I'm moving this as a separate thread because I really need your help guys!!!

Now I'm not trying to make a big deal out of this but last thursday, during his appointment with Dr. Baird his podiatrist, Alan came home saying he had two infections and he was put on antibiotics and then said to me "i need an operation". (Nothing to do with the infection by the way).

I immediately put a call into Dr. Baird and said "you think it's cellulitis, right? and he said "you are good!!!, but I'm just being careful. I'm not sure if Alan has an infection or not!. So I have him on the antibiotics. He was put on CEFADROXIL 500 mgs capsule 2 x a day.

I looked at the tops of his feet at this time and I noticed they were a little swollen and rough patchy. (whatever this means).

Well, I then noticed his ankles were swollen (or one of them was). I said as much to Dr. Baird and he said "melody, his ankles are always swollen. I never noticed this before. They never looked swollen to me. And don't forget he just was examined by the PN Department at Methodist last month and we go again on the 22nd of January. Alan also has an appointment with Dr. Baird this thursday.

Well, I just measured his ankles. I'm trying to be thorough. His right ankle measures 10 and his left ankle measures 11 and a half. So his left ankle is a whole inch and a half bigger than his other ankle.

Does this mean that if he does have cellulitis it makes your ankles swell?

The top of the feet look much better since he is on the antibiotics. He's only been on them since last thursday, Since two of my friends have had cellulitis, they told me "it gets really red, and really hot. and swollen.,
Well, last thursday, it was really red, (don't remember if it was really hot), but now it's just swollen.

We'll find out more on thursday,

Jeez, I hope he's not developing a blood clot in his ankle or something. He has absolutely no pain, no fever, no tenderness, nothing in this area. Just the swollen ankle. He's got it up on the recliner and he's not going to the gym. He went the other day and I could have killed him. He waited a whole 3 days until he went back to the gym. Now I told him "No more gym until you go back to Dr. BAird. Anything else he can do?


P.S. It's now 10:30 p.m. and I just checked his foot and his left foot looks a little like a sausage. The right foot (the one with the ulcer on the underneath), looks just fine.

So why would a left foot be swollen (the ankle part also)?
He's taking anti-biotics. Could they make the foot swell.
Alan has been eating blueberry muffins. Could they have some ingredient in them? But wouldn't that affect both feet?

What could be making the left foot swollen around the top area of the foot and the ankle also. While I know this is not the end of the world, I'm just trying to rule out stuff.,

I know he has to keep taking the rest of the anti-biotic. Do you think that will make the swelling go down if it is indeed cellulitis??

thanks to anybody who can figure this one out.


REmember, he has no pain, it's not tender to the touch, it's not hot, he's not bleeding anywhere, this is not the foot where the ulcer is.

Alan just told me that the whole foot has no sensory feeling in it. I though his neuropathy only affected his toes. It seems I have been mistaken. It goes up to his ankle in both feet.

But this problem only affects the left foot.

Melody

Melody,
If it were my husband, I'd call the doctor. There is no way for any of us to know if Alan has a blood clot, if the infection is worse, or if it is still the same infection. Call the doctor. Play safe.

Sure hope it isn't anything serious.
Billye

Before we go rushing to the doctor (sure, I can call him, that parts easy), the hard part is telling Alan he can't go to the gym, let me tell you that I just measured the ankle tht was swollen last night. It went down a whole inch. It is now 10 and a half inches when last night it was over 11 inches.

Also the top of his foot is less swollen. Maybe that's because he was laying down all night sleeping with his feet up on the bed.

Also, and I could kick myself in the head for not putting this in my original post, but Alan (since he had the stent) was put on a rather low-salt diet. In our house it was salt free. Nothing with sodium.

Well, in the past week, this guy likes pancake syrup on every single thing he eats. One serving has 110 mgs of sodium. Alan has it on his chicken, his vegetables, (especially his carrots), I cook with the stuff, then I pour it on after the stuff is cooked. So absolutely everything he has eaten for the past week is covered in pancake syrum that has 110 mgs a serving. So you know, he's getting a lot more than the 100 mgs right? AND HE NEVER DRINKS WATER. He's supposed to be drinking water, isn't he? I just told him and he says" "I feel fine and I'm going to the gym, it will help circulate my blood".

Also, in my blueberry muffins, (he eats 2 small ones). He splits them and pours the pancake syrup on them.

And two days ago I made meatballs and of course I added pecorino romano cheese to the meatball mixture.

Do you think that this sodium intake could have made the foot swell up. It does appear to be going down and he is seeing Dr. Baird on Thursday.

I really think this is edema due to the sodium (which his body was not used to).

I looked up swollen foot on the internet and it didn't say anyting about blood clots. It said that certain meds can cause it also. Besides sodium. Various treatments say "stick the foot in a bucket of ice water for 5 minutes, massage the foot, massaging upward", drink water!!!!!!!

what do you think?
mel

Still taking the Lyrica? This causes fluid retention.

