u/far-leveret

I don’t want to fear monger about cymbalta because it has helped me so much with my OCD and depression but I wanted to post this because it was unexpected and has been really inconvenient. And in case it might help anyone.

I’ve got some degree of hypermobile joints and it’s pretty mild but I’m quite prone to injury. Especially repetitive strain injury. I used to have a bad case of an RSI called plantar fasciitis, which affects a big piece of connective tissue that forms the arch of your foot. This was a long time before I went on cymbalta but it became chronic and was awful. But eventually with rest, rehab, better shoes, calf stretches and gradually increasing my activity it did go away

Anyway, fast forward about 8 years and I’m on cymbalta and working in a fairly active job. My foot starts feeling kinda funny but not sore. I decide to get it checked out just in case, my doctor sends me for a scan and they tell me I have plantar fasciitis again (it’s clearly visible on an ultrasound which is handy). Anyway, I don’t have any pain just slightly altered sensation so I don’t think much about it and my podiatrist says not to worry about it.

Fast forward another year and I’ve been walking a lot for exercise and mental health and suddenly my foot starts hurting pretty bad. Go for another scan and the plantar fasciitis has got worse.

I come off cymbalta and onto another antidepressant that isn’t a painkiller and the pain gets even worse. This is despite staying almost totally off my foot for several days, which last time would reduce the symptoms quite a lot. I think Cymbalta has definitely been masking the pain and has allowed me to walk a lot on an injured foot that needed rest and rehab.

Moral of the story I guess is that your allied health professionals should always be aware of your meds. And that we are on a medication that is a pretty powerful painkiller (for those on cymbalta for mental health reasons and not pain).

If I had caught this quickly it would not have got nearly so bad and be facing much quicker and simpler rehab

That’s all really. Just felt like sharing it with someone. My friends don’t know how broke I am. God it was delicious. Has anyone else had an experience like this recently? God I love food hahah

This question really is for people who have rested to let their PF begin to heal. It is what worked for me last time (in about 2018) and I’ve been totally pain free for years. But it’s back mildly in 1 foot and I want to get on top of it

Last time I stayed almost completely off my feet for two weeks (would still get up to go to the bathroom but tried to sit as much as humanly possible without using a wheelchair). And then gradually returned to activity across the next 6 months or so. But I think I could have returned to activity more quickly? I don’t know. I had it very badly in both feet, a chronic case that I’d tried everything on before resting worked

My rationale for resting is that it was found by researchers that plantar fasciitis is caused by tissue degeneration over time and not inflammation.

I have PF in one foot and I do not know how I did it. I had it really badly about 10 years ago in both feet but feel confused about why it came back because I’ve taken a lot of care of it.

The only thing I can think is that I was working in a very busy childcare centre and getting up and down off the floor, always pushing off on one leg. It is that leg that I have the PF in now. I am quite overweight and also have been really active walking a lot, 10-15 k steps a day for more than a year. Anyone else relate to this scenario or something similar?

Hey folks I have very mild plantar fasciitis but I’m here because I had it very badly 8 or 9 years ago. I managed to completely resolve it but it was hellish. I got the first twinges of pain in the morning a couple of weeks ago and got an ultrasound and it’s back. I’ve caught it early but work in disability support and I need to be on my feet. I only work two or three shifts a week. Has anyone in my position or who needed to be on their feet a bit too much found moon boots helpful?

Edit: oh this got more attention than I thought it would and I appreciate the support! Luckily have been through this before and know I’ll get through it. Anyone reading this who also has PF, I strongly suggest rest, stretching calves and slowly strengthening the PF. I’m not affiliated with this website but Painscience.com’s tutorial called “What Works For Plantar Fasciitis?” helped me recover from an awful case nearly a decade ago. It’s a resource you need to pay for but part of it is free to check out. DM me for more details on what helped me if you want, esp about strengthening

Ugh I can’t believe it is back. I had plantar fasciitis 9 years ago and it was a bad case in both feet. It took so much time to heal and it destroyed my confidence in using my body for any kind of weight bearing exercise. I’m not even sure how I got it last time, I think it was a combination of being too heavy and being a bit too flexible in my joints and walking quite a bit every day just because I didn’t have a car

Fast forward to 2025, the plantar fasciitis was totally gone but I’d become very sedentary. I started an active job (childcare) and seemed to be mostly fine in terms of my feet.

Unfortunately I had a horrible nervous breakdown about 4 months into the job and had to quit. And I got better partly through taking up walking for exercise, in the past id only ever walked as part of my public transport commuting.

Walking changed my life and improved my mental and physical health so much. I love it and it has become such a passion of mine

Unfortunately about 3 weeks ago I started getting the old pain back again and got a scan and I’ve got plantar fasciitis again 😭

I just feel so frustrated. I am going to miss walking so much. I am about to start a fairly active job again and I think it will likely stop me getting better until I can find a desk job but I really need the money so I have to take the job. I’m gonna miss this community too, I love this subreddit. Wish me luck finding a desk job and getting better