Red hot pain in thigh - DVT? Caused by antibiotics?

[snowathlete]

On and off today I've had a very sharp Pain in my inner thigh. It's not muscular, it feels like a vein or artery source. It's like a red hot knife. Hurts a few seconds or a minute at a time. May be worse when leg is elevated but not sure. Had it a few times today

I've had similar less painful symptoms elsewhere. All since I started treatment a few weeks back. I had what I think was a burst blood vessel in my little finger the other week. Similar pain, then that part of finger went a bit purple like a deep bruise. Has healed u since.

What could it be? DVT? Something else. I'm a bit concerned.

I'm on 300mg rifampin and 500mg Clarithromycin. Also
Some b12 shots and 4ME (Kutapresin) shots and a bunch of other stuff for immune modulation and inflammation. I feel it's the antibiotics though.

 

[Misfit Toy]

Hi snowathlete, I have had a DVT before. Very bad. I actually had to be put in a helicopter from the Emergency Room I went to and I had be taken to a city hospital. It's no joke. If you had DVT, you would probably have a fever, wouldn't be able to walk, if it's in your leg. That's what I had and it felt like a snake wrapped around my leg. I couldn't even walk and my leg looked like the size of a tree trunk. It's one of those things where you just know you have it. It's very serious, so if you think you have it, you need to either call 911 or your emergency contact in the UK and get to a hospital.

You need an ambulance to get you because if it was really DVT, you would be in a serious state and they wouldn't want you to move. That's how much of an emergency it is. I was not able to leave my bed. I was severely sedated. They didn't want me to get up for fear it would go to my heart.

If that's what you think you really have, get on it now. If it's just a slight bother, get to a doctor or hospital. DVT's are no joke. Not sure if an antibiotic can cause one. I had one due to surgery. Wasn't moving at all. That brought it on.

Honestly, I think if you had a DVT, you would't be able to type this right now. You would be so sick. I had a 102 fever from it. That's the norm. I was in the hospital for 7 days with it, drugged to the max to prevent me from moving. I was told that I would die. I had a 5 vein/artery DVT in my inner thigh. They were going to do surgery, but if that had happened, I would not be able to walk on that leg again, so they waited it out. THANK GOD. I was on Coumadin for months and Heparin. I was not allowed to stand, but for only 15 minutes an hour for 3 months once getting out of hospital.

See link below for more info. It says it all. I don't think you have it, but if you do, please call a doctor. Don't wait. Also, I didn't have a knife like feeling. My leg felt like it was being strangled and suffocated from the amount of blood that was bringing on the "blockage."

http://www.webmd.com/dvt/deep-vein-thrombosis-dvt-symptoms-diagnosis

 

[Sasha]

I agree - call a doctor, Joel! As an emergency case!

 

[Sasha]

I see this was written at 3 am - are you OK, snowathlete?

 

[snowathlete]

The Spitfire - thanks for that. Sounds horrible what you went through. My problem is definitely not as bad as yours, but then the link you sent says half of cases have no symptoms. So I'm reassured, but still uncertain I guess. In the end I got to sleep and I woke upshot morning so that's nice.
Some antibiotics can have coaglagulatory effects. I looked my two up but can't find much, though it seems rifampin was linked with DVT in a small number of tuberculosis treatment cases in the 80s. But I don't know if that's significant or not.

If it happens again today then I'll get in contact with a doc I guess.

 

[Sasha]

I woke upshot morning so that's nice.

Some antibiotics can have coaglagulatory effects. I looked my two up but can't find much, though it seems rifampin was linked with DVT in a small number of tuberculosis treatment cases in the 80s. But I don't know if that's significant or not.

If it happens again today then I'll get in contact with a doc I guess.

You woke up shot? What?

snowathlete - seriously, I'd phone the doctor now. Don't wait for it to happen again - phone the surgery and say you're worried that you might have had intermittent symptoms of DVT and when you're put through, tell them your concerns. This could be very serious indeed. I'm no doctor but if this is happening intermittently you want to get ahead of it, not be waiting for it to become a crisis. If I were in your position I'd be on the phone right now.

 

[Countrygirl]

Hello Snowathlete,

I do hope you'll be checked out today and I sincerely hope this is nothing serious.

I'll share something with you that may be relevant as your description reminded me of a condition I have: repeated superficial thrombosis. Your description of the incident with your thumb alerted me to this possibility.

