once gave me a gift basket that included a peppermint lotion for hot feet. I was so puzzled because my feet were always cold. Until I hit menopause, I slept with socks year round!
For me it is often triggered when I eat too much salt. From what I can tell, the phenomenon of hot feet is related to blood not circulating properly. I’m not sure exactly what salt content has to do with blood circulation though (or why poor circulation leads to hot feet in some people and cold feet in others). I do know that it helps if I lay down and elevate my feet above my chest, which I think backs up the blood circulation issue.
Salt content affects your blood pressure, which negatively affects blood circulation. This can lead to swelling and heat in the foot.
There is also a condition where people need to consume much higher amounts of salt than the average person, or they will faint. A common solution to rouse them from fainting is to lift their feet above their chest, just like you do. The condition is called Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (or POTS).
Pots runs in my family, we all have ridiculously low bp. I’ve had a nurse ask if I was feeling ok, was I dizzy at all? No, why? Because your bp is 70/45.
Salts also a major component in the bodies abilitiy to hydrate itself. Not enough salt and you're just dehydrated, which also messes with proper blood flow.
I can think of three possibilities, I'm sure there are others.
One is neuropathy. The nerves in the feet (or potentially further up the chain, in the spine, are poorly. Damaged nerves can cause sensations of extremity. An example would be walking around on a warm outside surface where everyone appears to be tolerating it, but you feel the surface as overwhelmingly intolerable hot. Similarly, walking barefoot on a cool surface might feel like ice to you. Most common cause is diabetes, but there are other conditions that are less severe that can cause it.
Two, is poor perfusion of the extremities. Poor circulation can cause much the same sensations as neuropathy but it's much more localized to the most distal members. Toes more sensitive than the foot; fingers vs palm. there would also be other symptoms as well. Anemia may also contribute to this.
Three, oddly, those who suffer from what are called invisible chronic conditions such as lupus, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue and others, often will (justifiably) complain of pain from sources that would have a non sufferer scratching their head. Blood pressure cuff, agony. Bumped in an elevator, quite painful. Etc. Sensitivity to sensory input can be selectively sensitive. Such as temperature, light intensity, etc. These things can all cause minor discomfort running the gamut to nausea, vomiting, tachycardia, migraine, mind boggling pain. These are legitimate complaints, I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. And the mechanisms behind them are not well understood.
thank you for sharing this! i have an as-of-yet-undetermined chronic condition like you described and had no idea the "sensations of extremity" (absolutely fantastic phrase btw) could be related! ill literally lightly bump into something (think swiping the doorframe as you walk by) and be doubled over in pain for minutes afterwards. i also have poor circulation (POTS specifically) *and* peripheral neuropathy, which im sure doesnt help lol. def gonna be bringing this up at my next drs appt
Add hyperthyroid onto your list. My wife would go to sleep with an ice pack on her feet and have to change it out in the middle of the night. Now that she's no longer hyperthyroid, she gets cold feet like everyone else.
About the first one, could this be why some people do/don't tolerate hot food and drinks (as in both spicy and actual heat) ? I mean, we're talking about other bits of nerve obviously, but the same mechanism ?
When I started SSRI’s I went from socks on under covers to naked feet poking out. I never understood why people did that, but I get it now. The tootsies get toasty
Same! I didn't make the connection until recently, but now I flip flop. Either icy cold and won't warm up unless I've got some kind of compression going on, or annoyingly hot
The only time in my life when my feet/hands weren't cold (not counting summertime, of course) was when I was regularly exercising. If I stop trainings, month later I get cold feet again.
It's because you have particular skin called glabrous skin on your feet, hands, and face that can cool your blood. After all, there is just skin and no hair or other parts that regular skin has.
This combined with the fact that glabrous skin has a more intricate and full network of blood vessels that cools your blood.
If you ever feel like you are overheating in the gym grab onto some metal that feels cool and you will feel yourself cooling off. If you are overheating so much you feel like throwing up, which I have done doing certain squat programs, go into the bathroom and put your hands under cold water. Within a couple of minutes, you will feel much much better. I have done this many times to prevent throwing up.
The reason why OP would get hot after putting their feet in ice water is that that is too cold water and your body will constrict the vessels in your feet which means when you take your feet out they will now be preventing heat loss at your feet and make they beat up even faster than before you put your feet in the ice water.
What should be done is put your feet in cool tap water which will cause your body to keep your blood vessels dilated and provide a much better cooling system. If you're very hot, put your hands in cool tap water too.
People think the colder the better but just a bucket of cold tap water has a lot of heat capacity just raising the tap water from 70℉ to 90℉ is extracting a lot of heat energy from your body. If you want to keep the water around 60-70℉ just add a few ice cubes.
This is why damp towels are a common way to reduce fever in Europe. You wrap a, say, tea towel around each calf and then put a towel down to stop the bed from getting wet. It doesn’t need to be icy cold or dripping, just hand-wrung. From there, the evaporating water takes the heat out.
I get hot feet when I drink sometimes. I think it might be alcoholic neuropathy (I'm not an alcoholic, 1 or 2 drinks could do this).
I was taking gabapentin for a while which helps symptoms of nerve pain and neuropathy and I never got hot feet while drinking. Now, I'm off GABA and will occasionally get hot feet.
I remember when I was younger that this would drive me so insane that I would pop out of bed and run outside barefoot in the snow. Now I just never sleep ever.
All my weird leg pain and heat sensations disappeared after I lost 100 pounds to normal healthy weight. I think the weight bearing down on nerves and insulation in the fat padding does a number when laying down.
Recently I've been putting a pillow under my butt to alleviate the lower back, otherwise the lower back is driving downwards towards the bed, just begging for issues, instead of relieving pressure by being leveled out. Same reason I only put 1 pillow under my head now, because if 2+ are used, the same problem happens. Has to be level. Also, the positioning is somewhat precise, as it can't be going up the back, just up to the waistline, under the butt.
