loss of circulation

melbas
Hi:
I am 2 years and more past treatment; yes, I had swelling in my legs while I was in the hospital getting chemo. After treatment I would have night leg cramps, and now I do have leg pain, although it is not severe. I don't know if the radiation and chemo effected my circulation. i will ask my radiation oncologist about it when I see him next week.

Best wishes to you
Alison

Angela_K said:

Hmmmm.
I have leg pain, ankle pain, some leg muscle cramping . . .but I thought it was from walking on concrete 8 hours a day. Maybe not?

Similar Symptoms
I had similar symptoms except every bone in my body ached and I was tired all the time no matte how much rest I got. I talked to my internist and he took me off my cholesterol medication(Lipitor). He said these were symptoms of side effects of cholesterol medication. Symptoms disappeared in around two weeks after discontinuting take Lipitor. I don't know if you are on cholesterol medication but if you are you may want to discuss with your doctor.

mp327 said:

Lipitor
I take 40 mg. of Lipitor daily for my cholesterol and I do seem to have a lot more body aches these days. I'm going to ask a pharmacist friend of mine if this is a common side effect. I would love to not feel like I'm 90 years old some days!

I Know What You Mean
I felt the same until I quit taking Lipitor. I would suggest consulting with your primary care physican before discontinuing. I am supposed to follow up with my doctor after discontinuing taking Liptor and have not done so yet. I am sure he will want to do blood work and maybe put me on another cholesterol medication. I have not been taking anything since July. I feel great so far.
Mike

mxperry220 said:

I Know What You Mean
I felt the same until I quit taking Lipitor. I would suggest consulting with your primary care physican before discontinuing. I am supposed to follow up with my doctor after discontinuing taking Liptor and have not done so yet. I am sure he will want to do blood work and maybe put me on another cholesterol medication. I have not been taking anything since July. I feel great so far.
Mike

Hi Mike--
Yes, I agree about not discontinuing the Lipitor without asking my internist first. I'm pretty sure she will not go along with the idea, as I tried desperately once before to get her to let me stop it for a trial period to see if things improved. I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better not being on the stuff!

melbas said:

leg cramps
I don't take any meds for cholorestral. This sympton just showed up after my last drainage. My onc seems it has todo with the fact that draining also depletes my system of proteins, and getting platelets exacberates this problem as my spleen has gotten so large it just eats any protein left in my body. So again, there are treatments to help give me comfort on some issues...they just create more discomfort in others, I am extremely tred, yet I can only sleep for an hour or two at a time. Then I'm up for a couple of hours and I'm back out again. I've tried Ambien, which makes me sleep for about 4 hours and then I'm up again. And when I do fall aleep, my husband will wake me to see if I'm okay. For almost two years I have asked him to let me sleep when I'm tired but it doesn't seem to happen. My appetite has picked up, but on the days I don't feel like eating, he hounds me...telling my that I'm trying to kill myself. I just want to sleep, whether it's all night, or off and on during the day. Melodie

Leg cramps
I feel so bad for all the suffering you have endured. I remember a time I was in the port authority bus station in NYC and there was a homeless man so desperate for sleep, but the cops would roust him every time he found a place to rest, my heart broke for him too. Have u checked out the possibility of sleep apnea? My husband when he was heavier made a lot of noise in his sleep trying to catch his breath, snoring, gurgling, etc.. When he lost 10pounds he was so quiet, I thought he was dead and would wake him. I have adjusted now. You need to talk to your husband and explain how desperate you are for sleep. Menopause also could be the culprit. I use unisom w pain relief, I can sleep naturally for the first three hours, then I take the unisom. The ambien was too strong and only lasted a few hours. I woke up to use the restroom and fell into the wall and got a black eye. Of course no one believes that, but it happened.

I have leg and toe cramps, horrible, I drink a lot of water take supplements, if I mess up on the water, the cramps wow! I'm doing the best I can but there is always something new. Falling over is getting really bad, I have a 4x2 bruise on the inside of my leg right now. The bruises don't heal because my WBC is so low. I have bruises still from a fall in may. I have had incredible pain in my stomach now for four days, taking gas x to no avail. Had a soft stool with a lot of bright red blood when I wiped. Bllood in the mucous too and last week also. I wonder somedays when will it end?

I so know how you feel and want you to know I hear your every word and I feel your pain and I wish I could make it go away.

Enjoy your life as much as you, try to look past the pain and discomfort and hold onto the good things. I know it's hard. We will always be here to try and make it a little easier for you. Venting is such a relief.

melbas said:

cramps
Phoebe, thank u for letting me know I'm not the only one. I started using my cane last month but am still wobbly and clumbsy. They have told me how quickly my disease is moving, and I've decided to take as much joy out of a day as I can...pain be damned. I went in today to have 5 liters of fluid drained, remember I just had this done a week ago, and the best part about it was that my 2 yr old granddaughter thought she was just the **** riding on my wheelchair with me. These are the things I'm gonna focus on. Good luck to you and pray that it will get better, or at least find the joy in it. God Bless, Melodie

Hi Melodie...sorry to hear
Hi Melodie...sorry to hear about all this...my brother went through the draining of fluids from his belly too for awhile there and then it just stopped. I think his was called acites (sp?). As for leg pain, I too have been experiencing this a lot more lately, I'd say in the last few months more than anytime before. Mostly muscle cramping that is so bad I have to walk it off. At night sometimes I have really bad lower back pain...usually when I've done more than I'm supposed to do (bending a lot to pick stuff up or laundry). I find I can only do a little bit at a time (frustrating for someone who likes to do chores and finish and move on...now it takes me three days to do laundry!). Hugs, Marilyne

Hi Martha! I just started taking Lipitor as well about three weeks ago and it seems my muscles do hurt more now but I keep thinking is it is the lipitor or the radiation/chemo or whichever one side effect? I think if I still have severe low backaches by next week I will call my doctor as well (regular MD). Had a CT scan just a few weeks ago and an internal ultrasound and all was clear so I'm not too concerned about the pain being something else (this time anyway...I'd probably be freaking out if I had not had my scans done...). Hugs, Marilyne