Cellulitis!

[jhjd]

This is a quasi-follow up to my darvocet post (interesting replies on that, btw- actually kind of makes sense, when you think of us as 'upside down' people, as has been mentioned before, that we'd function better on some dose of a c/s). Anyway, it turns out that I don't have just an infected toe- I have cellulitis in my foot, which I think may be spreading up my leg. They took off a lot of my toenail and removed a lot of diseased tissue from underneath, and the immediate problem is getting better, but the cellulitis isn't. My problem is that the major sign is pain (which I have in spades), swelling, and redness. Now, I always have redness and often have mild swelling in my legs because my blood pools! Plus, 'warmth,' another common sign, for my constantly cold extremeties feels like normal or even cool skin for a lot of people. So I'm caught between wanting to be careful, not wanting to overreact, and reaallly just wanting to get through this day at work like a normal person. Has anybody else had this? What have your experiences been?

Thanks!

[pastordari]

Be very careful with cellulitis. It can get really bad pretty quickly, especially with compromised circulation as many of us have.

If your doc isn't aware, at least call the office and report the symptoms. Elevate your foot - above your heart - when possible to aid the circulation and decrease swelling.

That's my two-cents-worth.

Hope you feel better.

Dari

[doctorguest]

Are you being treated with antibiotics? I hope so. In fact, many physicians would treat you with IV antibiotics if you have cellulitis that is not improving on oral antibiotics. I hope your doctors are taking this problem seriously and treating it aggressively. You would certainly not be over-reacting if you give your doctor a call now describing your current symptoms and asking a lot of questions. I think you actually would be wise to do so.

[jhjd]

Yep. Got an antibiotics shot, and have been on them for a week- first Cipro, and now Levaquin. Sorry- should have made it clear that I had already called doctor, reminding her of the fact that I've got dysautonomia and MVP (and therefore greater infection risk)- no response as of yet. Depending on how I feel in a few hours, if I haven't heard back from her, I may go to the ER. That's what she said to do if I had serious symptoms anyway. I guess I'm just wondering what constitutes 'serious,' which I know noone can tell me online! Meanwhile, I'll just keep typing away with my feet propped up in an office chair- luckily I have no client conferences today! (Cause, c'mon- you want a lawyer who has to practically lie down?)

[doctorguest]

"Serious" would mean the following: increasing pain, swelling, redness and heat; spreading of those to the non-affected area of the leg; feeling feverish, chills, sweating, headache which would suggest systemic involvement - i.e. bacteremia. It's probably a good idea to go to the ER if your doctor doesn't return your call by the end of the day. Unlike with POTS, ER doctors are great at managing these type of problems . Hope you feel better!

[Guest Eliza]

I have had cellulitis before and I have to say that it was the MOST PAINFUL thing EVER! I have tons of sympathy for you and you really do have to watch it because the infection can spread very quickly. Maybe mark with a pen the edges of the red area and that way you would know if it spreads even the slightest!

[flop]

I was about to post what Eliza has suggested. If you can see where the redness from the cellulitis stops take a biro and draw a line following the redness. Then if the redness continues to spread upwards above the line you know that you need to go to the ER urgently. Getting antibiotics into the infected tissue is quite hard so cellulits often ends up needing IV antibiotics to get on top of the infection. My grandmother had several hospital admissions for cellulits and it can make you really sick quite quickly.

Hope you're getting the treatment you need and start to feel better soon,

Flop