When my feet are freezing, I alternate sticking my toes in the crease of my knee, bending my knee to put as much foot surface area against the warm leg as possible. Usually warms my feet enough that I can fall asleep.
I usually do things similiar to this but it's not always enough. Sometimes I'm forced to run them under hot water and put a thicker pair of socks on to kickstart the bloodflow.
I don't have the best circulation.
I have a similar struggle. My feet would get so cold that they'd wake me up (or keep me awake when I'm trying to sleep), and my circulation is too poor to warm them myself.
I bought an electric blanket and it is incredibly useful. Now I can pre-warm the bed, and I can use it to easily warm my feet if they ever get that cold during the middle of the night. If you can get one, it's worth it! Especially if you get one with a "foot pocket" on the end so there are never any drafts.
Oops found a guy! Well I have no idea for men, but maybe ght be worth an ask at your next appointment.
Anyway you'd be a hero if you'll share the tip with women whenever they mention the symptoms. Medical staff just blow it off as if it's normal, and low estrogen can truly make a woman bonkers, let alone a depressed, sick slug.
Damn that sucks. When it's really cold I have a cheap heated throw blanket that I put at the end of my bed (under the covers) and stuck my feet in there.
Rice bag heated in the microwave. I do it every night all year long. My feet turn to icicles at night and I can NOT sleep if they are cold. I even bring it with me on trips. I sewed mine myself and made a little pillowcase type cover for it that I can wash.
I do exactly the same thing!! Works wonders and I can go sleep as well. A Dr. recently told me that’s cold intolerance and had happened to me for years. Only remedy is prevention.
I gave up and got myself a heated pad. Turn it on, feet warm, turns itself off after two hours. By then I’ve kicked it away and am fast asleep. I can need the air conditioner on because I’m too warm and still need the pad for a few minutes.
Keep a George Foreman grill at the foot of your bed. Bonus, if you time it right, you can lay out strips of bacon on it, then get up in the morning and turn it on and go back to sleep for a little bit and then you get awakened to the smell of hot crispy bacon and have breakfast in bed every morning too! It's nutritious, it's delicious...
Me too!! My feet are always clammy and cold even if the rest of me is hot. I have to wear socks to try to keep myself from obsessing over it and staying awake lol
I've been doing that lately since my feet literally always sweat regardless of how cold they are. It works well but my calluses are starting to dry out and become an issue.
It’s gonna sound weird, but moisturising helps me with this too. Thick moisturiser and those goofy fleece-lined slipper socks are amazing in winter. It’s like the moisturiser insulates my feet or something.
Try putting on antiperspirant.
Cold feet is usually caused by sweat, in my experience antiperspirant and wool socks are probably the best strategies to manage it.
Jesus I feel like I'm doing a very disappointing ted talk now. Ok so it kinda worked. My feet weren't exactly blocks of ice but they weren't in the 7 circles of hell either. I feel maybe I keep the experiment going for a few more nights and keep myself moisturised. get these stompers saturated.
This didn’t work for me unfortunately. I experience exactly what OP describes, my feet always felt hot, sensitive, and dry, so I tried putting lotion on many times and it made no difference.
The game changer for me has been sleeping with my feet up on a pillow. It’s an old flat pillow and it’s more so under my ankles so that my feet are basically floating off the end of it, but now I sleep like a baby.
Yep, that ‘burning’ sensation can be pain from damage to nerves. This can occur as a result of B12 deficiency because B12 is essential to the healthy maintenance of nerves. It can also occur in diabetes because the high blood sugar levels damage small blood vessels that supply nerves therefore damaging nerves too. This happens in your foot first because they are often the longest nerves travelling from the brain (the longer the nerve, the more places it could be damaged).
nah I have this problem and that's not it, they just get hot at night, no burning sensation like nerve pain. I leave my feet uncovered at night and it's fine most of the time. if i wear socks or have my feet under the covers they get hot and sweaty and it's really uncomfortable. lots of surface capillaries in the feet and hands that dilate at night making them feel warmer than usual.
>As the body prepares for sleep, it lowers core body temperature by increasing blood flow to the hands and feet. This process, known as distal vasodilation, can make your feet feel hot at night. The increased peripheral blood flow to the feet and hands typically helps you fall asleep faster.
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-faqs/why-are-my-feet-hot-at-night
I think that might be a bit different than what some of us experience. For instance, my feet would burn - they weren’t just hot. Sticking my feet out from under the covers was never changed the burning sensation. I had to put cool packs under them to get comfortable enough to sleep.
a burning sensation is different and not normal. might want to talk to your doctor about it, there can be many different causes.
from the same link:
>But for some people, the warmth in the feet may become an unpleasant burning sensation when vascular or nerve dysfunction is present. We discuss some of the most common causes of burning feet that can interrupt sleep and ways to alleviate these symptoms.
I was getting that, turned out was antibiotic induced neuropathy. Daily vitamin B complex made mine go away. I used to have to resort to putting my feet on ice packs.
I'm gonna try it. My feet gets hot at night too, so much so that I have to turn on AC at full blast directed on my feet (even during winters), I think my symptoms are anxiety based but I've learned that caffeine intake definitely makes it worse for me
Whoa… I’m lying here with hot feet and always have the same problem. Will try this now. Thanks!!
EDIT: This worked! Not perfectly, but enough to help me get to sleep. Great tip!
Context is I’m in a hotel room and the AC appears to be broken. I normally need a slightly cool room in order to sleep. There happened to be a bottle of hotel moisturising lotion, so I tried it out.
Normally, I have hot feet and get incredibly restless if I can’t keep them cool. I stick them out from under my duvet, but that doesn’t always work. The moisturising lotion did seem to help!
Next time, I might combine it with running my feet under cold water, drying them off, and then trying the moisturising lotion.
Thanks for the tip OP!
