Bruised toes, help!

[Mb]

Hello All:

It has been a few months since my husband has had any real issues, but this morning, he wokeup to find all of his toes bruised and swollen, on the top. He had his coumaden checked and it was 3.5 - The directed him to a PA, who said she thought it might be pressure from something. His feet are ice cold. Any thoughts??

Marybeth

 

[LDS4ME]

Have Bruises Also

Have Bruises Also

Hi My Level Is 3.8 And I Have Noticed Brusing On My Legs Too And I Dont Know Why This Would Get Like This At Such Low Level I Had My Adjusted Recently So Its Lower Now.i Dont Know If I Should Go Into Dr Or Not Last Time This Happened The Dr Hadnt A Clue And I Had Ended Up In The Hospital For 4 Days I Recvied 5 Pints Of Blood It Wasnt Until The 5th One That I Began To Feel Better Its Been 1yr Now Take Care Chris

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Hello All:

It has been a few months since my husband has had any real issues, but this morning, he wokeup to find all of his toes bruised and swollen, on the top. He had his coumaden checked and it was 3.5 - The directed him to a PA, who said she thought it might be pressure from something. His feet are ice cold. Any thoughts??

Marybeth

Cold Feet? Could be a blockage in the legs somewhere. Try taking his Blood Pressure in all 4 limbs and compare. Or feel for his pulse in his feet (I don't remember where to look, sorry).

I stubbed my big toe on a tree root (wearing slippers outdoors - Yeah, I know) and that toe turned all sorts of colors over the next two weeks. It's OK now.

Hope his return to normal also. Just don't hold your breath!

'AL'

 

[arlice]

Purple toes?

Purple toes?

Maybe you should check into a side effect of coumadin called "Purple toes syndrome". It happened to me and I had to quit taking coumadin. I was taking it for afib. I don't know what they do if you have an artificial valve. I believe it's caused by small emboli of cholesterol. It was explained to me by my doctor that the coumadin causes the cholesterol to break loose and these small emboli block the small capillaries in the toes.

 

[Marge]

<< Purple toes syndrome can occur when taking Coumadin, usually 3 to 10 weeks after the start of anticoagulation therapy. Symptoms include dark purplish or mottled color of the toes that turns white when pressure is applied and fades when you elevate your legs, pain and tenderness of the toes, and change in intensity of the color over a period of time. If any of these symptoms develop, notify your doctor immediately.>>
http://www.infagra.com/c/coumadin.html

 

[Mb]

Thank you thank you, for all of the replies.

It is now Sunday morning, and I went again here, as last night when we went to bed, his toes looked worse. Every single one of his toes is bruised.

Yes, his feet are cold, ice cold, most of the time. We've been told due to his height 6'3", his heart has to work harder to get the blood to his feet/hands. So perhaps this "purple toes syndrom" is the thing.

He has been taking coumaden for three years................and again, he was within range when he went on Friday.

I'll keeo you up to date.

Again thank you so much. - Marybeth

 

[Mb]

By the way, he takes coumaden for chronic a-fib, and two artifical valves. We shall see.

 

[McCln]

Has he been tested for diabetes, or any other issue? Get checked with the as soon as possble. Better to be safe than sorry. Just ignoring a problem can lead to worse problems later.

Caroline
09-13-01
Aortic valve replacement
st. Jude's valve

 

[Granbonny]

Marybeth

Marybeth

You say Hubby's toes are brusied? or BLUE? If they are BLUE..please take him to Doctor asap...Blue would mean not enough O2 getting down there...Saw that with my Father-in-law and Mother shortly before they passed. NOT to scare you.......I remember my first Cardio after surgery. Wanted to see my feet...Never looked at my feet again. Let us know how he is doing. Bonnie

 

[Nancy]

If it were Joe, I'd ask his doctor to do a complete blood count, just to make sure that everything is alright there.