It really looks like Alan has taste problems. He probably cannot taste
anything but sweet. Putting pancake syr on food? YUKKKKK

People do strange things with food, but this one Mel, is pretty odd.

Hi Mrs. D.

Didn't know that about the lyrica. I just looked at his foot and it's definitely less swollen than last night.

I also asked him "Alan, when you went to see Dr. Baird last thursday, did he notice the swelling of the foot on top", He said "Of course he did, he also noticed the rash and just in case it might be an infection, he put me on antibiotics". I said "oh, okay, so the doctor DOES know about the swelling". Alan just looked at me like I have bats in my belfry.

Also, he said "you know, I haven't been able to get my rings on my fingers lately, (he had mentioned this to me but then he always goes "well, I obviously have rheumatoid arthritis) which he DOES NOT HAVE by the way.

I then made him lie down and took some body lotion and massaged his foot upward (like it said to do on one of the websites I just went to).

And of course he's going to the gym after breakfast. God forbid he should listen to me and rest and elevate his feet today.

Oh well, we go there on thursday and soon we go and see Dr. Goldfarb (the PN specialist).

And god forbid if I see another bottle of pancake syrup. He has had this taste perversion thing going on ever since he was on the fentanyl. Things can't be sweet enough for him.

Oh, Mrs. D. I just went to the Dunkin' Donuts website. They give you nutrition value for all their foods. When Alan goes there for lunch after his gym workout he has a reduced fat blueberry muffin. I just noticed it has over 400 mgs of sodium. He asked me to look up plain bagels. They were worse. They had 610 mg of sodium. Just for fun, I said to Alan, "let's look up Salt Bagels".
They do indeed have Salt Bagels on their menu. Do you know how much sodium is in a Salt Bagel?? OVER 4000 mgs of sodium. We nearly fell off the chair. I couldn't believe what I read.
I also can't believe that years ago, I used to eat these things with cream cheese. It's a wonder I didn't swell up like a balloon.

Will update.

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond.

I'm just a worry wart.

Take care,
Melody

He says the lyrica just takes the edge off, it's not miracle cure.
So is this fluid retention for life, or will it adjust. Have any ideas?? We will be calling Dr. Fred later on today.

who had fluid retention go away on Lyrica or Neurontin. It is a given for the
drugs. Some have extreme effects..some less so. But there is always some.

Sodium is the most plentiful mineral in food. You can't avoid it.
But avoiding artificially high items like salt bagels, pickles, and canned soups,
is basically what the low sodium diet is geared for. Not salting food is another way to avoid high sodium. But there is substantial sodium in all dairy products.
This is because milk to the young animal from the mother, is vital. So dairy has sodium.

No doctor expects you to go below 2 grams a day.

You might want to give Alan a zinc supplement. OptiZinc is the best one out there and not expensive. Low zinc levels usually cause taste/smell perversion.
Low zinc also affects HEALING and zinc therapy is a cornerstone for wound management. So with both taste problems and a poorly healing wound...zinc would be a good idea for Alan! I would start at one a day. Bring this up with the doctor...if he wants a higher dose, he can recommend that.

Melody, you know I have been on Lyrica for some time now and I have never had any swelling around my ankles or feet. I must be one of the lucky ones (usually I am not) because I even lost weight when I first went on it.

Well, must get busy

A long time ago, the doctors at Coney Island Hospital (when Alan was first diagnosed with PN, told him to stop taking zinc.

So he did.

However, he presently takes a vitamin supplment which includes zinc, 15 mg once a day.

Is this sufficient?

We shall ask Dr. Baird on Thursday, when we see him.

thanks to all of you. Melody


this is how I see all of us, dancing in a circle

Hi Melody, the swelliing of the feet and ankles is why I could not take Lyrica. It started around week 2 or 3, can't remember. I have heard from others that it is a side effect also. I would call the doc today and just ask about it. I was only on 75mg once a day ( I think, I have tried so many different things that I forget what and how much) After I stopped the Lyrica my feet were back to normal in a day or so...Sue

But if it's the lyrica, wouldn't it affect BOTH FEET???

This is only one of his feet!!!!!

Honestly, I think it's all the stuff with the sodium. His foot definitely went down quite a bit since last night.

I don't want to hit this doctor with a lot of questions. He's going to be my doctor soon and I want to make sure it's NOT the sodum before I make any calls to Dr. Fred.

I can of course call up Dr. Baird, but he's the podiatrist and he won't tell me "take him off the lyrica", he'll just say, "call his primary care".

I want to see how he is tonight and tomorrow. Then we'll make the decision.

Does exercising at the gym help or hurt when you have fluid retention?

Melody