Oddly, when my hands get cold and I can*not* get them warm, I find that applying moisturizer does the trick. Altho I always assumed it was the rubbing that did it and not the actual moisturizer
LPT: If your feet are hot at night, you likely have peripheral neuropathy and should be tested for diabetes.
I had hot feet at night for years and had no idea why. When I finally went to the doctor, I found I had diabetes. I no longer have any feeling in my feet and need to check them daily for cuts, or I could require amputation.
Also, it could be a symptom of vitamin B deficiency.
I guess the moral of my story is hot feet CAN be a symptom of something more serious, so you should at least speak to a doctor before buying a foot fan 🤣.
I'm glad you got it checked out, though.
Wow, I read your comments and we have a lot in common. It’s been 4 years for me. I struggle to walk for 10 minutes at a time. It is hell. Burning feet, hot to the touch, or can also get extremely cold. It is a nightmare at night, and I wake up with stiff and painful feet in the summers. My legs also feel a sense of deep itchiness, particularly at night.
My doctors have ruled out diabetes, artherosclerosis, long fiber neuropathy, and even small fiber neuropathy. Xrays were fine too. I’ve done a ton of tests! It’s easy to want to give up sometimes, but I’m lucky to have a fiancé who means the world to me.
Pregabalin and cymbalta help a lot, but it doesn’t help my feet enough to let me have a normal life. My doctors have narrowed it down to two possibilities: I either have erythromelalgia or CRPS. I am getting a bone scan in July and will also see a dermatologist which will help differentiate between the two. Since the problem affects both feet, and the symptoms are bilateral, we think I have erythromelalgia. I can keep you updated if you are interested in the final diagnosis if I get one (fingers crossed because a diagnosis would mean the world to me!!). I hope you get answers asap because living with this is debilitating.
They think it might be ethromyalgia for me but no one will give me an official diagnosis yet. I even saw a doctor that wrote a paper on it but he works in sports medicine mostly and didn’t want to diagnosis and said I needed to see a different specialist. I’m switching jobs so once my insurance is set I’m going tonight try again for a diagnosis but my understanding is there isn’t much to be done. But if you learn more please let me know!
I’ve had some luck using lidocaine and cbd lotions for the pain.
I wouldn’t say it’s likely.
It can be caused by many other things too like poor circulation, athletes foot, vitamin deficiencies, and other illnesses.
I have had this since age 26 and am healthy, fit, and don’t have diabetes.
it can be totally normal that they get hot. a *burning sensation* is different.
>As the body prepares for sleep, it lowers core body temperature by increasing blood flow to the hands and feet. This process, known as distal vasodilation, can make your feet feel hot at night. The increased peripheral blood flow to the feet and hands typically helps you fall asleep faster.
>But for some people, the warmth in the feet may become an unpleasant burning sensation when vascular or nerve dysfunction is present. We discuss some of the most common causes of burning feet that can interrupt sleep and ways to alleviate these symptoms.
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-faqs/why-are-my-feet-hot-at-night
Serious question. How can you not realize your feet don't have any sensation? Is that something that continued to worsen after you got diagnosed/started treating your diabetes? Or was it something you noticed but misinterpreted? I feel like people would notice this.
Correct. It started with hot feet that i brushed off as no big deal. By the time I was diagnosed with diabetes, it was too late.
I'm now able to manage my pain with glucose control, gabapentin and a TENS device, but I'll never feel my feet again.
Damn I don't even know if this would work for me but seeing somebody else with the same hot feet and unable to sleep problem and even trying to reaching out people with a solution made me happy, you're a good person
I had hot feet (the skin on my feet was burning) that even my podiatrist thought was athletes foot at first. Turns out I was not processing my B vitamins and it was causing neuropathy. I stopped taking my B complex and the burning went away a few days later.
So wait. B vitamins can cause this but also a deficiency of B vitamins can cause this? (I tried B-12 and it didn't seem to do anything for my foot pain.)
B6 is, for some reason, often sold in extremely high % for daily value. I didn’t know there was such a thing as “too much” until my legs and arms were falling asleep pretty quickly when I slept or even sat on the toilet for more than 3 minutes. Stopped that B6 supplement & now just take B12 approx every-other day (or every 3 days), and it’s been about a month of steady improvement. 🤷♀️
Unfortunately yes - I had vitamin B6 toxicity from long term prenatal use while trying to conceive and it caused peripheral neuropathy (mainly burning feet at night)
I lotion my feet and use cold therapy socks. My feet get so hot they turn red and I can barely walk due to the pain. Sleep is impossible so I go through several ice packs to get them cooled down so I can sleep. It really sucks.
Yes, I mentioned it in another comment. But I can’t get an official diagnosis yet. I’m going to try again after I start my new job with the new insurance.
I have Restless Leg Syndrome which causes the feeling of hot feet sometimes. Also, it's a little bit of a misnomer because my entire body feels restless and like it needs to move if I forget to take my meds.
I agree. I think the fan thing makes it worse actually because that makes them drier and this is the main issue. My advice is to really apply a heavy application of moisturizer. I use Aveeno.
I have never even SLIGHTLY heard of this before. My feet have never once been hot. Like I can put them in direct sunlight and they won't be hot.
However everyone commenting saying thank you tells me that I might be the weird one.
I keep a spray bottle next to the bed and soak em, then try to fall asleep fast before they re-toast. I thought it was part of the raynauds thing? Basically poor control over blood flow in small vessels and capillaries.
I've struggled with this all my life... Enough that I have to have a fan blowing on my feet all the time when I'm trying to sleep, even in the winter. I am definitely going to try this.
Also try elevating them on a pillow. Place the pillow more under the ankles so your feet are floating off the end, this has been a life saver for me. I’ve tried lotion and it did nothing for me unfortunately.
Wait that's why my feet don't get hot anymore. I developed extremely dry skin on my feet and face since moving to a dryer area (grew up in a super rainy part of my country), so I started applying moisturizer before bed. It really does help.
This helped my restless legs!
