tendonitis in my foot which extends up my leg (or vice versa!)

I've had problems with foot neuropathy for maybe the past 10 years, and thought this current problem (for about a year now) was just a continuation of that. I've been to several foot doctors, all fitting different insoles, etc. I have chronic strong pain in the bottom of my foot (mostly forefoot), with pain radiating up to my calves. I currently take Lyrica which seems to help a little with the nerve pain.

But, last Sept I went to a foot doctor who said I had tendonitis and fit me with a tight elastic wrap to put around my instep/arch on both feet. This caused me terrific pain, and I had to stop wearing it. It seemed to cause nerves in the foot to really flare up. So that wrap seemed to be the thing that started the serious foot pain that has lasted for a year now. The Dr. really didn't prescribe any other solution for this problem. When I finally returned to see the dr, he did a foot mold and ordered orthodics for me. These just came and I am unable to wear them. They cause more pain. They are only 3/4 orthodics ending just where I need them the most - before the padding (or lack of padding) on my forefoot. I also have a very high arch.

I've been ordering various kinds of shoes to try to help this problem, but so far am unable to wear many of them. I find I need a very soft padded insole. New Balance seems to work but at the end of every day I need to take any kind of shoe off and apply various creams to try to ease the pain. This problem is very crippling to me in every aspect of my life.

Can you recommend anything that would help???

Hi,
Your podiatrist needs to listen to you. Tell he or she what you just wrote in this post and then have the orthotic adjusted to meet those needs. If the pain does not subside you may require an MRI.
Marc Mitnick DPM