At this time, Joe is having issues with his platelets. He has a history of blood problems due to hemolysis from his valves. But because of the low platelet count, he is bruising spontaneously under his skin, and the bruises are very nasty looking.

He went to the cardiologist the other day, and they did a pacemaker check. He got bruises from the sticky electrodes they adhered to his skin about 2 inches in diameter each. They are red and purple. His INR is just a shade over his range at 3.8, so it has to be the platelets in his case.

His hematologist will be checking him again in a few days.

If it goes too low, he may need a transfusion. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Mb]

DearEveryone!

Thanks for all of your replies. We have decided that first thing in the am he has to call the Dr. again.

He did have blood drawn from his right arm on Tuesday. He has a heck of a nastry bruise there, but the PA, and the nurses said the issues were unrelated when he went on Friday. Now I am not sure.

His toes are not really blue. They are dark red/blue mottled looking, bruisey looking, at the sides and the top. Every toe. All ten. Yee Gads.
We shall see.

Please write any more ideas!

Mb
PS Nancy - maybe it IS his platelets. We will sure know tomorroW

 

[Mb]

Update on Purple Toes

Update on Purple Toes

Hello All:

Well, after three weeks, my husband finally found his way to a vascular guy yesterday. It is now a bit over two weeks, and his toes have all faded to a yellowy brownie kinda color.

The vascular doctor did not know what caused all of the toes to turn purple. His pulses are all good in his legs and his feet, so no blockage there.

He did say that coumaden, a-fib and artificial valves do cause "showers" of debris (ie. purple toe syndrome), and that very may well be what happened. The good news is that the went to his toes, and not the kidney or brain. (well, yeah, we'd agree). So, the good news is that his toes do look a whole heck of a lot better, and the pain is quite diminished. (Oh, the "debirs" blocks the small capillaries, causing the purple/red look.....it is NOT bleeding from the coumaden.)
So, there you have it! - Marybeth

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Glad to hear the good news MaryBeth.

FWIW, I stubbed one of my Big Toes and it went through all of those colors you describe. It took several weeks (2? 3? maybe 4?) to clear up!

'AL'

 

[Guest]

I have seen one severe and one mild case of purple toes syndrome. It is not fun to say the least. Both did well. The bad case was expecting an amputation when he was referred to me. It turned out that over several months all but one toe cleared up and that one had just the tip lose its circulation. Eventually the tip just died and fell off and he did not require surgery. It was pretty amazing. At first I was apprehensive because his wife was a medical malpractice attorney. But then I figured out that he was screwed up before he was sent to me so I couldn't fail.

 

[Mb]

Hey!

I knew you would reply sooner or later!

We did go to see his cardiologist yesterday, who confirmed "purple toe syndrome". I do think he has a mild case, as most of his toes look fairly normal right now. He does have some pain in the ball of his foot next to the toe adjacent to the big toe. The terrible discoloration has faded from red/purple, to kind of yellow/brownish. Only a few of the toes continue with this discoloration. Sounds like it is not a common occurance. Thanks for your input! - Marybeth

 

[tommy]

"showers" of debris

That is a new expression for me. Al, any comments?

 

[Guest]

It seems that in some people unstanble cholesterol plaques break off in the arteries soon after warfarin is started. When these are in the descending aorta or lower they seem to plug up the little arterioles in the toes. If they are in the carotid artery it would cause a stroke.

I had 3 grandkids her all last week and bought a new computer so I haven't been active for about a week.

 

[Mb]

Dear Allowick:

Just so there is no confusion......my husband has been on coumaden for three years. It does happen, although far less often I understand, for long term coumaden users. And, he has been in INR range, every time they tested it this month. BTW, his cholesterol level has also always been good. Well, at least his total cholesterol level.

Leave it to my husband, if something odd can happen, it will!

Marybeth

 

[Guest]

It could probably happen to people who do not take warfarin too, but it is rare that it is not associated with a new start on warfarin. Glad that he is improving.