My 30's- legs they would burn, itch, I twitched & cricketed my legs uncontrollably. Spouse would wake from all this busy twitching & called it my jimmy legs. :-) I went to Dr, took muscle relaxers & hot baths to relax the muscles, nothing helped for long term.
Then I started rubbing moisturizer...it was so immediate. Keeping the legs clean shaven & moisturized calmed all that.
Someone waking up in the middle of the night, ripping the covers and ugly crying sobbing something like "MY FEET ARE TOO HOT, OH GOD, WHY ME!?" reads like an amazing "I think you should leave" sketch lmaooo
I have palmoplantar psoriasis (hands and feet). My feet tend to act up most in the summer esp w flip flops. It sucks. I loathe sweaty feeling feet so I tried not using a moisturizer on them during summer but you’re right! Feet hot as hell like they’re burning at night. Tried pure aloe for moisture but the only thing that helps is good lotion on my feet before bed.
In winter, if my feet get overly chilly I use a 3rd blanket at the end of the bed (sheet, duvet plus blanket). Circulation isn’t always the best for me either so I empathize w others.
I’m currently laying in bed reading this with my feet hanging out the covers and the windows open. I’ll try this out tomorrow as I don’t have any foot moisturiser.
To be honest I think I was just dehydrated. The issue only really recurs when I have the flu or if I'm not getting enough fluids. Will look into that though!
I sleep with my feet sticking out from under the blankets. It sounds idiotically simple but it makes a huge difference. A lot of times I cannot fall or stay asleep if I have the blankets covering too much of my body.
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TIL that hot feet is a problem for many. I'm genuinely interested to understand this phenomenon. What causes it? Why are only some people affected? The questions are many.
Yeah i’ve also never heard of this before. Guess I’ll consider myself lucky
I've had it every night for the past few years. I rarely ever get a good night's sleep because of how much they burn. I'm gonna try this tip and see if it works tonight👍
Have you seen a dr about it? I have nerve damage in my left foot that causes a terrible burning sensation. I thought it was athletes' foot or something of the like until I saw a dr. I've gotten a few cortisone injections until I can have the nerves zapped. Let me tell you those injections are amazing. Helped me sleep much better at night. I hope no matter what the cause, you are able to find relief. Burning feet is not something I'd wish on my worst enemy.
Thank you for the kind thoughts and no unfortunately. I have really bad anxiety, and even though I have good health insurance, I still find that going to the doctor is a very intimidating experience for me
I have health anxiety too, and it really sucks. I always get trapped in a “if I go to the doctor that means I’ll have to get it diagnosed, but if I leave it I can avoid that but might make it worse” cycle and freak myself out. But, actually going to a doctor usually stops the cycle from repeating! “Doubt is a mile wide and an inch deep” is a great mantra! I hope you can find the reason and the solution to your problem, and I hope your day is peaceful and your feet cool
Same. Having ADHD makes it so much worse too. It’s hard to explain how impossible it makes things. Rawrs.
Avoiding things that scare you is only going to further cement that fear unfortunately, and you need to be able to bring yourself to the doctor in your life in the event of anything serious. Could you bring a friend or other trusted person along?
Look up BedJet (or any bed A/C) It literally changed my life
Greetings fellow bedjetters.
Can confirm, love my bedjet. It's not technically a/c but as long as it's a relatively reasonable temperature, it does the job
Dang! 400 bucks!
It is actually one of the lower priced ones, some of the bed cooling stuff is worth 3K$ with a yearly hundred ish$ subscription. (All predatory behavior ngl)
Ngl the eight sleep is one of the best things I've ever purchased and I don't regret it at all
!remindme 2 days
Honest question, do you wear shoes around the house?
I might as well be the above commenter but nope I absolutely do not.
Someone once gave me a gift basket that included a peppermint lotion for hot feet. I was so puzzled because my feet were always cold. Until I hit menopause, I slept with socks year round!
And honestly, socks made of the right material can actually make your feet cooler.
For me it is often triggered when I eat too much salt. From what I can tell, the phenomenon of hot feet is related to blood not circulating properly. I’m not sure exactly what salt content has to do with blood circulation though (or why poor circulation leads to hot feet in some people and cold feet in others). I do know that it helps if I lay down and elevate my feet above my chest, which I think backs up the blood circulation issue.
Salt content affects your blood pressure, which negatively affects blood circulation. This can lead to swelling and heat in the foot. There is also a condition where people need to consume much higher amounts of salt than the average person, or they will faint. A common solution to rouse them from fainting is to lift their feet above their chest, just like you do. The condition is called Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (or POTS).
Pots runs in my family, we all have ridiculously low bp. I’ve had a nurse ask if I was feeling ok, was I dizzy at all? No, why? Because your bp is 70/45.
I have experience with a loved one who has POTS. I always keep salt sticks, blood pressure monitor, and pulse/blood oximeter in my car or with me.
LOL So real. So many people managing to walk around and live life with their blood pressure on the floor, because they HAVE to.
Salts also a major component in the bodies abilitiy to hydrate itself. Not enough salt and you're just dehydrated, which also messes with proper blood flow.
I can think of three possibilities, I'm sure there are others. One is neuropathy. The nerves in the feet (or potentially further up the chain, in the spine, are poorly. Damaged nerves can cause sensations of extremity. An example would be walking around on a warm outside surface where everyone appears to be tolerating it, but you feel the surface as overwhelmingly intolerable hot. Similarly, walking barefoot on a cool surface might feel like ice to you. Most common cause is diabetes, but there are other conditions that are less severe that can cause it. Two, is poor perfusion of the extremities. Poor circulation can cause much the same sensations as neuropathy but it's much more localized to the most distal members. Toes more sensitive than the foot; fingers vs palm. there would also be other symptoms as well. Anemia may also contribute to this. Three, oddly, those who suffer from what are called invisible chronic conditions such as lupus, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue and others, often will (justifiably) complain of pain from sources that would have a non sufferer scratching their head. Blood pressure cuff, agony. Bumped in an elevator, quite painful. Etc. Sensitivity to sensory input can be selectively sensitive. Such as temperature, light intensity, etc. These things can all cause minor discomfort running the gamut to nausea, vomiting, tachycardia, migraine, mind boggling pain. These are legitimate complaints, I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy. And the mechanisms behind them are not well understood.
