Swollen left ankle and foot?

I'm at my wit's end and hoping I can get some advice so here it go's. I'm fine this past saturday but wakeup sunday morning with a swollen left ankle and foot and I did nothing to cause these symptons. I can barely walk because the pain is excruciating. Sunday the most pain was in my ankle and monday it had basically moved to my heal and under foot, tuesday it was mainly in my arch (I have a high arch) and today its mostly on the top of my foot between my toes and my ankle!?!?!?!

My mom has pain in her left leg so I'm thinking this could be an inherited trait? Anyway here is a pic I took about 10mins ago, diagnose away please. I do not have insurance so I cannot afford a doctors visit but I am wondering if the pair of house slippers I recieved for Christmas could have caused the issue since they have no arch support? I have been spending everyday in bed since sunday keeping pressure off and simply because it hurts so bad to walk.
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Nope neither one as nothing has changed in my activities, I have no allergy's and would have a specifically visible bite area from say a spider. This is not the first time this has happened either but this time the swelling and pain is so much greater and has lasted longer. I'm thinking one of the reasons could be arterial concerning blood flow? Hell if I do not see and feel some improvement over the next few days I'll just go see our family doctor.

This is effecting everything in my life at the moment and I'm not a happy camper.

 

I would have went Monday but I'm unemployed at the moment and my unemployment compensation at the moment is so low I cannot afford the initial $65 cost, I may have to borrow it from my mom then pay her back. After my last post I realized that I have not been taking my high blood pressure medicine since this past August (so I took one today) and I'm not sure if that could lead to these conditions?

I initially got on them because my sodium intake (from Gatorade) led to a small case of hypertension yet this is the first time I have experienced this condition in over a year.

 

You may be right!!! I Wiki'd gout and cameup with this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001459/


I did not think of it because I did not know the causes but a friend of mine had it years ago because he was on a steak bender for a few months and he told me it was caused by his excessive beef/protein intake. My alcohol intake can be described as 'social' but with all my downtime lately I normally have a few drinks 4-5 days a week yet I drink about a gallon of water a day also.

I'll use the info provided and see my doctor asap.

Thanks,
Gregg

ps, I have noticed over the last few days that my urine is much darker than normal so this could be the buildup of the Uric acid which is a sign of gout.

 

A cyst would be visibly noticeable, wouldn't it? I am walking but very very slowly so I'll see what the doctor says.

Thank you for taking the time to help,
Gregg

 

No sir I did not and that is my conundrum.

I have been getting lots of rest but have not iced but I tried compression which made the pain worse and I try to keep it elevated as much as possible, nothing helps.

 

The commonly seen area's you mentioned leaves me little doubt that it is not gout. I never exceed my grams per lb of body weight for protein intake so I can honestly rule that scenario out. I'm 47yr's old and started experiencing this condition back in '09. I had thought about a good soak in epsom salt water but I know I need to see my doctor and hopefully that will be tomorrow morning. Many many thanks to everyone for their opinions, insight and advice as I have learned alot from everyone.

Thank you,
Gregg

 

AJ,
No I have no heart issues. It has been 3yrs since I had a full workover/physical while in the hospital and after all the test I was found to be in very good condition for someone 45yrs old. My family on either my moms side or dads side has no history of heart disease.

PT 328,
No sir my calf was/is normal. I did findout though that my moms side of the family has a history of gout. Alot of my swelling has gone down and the pain is almost nonexistent now. I will be making an appointment with my doctor to discuss what treatment will be best.

Thanks again,
Gregg

 

You see that was my issue aswell. Scenario: When I called my mom to take me to the emergency room back in '09 because I thought I was having a heart attack and $19K later she mentions to me "Oh yeh excessive sodium intake can lead to hypertension" which was verified by my doctors so I was like wtf, why did you not mention this earlier?!?!?!!?

Then I findout yesterday my family has a history of Gout which is an inherited form of arthritis and that was another issue that I did not know about.

 

Yes sir it has as I now walk without pain and 99% of the swelling is gone. I have only had 1-2 episodes per year for only about the last 3-4yrs but I will be preparing myself now and can hopefully remove any chance of another episode as severe as this past one.

Thanks for asking also I appreciate that ,
Gregg

 

Yes sir you are correct on all points and I'll be seeing my doctor asap for a treatment plan. I'm back to normal now but man I do not want to go through that again as this last bout was the most severe I have ever experienced.

Thanks again for all the help and insight,
Gregg