Pitting edema and vent

General
1

So I am having a new issue, and wanted to bring it up. I’m still in the recovery stages from my foot surgery in early June. Three days ago, I spent longer than usual with my feet not elevated (Zoom Yom Kippur services). My entire foot and ankle swelled up, and apparently my leg as well. I now have pitting edema on my lower leg that hasn’t yet gone away. My foot and ankle are not particularly swollen, nor do I have any increased pain.

I’m trying to figure out a few things. Is it just circumstantial that this happened when I had a day with my foot down? How long should I expect for this swelling to go down? Should I be worried?

I’ll have my next follow up with the surgeon in a week, 10/9. And actually my rheumatologist on the same day (fun times). So can this wait until then? There’s always something new and exciting to keep me on my toes.

1 Like
2

It’s been some time since your foot surgery so jump on a horse and have it checked soon. It might be unrelated to your foot and swelling is never good. Just my gut feeling!

1 Like
3

I’m with Amos @Stoney. It might be just your foot surgery - my mum had something similar for months after placement of a plate and screws in a smashed ankle, but it might signify something more serious - pitting edema on the foot can be a sign of all sorts of things not right with organs. And whilst we’d love to be reassuring, we can’t tell which is which. So go to your GP and get it checked. (I am so sick of doctors at the moment, I can only imagine how you feel).

4

It’s new, three plus months after the surgery. So I’ve got a call in to the surgeons office, and will probably call my gp. I would like to avoid urgent care if possible.

Interestingly it’s not my foot, but my whole lower leg.

5

Let’s adjust this. Both legs. This means that a call to the gp is happening tomorrow. Interesting that it started on one side, but it means that it’s not related to the surgery at all, so that’s good, or bad. I’m not really sure.

6

Fingers crossed for you Stoney.

1 Like
7

Let us know how it goes, my fingers are crossed too :crossed_fingers:

1 Like
8

Fingers crossed here three. Meanwhile keep both legs elevated and up your water intake too. Keep hydrated and things flushing though.

1 Like
9

How have you got on @Stoney?

2 Likes
10

I’ll be seeing my doctor on Thursday. Slightly annoying, but it really isn’t an emergency. If I develop any additional symptoms such as shortness of breath, then I’ll need to be seen more urgently. In the meantime I’m wearing light compression socks, and trying to drink extra water to help flush things out a bit.

4 Likes
11

Hope everything ok w you, and good outcome. All the best,

3 Likes
12

I had pitting edema in the lower leg and footd for a long time (about six months) before I went on to the biologics. And then it just disappeared. So it could just be a flare-up of sorts. I didn’t like it at all, I have to admit, but nobody I saw about seemed to care one iota!

2 Likes
13

Thanks @darinfan.

I had a basic work up done and “nothing” is wrong. I was advised to wear compression socks, keep my feet up, and lay off the sodium. Not very useful.

My doctor is theoretically happy with my biologic, and I am too, overall. It’s hard to judge. I’ve got a lot of crap going on, but I also had foot surgery in June, so my body may still be stressed out.

14

Well that’s a puzzle. I can imagine that might not feel very satisfactory. I hope it sorts itself out soon.

1 Like
15

So I’m going to add to my list. I had a total of three doctor appointments last week on Thursday and Friday. Thursday was specifically to check in with the GP regarding the lower leg swelling. The good news is that nothing showed up, so I’ve been told to wear compression stockings, keep my legs up, and limit sodium. That’s not exciting, but manageable.

When I saw the rheumatologist on Friday, I brought up the swelling, and other issues. My ankle on the same side as I had the surgery started hurting a few weeks ago. Sharp pain, like there’s shards of glass, on the outside side of my ankle. Bad enough to keep me up at night, but not absolutely constant. Definitely interfering with activity and rehabbing from the foot surgery. I tossed out there the possibility of gout. She said it’s certainly possible, and let’s check my uric acid levels. In the meantime, I’m already on colchicine, and she added in meloxicam. So I’m having some slight improvement since starting the meloxicam, but not as much as I’d like. Uric acid levels were normal, and my doctor is out of town this week to discuss the results.

She also did x-rays of my right hip, which has become more problematic. Shows no arthritis, but shows:
“Right hip xray shows no arthritis in the hip joint but there is punctate soft tissue
calcification in the right greater trochanter which can be from previous injection or trochanteric bursitis.”

All I can tell you is that the location of the hip pain does NOT match the area that they mention, and I’ve never had injections in either hip. That said, I’m wondering if it’s the other hip bursa, or iliopsoas bursitis, that’s causing that pain. Again, my rheumatologist is out of town this week, so I need to wait.

I’m asking to have x-rays of the left ankle. It’s not time to have follow up x-rays yet again post surgery, and to follow fracture healing in both feet, but because I had three fractures in my feet. . . . I’m tossing around the possibility of gout vs fracture, and I have absolutely no clue. I definitely need to get a better handle on things, regardless. If it’s gout and not improving, or if it’s (just) inflammation, I’ll ask about a cortisone shot. If it’s a fracture, that would be one of the worst things to do. Definitely an issue.

So if you were wondering how I’m feeling? A bit downhearted right now. I’ve got a lot of pain, and no answers. Not much fun. I was really hoping to be able to increase my activity level, and that’s not possible right now.

1 Like
16

Oh Stoney. That sucks. I don’t know what to say except I’m thinking of you.

17

How horrible not to know about definitive diagnosis, remember originally my gp thought I had gout before my psa diagnosis. Of course autoimmune issues can overlap, still have high suspicion lupus may be part of my issues, pink butterfy face rash having been a constant since teenagehood and during breast cancer recovery in 2003 hospital had spoken about suspecting I had it, will have to further investigate when poss. Symptoms w your feet are so sad, hope w speediest recovery

18

What a slog this is for you. You’re a total trooper you are, but even so … I think all of this is way too confusing even for @Stoney.

I hope there’s a lot more clarity within the next few weeks and a clear treatment approach emerges too.

Is gout something that runs in your family? Eldest son has had a couple of attacks of it & is now determined to avoid it at all costs - horrible thing.

1 Like
19

There’s no history of it in my family. But my rheumatologist did mention that there is a connection between psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and gout. I think I’m just extra frustrated over the whole thing that my ankle has been killing me for weeks now and my doctor is on vacation this week so I can’t even do any sort of follow-up.

1 Like
20

Thanks for sharing your rough journey with us @Stoney. It sure has been a tough go for a while. The ups and downs of this disease combined with all the other “issues” can really play on one’s outlook. It never ceases to amaze me how valuable hope is. We’ve all been on the “hope” train…”I hope the rheumy knows what they are doing, I hope my hair doesn’t fall out, only three months until I see if this biologic starts to work, if it doesn’t, I hope the next one will, I hope I can return to some normal activity”. Like Paul Simon sang, “No I would not give you false hope…” neither would I. But you have been through much, obviously have a tremendously resilient spirit and might just be closer to answers and solutions than you realize. Press on, your journey, all of it, is part of the bigger picture of you finding hope and being the encouragement that you have been! Sometimes disappointment is the door to a better way but until that way arrives we can get stuck in a “trough” of discouragement. Obviously my medical knowledge is limited but the U of L is a good educator. (The University of “Living with SORE-iatic Arthritis”) You’ve earned your Masters Degree from the U of L! Hoping for better days for you!

2 Likes