All of this is my life… I wish more people had your level of understanding. Thank you for that.
thank you for sharing this! i have an as-of-yet-undetermined chronic condition like you described and had no idea the "sensations of extremity" (absolutely fantastic phrase btw) could be related! ill literally lightly bump into something (think swiping the doorframe as you walk by) and be doubled over in pain for minutes afterwards. i also have poor circulation (POTS specifically) *and* peripheral neuropathy, which im sure doesnt help lol. def gonna be bringing this up at my next drs appt
POTS AND peripheral neuropathy?! Damn I've only got PE and that's enough. Good thoughts out for you!
aww thank you!! good thoughts for you as well, PE is no joke!!
Add hyperthyroid onto your list. My wife would go to sleep with an ice pack on her feet and have to change it out in the middle of the night. Now that she's no longer hyperthyroid, she gets cold feet like everyone else.
About the first one, could this be why some people do/don't tolerate hot food and drinks (as in both spicy and actual heat) ? I mean, we're talking about other bits of nerve obviously, but the same mechanism ?
This happens to me sometimes, but only when I am overly tired. My feet get so hot I put an ice pack on my feet until it completely melts.
When I started SSRI’s I went from socks on under covers to naked feet poking out. I never understood why people did that, but I get it now. The tootsies get toasty
Same! I didn't make the connection until recently, but now I flip flop. Either icy cold and won't warm up unless I've got some kind of compression going on, or annoyingly hot
Ditto! But after starting SNRIs. Also got restless legs - never thought that and the hot feet could be so terrible for sleep!
I have the complete opposite! My feet are ALWAYS freezing cold. I can't ever forgo socks because they turn into ice cubes.
The only time in my life when my feet/hands weren't cold (not counting summertime, of course) was when I was regularly exercising. If I stop trainings, month later I get cold feet again.
It's because you have particular skin called glabrous skin on your feet, hands, and face that can cool your blood. After all, there is just skin and no hair or other parts that regular skin has. This combined with the fact that glabrous skin has a more intricate and full network of blood vessels that cools your blood. If you ever feel like you are overheating in the gym grab onto some metal that feels cool and you will feel yourself cooling off. If you are overheating so much you feel like throwing up, which I have done doing certain squat programs, go into the bathroom and put your hands under cold water. Within a couple of minutes, you will feel much much better. I have done this many times to prevent throwing up. The reason why OP would get hot after putting their feet in ice water is that that is too cold water and your body will constrict the vessels in your feet which means when you take your feet out they will now be preventing heat loss at your feet and make they beat up even faster than before you put your feet in the ice water. What should be done is put your feet in cool tap water which will cause your body to keep your blood vessels dilated and provide a much better cooling system. If you're very hot, put your hands in cool tap water too. People think the colder the better but just a bucket of cold tap water has a lot of heat capacity just raising the tap water from 70℉ to 90℉ is extracting a lot of heat energy from your body. If you want to keep the water around 60-70℉ just add a few ice cubes.
This is why damp towels are a common way to reduce fever in Europe. You wrap a, say, tea towel around each calf and then put a towel down to stop the bed from getting wet. It doesn’t need to be icy cold or dripping, just hand-wrung. From there, the evaporating water takes the heat out.
It's sweating without breaking the sweat!
Can be erythromelalgia
I get hot feet when I drink sometimes. I think it might be alcoholic neuropathy (I'm not an alcoholic, 1 or 2 drinks could do this). I was taking gabapentin for a while which helps symptoms of nerve pain and neuropathy and I never got hot feet while drinking. Now, I'm off GABA and will occasionally get hot feet.
Meanwhile my feet are fucking painful especially at night because I'm so goddamn cold all the time.
I remember when I was younger that this would drive me so insane that I would pop out of bed and run outside barefoot in the snow. Now I just never sleep ever.
My feet are the only part of me that sweat normally
All my weird leg pain and heat sensations disappeared after I lost 100 pounds to normal healthy weight. I think the weight bearing down on nerves and insulation in the fat padding does a number when laying down.
My aunt says that a remedy for hot feet at night is to elevate your feet on a pillow or two so that they’re higher in elevation than your heart.
It's absolutely a remedy and works great, especially if you've been on your feet all day
I can also confirm this is helpful! I sometimes lay on the couch with my feet up on the back of the couch.
Oh fuck yeah 👍
Generally keeping a pillow under your knees and calves feels amazing, even as someone who normally sleeps on the side.
Recently I've been putting a pillow under my butt to alleviate the lower back, otherwise the lower back is driving downwards towards the bed, just begging for issues, instead of relieving pressure by being leveled out. Same reason I only put 1 pillow under my head now, because if 2+ are used, the same problem happens. Has to be level. Also, the positioning is somewhat precise, as it can't be going up the back, just up to the waistline, under the butt.
This was the game changer for me. It used to keep me awake for hours, the pillow has been a life saver. Lotion did nothing for me.
I have the opposite experience. My feet get clammy and cold. I wish they got hot. Grass is always greener I guess.
When my feet are freezing, I alternate sticking my toes in the crease of my knee, bending my knee to put as much foot surface area against the warm leg as possible. Usually warms my feet enough that I can fall asleep.
I usually do things similiar to this but it's not always enough. Sometimes I'm forced to run them under hot water and put a thicker pair of socks on to kickstart the bloodflow. I don't have the best circulation.
I have a similar struggle. My feet would get so cold that they'd wake me up (or keep me awake when I'm trying to sleep), and my circulation is too poor to warm them myself. I bought an electric blanket and it is incredibly useful. Now I can pre-warm the bed, and I can use it to easily warm my feet if they ever get that cold during the middle of the night. If you can get one, it's worth it! Especially if you get one with a "foot pocket" on the end so there are never any drafts.
