Extreme pain in fingers and toes

[sarahsunshine]

Yesterday afternoon Skyler went very quickly from feeling fine, to feeling pain in his legs, to extreme pain in his fingers and toes. Has anyone else felt this type of pain and have any hints suggestions? He's still in the hospital until the 24th.

Our thoughts:
Low magnesium
Diabetes (but he wasn't dizzy and it's 3wks post heart surgery, 1 week post infection re-op, 6 days negative blood cultures)
(Added later): Morphine withdrawl? He had the chest tube pulled Friday and they may have drastically reduced his morphine. Don't know. Will have to check into it.

Meds he's on:
Antibiotics: Cefazolin, gentamicin, rifampin
Pain: Tylenol, Advil, Morphine
Anti-coag: Warfarin
Blood Pressure: Enalapril

 

[Julian]

First let me say I want Sklyer to be back to being Sklyer ASAP, it saddens me to know he is going through all this crap, this OHS stuff is no walk in the park, and for many its the hardest thing they have and ever will go through, while others describe it as no big deal and are back to work 3 weeks after surgery. There may not be anyone to be able to answer this pain in extremities question exactly for you, but I'm sure there are many theories. It can be a combination of all the things you listed to a reaction in the body to all the things you listed that can't be seen. The body is like a giant melting pot of reactions and chemicals, and of course no two melting pots are the same. It seems as if all the "tests" point to him being okay, then the only answer/cure for the rest is just time. Once the patient arrives home it can take a year or 3 for the body to get back into its groove, in the meantime there is an infinite number of strange sensations that can/may/will occur some are only transient and some life threatening. I'll never forget explaining some the weird feelings, vision anomalies, mental/emotional mood changes I was experiencing in the hospital when I asked the doctors doing the rounds why they shrugged their shoulders and said "okay have a nice day", I seriously asked 5 specialist the same questions and they all had different answers, to be honest my answers were just as good as theirs. AS LONG AS THE OBVIOUS TEST COME BACK NORMAL, TIME USUALLY HEALS THE OTHER STUFF, AND WHEN I SAY TIME I MEAN YEARS NOT WEEKS.

 

[offwego]

Yesterday afternoon Skyler went very quickly from feeling fine, to feeling pain in his legs, to extreme pain in his fingers and toes. Has anyone else felt this type of pain and have any hints suggestions? He's still in the hospital until the 24th.

Our thoughts:
Low magnesium
Diabetes (but he wasn't dizzy and it's 3wks post heart surgery, 1 week post infection re-op, 6 days negative blood cultures)
(Added later): Morphine withdrawl? He had the chest tube pulled Friday and they may have drastically reduced his morphine. Don't know. Will have to check into it.

Meds he's on:
Antibiotics: Cefazolin, gentamicin, rifampin
Pain: Tylenol, Advil, Morphine
Anti-coag: Warfarin
Blood Pressure: Enalapril

sorry he's suffering...it's all scary till it resolves...

I wish I could help more..only thing I notice and it's minor but is he taking Advil? with Warfarin? Again, this sure is a small detail but when I was on Warfarin..I was told no Advil.

 

[rubywhistle]

I too have have twinges of pain in fingures and toes has not turned into extreame pain but is worrying! I havent yet talked to a dr about it. WHat do the staff at the hospital think?

 

[Duffey]

I've experienced severe toe and foot cramps when my potassium levels drop. I'm on a daily diuretic. Is Skylar?

 

[sarahsunshine]

Skyler's Calcium and Magnesium levels have come back low. Skyler hasn't been on his usual Magnesium supplements for about a month now so it's possible that it's low for that reason? I'm surprised that levels would drop that quickly. It's also possible about the Morphine. They will do a glucose test for diabetes but it's just so unlikely. It's also possible it's the gentamicin. In other words, who knows right now.

In terms of Advil (Ibuprofin, Motrin, etc...), Skyler is still at the hospital and this is what they prescribe (Tylenol then Ibuprofen/Advil alternating on 3 hours). We asked his doctor about this (and home use) and his response was that it actually isn't that big a deal if you take it every once in a while. If, on the other hand you were to take Ibuprofen and Warfarin together on a daily basis, then there will be an effect and it shouldn't be done. Also, since INR levels are done daily at the hospital that we don't need to worry about it.

The more I read about it, the more I think that someone has tried to wean Skyler from Morphine cold turkey....

 

[Guest]

Yikes ... thoughts/prayers continuing for Skyler ... and you, too, sarahsunshine!



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[Greg a]

Sara ask about Diabetic Periferal Neuropathy http://www.google.ca/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=0&oq=diabetic+periferal&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4TSCA_enCA359CA360&q=diabetic+peripheral+neuropathy+&gs_upl=0l0l0l12323lllllllllll0&aqi=g1 just one of my problems in life and it may just be temp until glucose levels stay in range

 

[sarahsunshine]

Thanks Greg.

Well, it seems to have improved. Mom says it's horrendous and real, Skyler seems to be mostly fine when dad is there, and if he does get pain, it goes away with apple juice or a shower. Go figure... Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is one of the things that I suspect, along with the morphine.