Severe & Debilitating Mystery Toe Pain, Now Pregnant & Can't Walk or Function
Hello, 36 year old female here and currently 30 weeks pregnant. In November of 2025, I very suddenly developed pain in my left big toe, where the fatty pad is (on the under side of the foot). I had to limp and walk on the side of my foot to prevent the pain. The toe was SO sensitive that not even a tissue, sheet, sock, etc. could gently make contact or I'd scream. I know this sounds like gout, but that has been ruled out, and it looks nothing like it. The next day, I went to a podiatrist who wasn't sure the cause but gave me a cortisone shot. The pain was gone for 2 months. I was NOT pregnant at this time.
January 2026- I went into full flare again, but this time I was pregnant in the first trimester. I had to go on crutches for several days. I wasn't allowed cortisone or an MRI at this time so I suffered in silence until the initial sensitivity faded. However, I was still walking on the side of my foot for months.
March 2026- I was still in pain but now in the 2nd trimester, so I got the okay to do another cortisone shot. It worked again, and I was fine for 7 weeks. I was even able to take hour long walks on the beach and wear sandals again when I went on vacation.
May 2026- The worst flare yet. Crutches for 2 weeks, excruciating pain. Couldn't touch other areas of my foot or the toe would scream. Couldn't even put pressure on the heel or side of the foot like I had been doing to compensate prior. Went for an MRI and the MRI showed a bunion on that foot which I knew I had and some milk arthritis and swelling in the big toe joint, but at the location of the bunion which is much further down than the site of pain. After the MRI, I got a cortisone shot and was told it was the stronger kind. This time, it didn't work like the last two. I'm still in pain and walking on the side of my foot, with the pain getting so much worse after a day of light walking (just normal walking at work).
Any idea??? What doctor should I see?
I've seen 2 podiatrists and now an orthopedic at Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC. No one can determine what this is and have never seen it before. I do have a bunion, but every doctor is saying they don't think it's necessarily the bunion causing the pain.
Another very strange thing, the toe turns color often at the site of pain. It gets red anytime the foot is down even if I'm not walking on it, just from gravity. It gets purple and almost looks black at times which is scary, especially when the pain is bad. It's like blood is pooling there and the color does fade after I have the foot elevated for a long time.
I'm going to be a new mom, and I'm feeling scared and depressed especially with no solution, diagnosis, hope, or even direction. It's debilitating not being able to walk. It's scaring me that I will have to go into labor in a toe flare where I can't function at all and that I won't be able to take care of my newborn baby if I cant stand, walk, or ambulate. Not to mention, this is wrecking my mental health because I am losing so many abilities.