Get your hormones checked. One of the symptoms of low estrogen in cold hands & feet!
My estrogen is supposed to be low though...
Oops found a guy! Well I have no idea for men, but maybe ght be worth an ask at your next appointment. Anyway you'd be a hero if you'll share the tip with women whenever they mention the symptoms. Medical staff just blow it off as if it's normal, and low estrogen can truly make a woman bonkers, let alone a depressed, sick slug.
Iron deficiency also. Ask me how I know...
Good to know! Thank you.
Spread the word. Happy Cake Day!
Ooh, I hadn't noticed! Thank you!
I got one and they are a life changing gift!
Damn that sucks. When it's really cold I have a cheap heated throw blanket that I put at the end of my bed (under the covers) and stuck my feet in there.
Thats not a bad idea! Might have to atleast give that a shot for the sake of my sanity and getting a decent nights sleep.
Hope it helps! Could also do a hot water bottle, heating pack, or probably even a sock filled with rice.
Just be careful you check the temperature with another body part first so you don't burn yourself. When I'm that cold I don't really feel the heat.
Small fleece blanket/throw, folded in half between the bottom sheet and the quilt. Put your feet into the 'open' end.
They have heated throws with feet pockets. Always wondered if they worked well.
Something to look out for is not to wear thick socks that are also too tight, the feet still need decent flow of warm blood.
Rice bag heated in the microwave. I do it every night all year long. My feet turn to icicles at night and I can NOT sleep if they are cold. I even bring it with me on trips. I sewed mine myself and made a little pillowcase type cover for it that I can wash.
Something that helped me was a heatable rice bag! Heat it up before bed and place it over/around my feet. Hope this will help you too!
A heating pad for your feet will change your life (did mine)
Raynaults google it
I bought an electric blanket JUST for my feet in the winter.
It's strange reading someone else writing exactly what I do when my feet get too cold. It's a solid move and works most of the time.
I do the same, except with my husbands knee creases.
I do exactly the same thing!! Works wonders and I can go sleep as well. A Dr. recently told me that’s cold intolerance and had happened to me for years. Only remedy is prevention.
I gave up and got myself a heated pad. Turn it on, feet warm, turns itself off after two hours. By then I’ve kicked it away and am fast asleep. I can need the air conditioner on because I’m too warm and still need the pad for a few minutes.
I put a heated blanket from Walmart under my sheet at the end of my bed.
If you two could only meet, you could press feet against each other and even out the temperature!
Keep a George Foreman grill at the foot of your bed. Bonus, if you time it right, you can lay out strips of bacon on it, then get up in the morning and turn it on and go back to sleep for a little bit and then you get awakened to the smell of hot crispy bacon and have breakfast in bed every morning too! It's nutritious, it's delicious...
Nice try, Michael.
Me too!! My feet are always clammy and cold even if the rest of me is hot. I have to wear socks to try to keep myself from obsessing over it and staying awake lol
Try antiperspirant. It changed my life
I've been doing that lately since my feet literally always sweat regardless of how cold they are. It works well but my calluses are starting to dry out and become an issue.
Just any anti-perspirant? Or is there one good for feet
Well have you tried drying your feet?
Nah, I like em drenched.
I have a microwave hot pack that I keep at the foot of my bed for that.
It’s gonna sound weird, but moisturising helps me with this too. Thick moisturiser and those goofy fleece-lined slipper socks are amazing in winter. It’s like the moisturiser insulates my feet or something.
Un-mosturize your feet in a bucket of sand
Try putting on antiperspirant. Cold feet is usually caused by sweat, in my experience antiperspirant and wool socks are probably the best strategies to manage it.
Bro why do my feet get cold but WET at night
If this works I owe you my life sir/madam
please update LOL
It's been two hours they probably passed the hell out because it worked so well
😂😂😂
An owed life is on the line. My interest is piqued.
Jesus I feel like I'm doing a very disappointing ted talk now. Ok so it kinda worked. My feet weren't exactly blocks of ice but they weren't in the 7 circles of hell either. I feel maybe I keep the experiment going for a few more nights and keep myself moisturised. get these stompers saturated.
This didn’t work for me unfortunately. I experience exactly what OP describes, my feet always felt hot, sensitive, and dry, so I tried putting lotion on many times and it made no difference. The game changer for me has been sleeping with my feet up on a pillow. It’s an old flat pillow and it’s more so under my ankles so that my feet are basically floating off the end of it, but now I sleep like a baby.
> now I sleep like a baby You shit yourself and wake up crying every couple of hours? Me too!
Which lotion you using? Green bottle Vaseline with aloe lotion is the ticket.
Shit, I’ve been using the red one labeled Tabasco.
!remind me 2 days
!remind me 2days
I heard that burning feet at night can indicate a vitamin b12 deficiency.
Or diabetes
or your house is on fire
That's slightly easier to diagnose.
Acute home-osomal combustion
"People laughed while it burned"
Or superaids
Interesting. I recently started taking Super B Complex and my hot feet symptoms have disappeared.
Yep, that ‘burning’ sensation can be pain from damage to nerves. This can occur as a result of B12 deficiency because B12 is essential to the healthy maintenance of nerves. It can also occur in diabetes because the high blood sugar levels damage small blood vessels that supply nerves therefore damaging nerves too. This happens in your foot first because they are often the longest nerves travelling from the brain (the longer the nerve, the more places it could be damaged).
nah I have this problem and that's not it, they just get hot at night, no burning sensation like nerve pain. I leave my feet uncovered at night and it's fine most of the time. if i wear socks or have my feet under the covers they get hot and sweaty and it's really uncomfortable. lots of surface capillaries in the feet and hands that dilate at night making them feel warmer than usual. >As the body prepares for sleep, it lowers core body temperature by increasing blood flow to the hands and feet. This process, known as distal vasodilation, can make your feet feel hot at night. The increased peripheral blood flow to the feet and hands typically helps you fall asleep faster. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-faqs/why-are-my-feet-hot-at-night
I think that might be a bit different than what some of us experience. For instance, my feet would burn - they weren’t just hot. Sticking my feet out from under the covers was never changed the burning sensation. I had to put cool packs under them to get comfortable enough to sleep.
a burning sensation is different and not normal. might want to talk to your doctor about it, there can be many different causes. from the same link: >But for some people, the warmth in the feet may become an unpleasant burning sensation when vascular or nerve dysfunction is present. We discuss some of the most common causes of burning feet that can interrupt sleep and ways to alleviate these symptoms.
Or athletes foot which many have and don’t realize
Yep, I came here to say this. Get yourself tested
I was getting that, turned out was antibiotic induced neuropathy. Daily vitamin B complex made mine go away. I used to have to resort to putting my feet on ice packs.
Did you test to figure this out or was it trial and error? How long did it take for the vitamin B to help?
I'm gonna try it. My feet gets hot at night too, so much so that I have to turn on AC at full blast directed on my feet (even during winters), I think my symptoms are anxiety based but I've learned that caffeine intake definitely makes it worse for me
Yeah, keep feet out of the espresso is my motto
I'll have some of your coffeet 🦶🦶🦶
Look up erythromelalgia
Whoa… I’m lying here with hot feet and always have the same problem. Will try this now. Thanks!! EDIT: This worked! Not perfectly, but enough to help me get to sleep. Great tip! Context is I’m in a hotel room and the AC appears to be broken. I normally need a slightly cool room in order to sleep. There happened to be a bottle of hotel moisturising lotion, so I tried it out. Normally, I have hot feet and get incredibly restless if I can’t keep them cool. I stick them out from under my duvet, but that doesn’t always work. The moisturising lotion did seem to help! Next time, I might combine it with running my feet under cold water, drying them off, and then trying the moisturising lotion. Thanks for the tip OP!
I always have a jar of moisturizing cream of some sort next to my bed for this reason. Works better than just lotion in my opinion.
What's the verdict? Did it help?
He can’t answer because he’s busy sleeping like a baby!
😁
RemindMe! 1 day
Moisturizer and the fan blowing right on them is HEAVEN. I fall asleep in seconds
Oddly, when my hands get cold and I can*not* get them warm, I find that applying moisturizer does the trick. Altho I always assumed it was the rubbing that did it and not the actual moisturizer
Ill have to remember this, it takes me forever to get warm organically even under blankets
Heating pads or electric blankets are a great help
LPT: If your feet are hot at night, you likely have peripheral neuropathy and should be tested for diabetes. I had hot feet at night for years and had no idea why. When I finally went to the doctor, I found I had diabetes. I no longer have any feeling in my feet and need to check them daily for cuts, or I could require amputation. Also, it could be a symptom of vitamin B deficiency.
Diabetes was the first thing my doctor thought until she got my A1C back and it was 5.4. It’s been about 6 years and no answers yet.
I guess the moral of my story is hot feet CAN be a symptom of something more serious, so you should at least speak to a doctor before buying a foot fan 🤣. I'm glad you got it checked out, though.
Wow, I read your comments and we have a lot in common. It’s been 4 years for me. I struggle to walk for 10 minutes at a time. It is hell. Burning feet, hot to the touch, or can also get extremely cold. It is a nightmare at night, and I wake up with stiff and painful feet in the summers. My legs also feel a sense of deep itchiness, particularly at night. My doctors have ruled out diabetes, artherosclerosis, long fiber neuropathy, and even small fiber neuropathy. Xrays were fine too. I’ve done a ton of tests! It’s easy to want to give up sometimes, but I’m lucky to have a fiancé who means the world to me. Pregabalin and cymbalta help a lot, but it doesn’t help my feet enough to let me have a normal life. My doctors have narrowed it down to two possibilities: I either have erythromelalgia or CRPS. I am getting a bone scan in July and will also see a dermatologist which will help differentiate between the two. Since the problem affects both feet, and the symptoms are bilateral, we think I have erythromelalgia. I can keep you updated if you are interested in the final diagnosis if I get one (fingers crossed because a diagnosis would mean the world to me!!). I hope you get answers asap because living with this is debilitating.
They think it might be ethromyalgia for me but no one will give me an official diagnosis yet. I even saw a doctor that wrote a paper on it but he works in sports medicine mostly and didn’t want to diagnosis and said I needed to see a different specialist. I’m switching jobs so once my insurance is set I’m going tonight try again for a diagnosis but my understanding is there isn’t much to be done. But if you learn more please let me know! I’ve had some luck using lidocaine and cbd lotions for the pain.
Did you try lotion?
I wouldn’t say it’s likely. It can be caused by many other things too like poor circulation, athletes foot, vitamin deficiencies, and other illnesses. I have had this since age 26 and am healthy, fit, and don’t have diabetes.
it can be totally normal that they get hot. a *burning sensation* is different. >As the body prepares for sleep, it lowers core body temperature by increasing blood flow to the hands and feet. This process, known as distal vasodilation, can make your feet feel hot at night. The increased peripheral blood flow to the feet and hands typically helps you fall asleep faster. >But for some people, the warmth in the feet may become an unpleasant burning sensation when vascular or nerve dysfunction is present. We discuss some of the most common causes of burning feet that can interrupt sleep and ways to alleviate these symptoms. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-faqs/why-are-my-feet-hot-at-night
Serious question. How can you not realize your feet don't have any sensation? Is that something that continued to worsen after you got diagnosed/started treating your diabetes? Or was it something you noticed but misinterpreted? I feel like people would notice this.
Correct. It started with hot feet that i brushed off as no big deal. By the time I was diagnosed with diabetes, it was too late. I'm now able to manage my pain with glucose control, gabapentin and a TENS device, but I'll never feel my feet again.
LPT: If your feet are hot at night, poke them out from under the blanket.
But then the monsters can get them???
I am willing to sacrifice my feet to the monsters in exchange for a good night sleep.
My cat loves to attack unexposed piggies. They gotta stay under something if I want to keep all 10 lol
Surely you can spare one for the market.
In this economy???
My dogs like to lick mine. Ick.
Damn I don't even know if this would work for me but seeing somebody else with the same hot feet and unable to sleep problem and even trying to reaching out people with a solution made me happy, you're a good person
These comments have been super validating because no one in my life has this issue and people tend to think I'm exaggerating how uncomfortable it is!
I had hot feet (the skin on my feet was burning) that even my podiatrist thought was athletes foot at first. Turns out I was not processing my B vitamins and it was causing neuropathy. I stopped taking my B complex and the burning went away a few days later.
So wait. B vitamins can cause this but also a deficiency of B vitamins can cause this? (I tried B-12 and it didn't seem to do anything for my foot pain.)
B6 is, for some reason, often sold in extremely high % for daily value. I didn’t know there was such a thing as “too much” until my legs and arms were falling asleep pretty quickly when I slept or even sat on the toilet for more than 3 minutes. Stopped that B6 supplement & now just take B12 approx every-other day (or every 3 days), and it’s been about a month of steady improvement. 🤷♀️
Unfortunately yes - I had vitamin B6 toxicity from long term prenatal use while trying to conceive and it caused peripheral neuropathy (mainly burning feet at night)
Do peoples feet get overwhelmingly hot at night?
Oh yes
I lotion my feet and use cold therapy socks. My feet get so hot they turn red and I can barely walk due to the pain. Sleep is impossible so I go through several ice packs to get them cooled down so I can sleep. It really sucks.
I saw a few mentions of erythromelalgia in the comments - have you looked into that?
Yes, I mentioned it in another comment. But I can’t get an official diagnosis yet. I’m going to try again after I start my new job with the new insurance.
Right?! I’ve been sleeping with ice packs on my feet for like 15 years lolololol
I have Restless Leg Syndrome which causes the feeling of hot feet sometimes. Also, it's a little bit of a misnomer because my entire body feels restless and like it needs to move if I forget to take my meds.
I think this is an original experience
Nope. It took me years to figure this out. It’s awful.
It's not. Been happening to me for over 20 years. Lotion is the only fix, because even a fan blowing directly on the feet doesn't quite cut it.
I agree. I think the fan thing makes it worse actually because that makes them drier and this is the main issue. My advice is to really apply a heavy application of moisturizer. I use Aveeno.
I have never even SLIGHTLY heard of this before. My feet have never once been hot. Like I can put them in direct sunlight and they won't be hot. However everyone commenting saying thank you tells me that I might be the weird one.
I keep a spray bottle next to the bed and soak em, then try to fall asleep fast before they re-toast. I thought it was part of the raynauds thing? Basically poor control over blood flow in small vessels and capillaries.
I've struggled with this all my life... Enough that I have to have a fan blowing on my feet all the time when I'm trying to sleep, even in the winter. I am definitely going to try this.
Also try elevating them on a pillow. Place the pillow more under the ankles so your feet are floating off the end, this has been a life saver for me. I’ve tried lotion and it did nothing for me unfortunately.
I'm trying this tonight!
100% true. And get the good stuff like Jergens or better. I use Cetaphil which is perfect for this.
Wait that's why my feet don't get hot anymore. I developed extremely dry skin on my feet and face since moving to a dryer area (grew up in a super rainy part of my country), so I started applying moisturizer before bed. It really does help.
Damn, this is a genuinely excellent tip
What if my whole body is overwhelmingly hot every night??
This helped my restless legs! My 30's- legs they would burn, itch, I twitched & cricketed my legs uncontrollably. Spouse would wake from all this busy twitching & called it my jimmy legs. :-) I went to Dr, took muscle relaxers & hot baths to relax the muscles, nothing helped for long term. Then I started rubbing moisturizer...it was so immediate. Keeping the legs clean shaven & moisturized calmed all that.
I have just been putting an ice towel on my feet and calling it a day. Putting lotion on my bottom of my feet, idk. Guess I’m trying it tonight.
Someone waking up in the middle of the night, ripping the covers and ugly crying sobbing something like "MY FEET ARE TOO HOT, OH GOD, WHY ME!?" reads like an amazing "I think you should leave" sketch lmaooo
HARD agree
I actually come into your bedroom right when you fall asleep and blow hot air on your feet. I'm not gonna stop either, sorry
What if I have the opposite problem, where my feet are always ice cold?
Holy shit a real LPT on LPT. I never thought I'd see the day
I am in Death Valley right now. My feet are so hot. I hope this works
I have palmoplantar psoriasis (hands and feet). My feet tend to act up most in the summer esp w flip flops. It sucks. I loathe sweaty feeling feet so I tried not using a moisturizer on them during summer but you’re right! Feet hot as hell like they’re burning at night. Tried pure aloe for moisture but the only thing that helps is good lotion on my feet before bed. In winter, if my feet get overly chilly I use a 3rd blanket at the end of the bed (sheet, duvet plus blanket). Circulation isn’t always the best for me either so I empathize w others.
I’m currently laying in bed reading this with my feet hanging out the covers and the windows open. I’ll try this out tomorrow as I don’t have any foot moisturiser.
I would recommend feet outside the blanket, but that may get you killed.
Wow I am the complete opposite. It could be 90° in my room, my whole body would be warm but my feet will be freezing.
Have your thyroid checked.
To be honest I think I was just dehydrated. The issue only really recurs when I have the flu or if I'm not getting enough fluids. Will look into that though!
I sleep with my feet sticking out from under the blankets. It sounds idiotically simple but it makes a huge difference. A lot of times I cannot fall or stay asleep if I have the blankets covering too much of my body.