I don't know if this is relevant to your present problem, but over many years I have had repeated superficial blood clots. In my experience, when they occur in an area which has little fat or muscle there is a visible long swelling. In other areas, like the leg, a swelling may not be visible. After a while, a large bruise develops and the pain disappears. However, it can cause phlebitis and that is quite painful. When I had it in my calf muscle, I had trouble walking for weeks as I couldn't straighten my leg. I have had about eight of them so far. Individually, they are of no consequence as a rule and my doctor wasn't interested once they were diagnosed; however, when you have repeated occurrences it could be a sign of Hughes Syndrome. This was flagged up on the MEA's web site as a diagnosis that has been found to be associated in some way with ME (sorry to be vague, but I can't recall the context). Hughes is a recently labeled condition and is autoimmune in origin. It can be serious, and may be triggered by certain medications.

The above is just something to bear in mind in case it explains your problem.

I do hope it clears up rapidly with no re-occurrences.

best wishes,

C.G.

 

[snowathlete]

You woke up shot? What?

lol. Stupid predictive text on my ipod...I think I meant, "I woke up this morning.."

seriously, I'd phone the doctor now. Don't wait for it to happen again - phone the surgery and say you're worried that you might have had intermittent symptoms of DVT and when you're put through, tell them your concerns. This could be very serious indeed. I'm no doctor but if this is happening intermittently you want to get ahead of it, not be waiting for it to become a crisis. If I were in your position I'd be on the phone right now.

The thing is, unless I go in with worse symptoms they aren't likely to take it seriously. My doc will just say, come back if it gets worse or is still happening in two month's time. If I want to see a doctor today I'll have to go to sit and wait, which means two hours sat in a packed waiting room, and I don't think I have it in me. It hasn't happened so far today either. I'm going to email De Meirleir's clinic though and just raise the concern. If it's something he has seen before then he'll likely know if it's a problem or not. If it does happen later then I'll probably go to out of hours this evening (because it is a lot quicker than trying to see a doctor in the day )

 

[snowathlete]

Hello Snowathlete,

I do hope you'll be checked out today and I sincerely hope this is nothing serious.

I'll share something with you that may be relevant as your description reminded me of a condition I have: repeated superficial thrombosis. Your description of the incident with your thumb alerted me to this possibility.

I don't know if this is relevant to your present problem, but over many years I have had repeated superficial blood clots. In my experience, when they occur in an area which has little fat or muscle there is a visible long swelling. In other areas, like the leg, a swelling may not be visible. After a while, a large bruise develops and the pain disappears. However, it can cause phlebitis and that is quite painful. When I had it in my calf muscle, I had trouble walking for weeks as I couldn't straighten my leg. I have had about eight of them so far. Individually, they are of no consequence as a rule and my doctor wasn't interested once they were diagnosed; however, when you have repeated occurrences it could be a sign of Hughes Syndrome. This was flagged up on the MEA's web site as a diagnosis that has been found to be associated in some way with ME (sorry to be vague, but I can't recall the context). Hughes is a recently labeled condition and is autoimmune in origin. It can be serious, and may be triggered by certain medications.

The above is just something to bear in mind in case it explains your problem.

I do hope it clears up rapidly with no re-occurrences.

best wishes,

C.G.

Thanks C. G. Thats interesting about superficial thrombosis - could be.
I don't have any noticable swelling. My thighs are quite big though so if it was deep, as it feels, then I might not see any, I guess. But my finger didnt swell either - maybe a tiny tiny bit, but nothing significant.
I've no history of blood clots.

I'll keep Hughes Syndrome in mind too. Thanks for the info.

 

[Sasha]

lol. Stupid predictive text on my ipod...I think I meant, "I woke up this morning.."



The thing is, unless I go in with worse symptoms they aren't likely to take it seriously. My doc will just say, come back if it gets worse or is still happening in two month's time. If I want to see a doctor today I'll have to go to sit and wait, which means two hours sat in a packed waiting room, and I don't think I have it in me. It hasn't happened so far today either. I'm going to email De Meirleir's clinic though and just raise the concern. If it's something he has seen before then he'll likely know if it's a problem or not. If it does happen later then I'll probably go to out of hours this evening (because it is a lot quicker than trying to see a doctor in the day )

Could you phone NHS Direct? I did this when I had a severe pain in my side and difficulty breathing and didn't know what to do (turned out to be an intercostal muscle spasm!) and they sent an ambulance. I hadn't asked for one - they just heard 'difficulty breathing' and didn't mess about. If they think you're an emergency they'll deal with it straight away - if they think it's less of an emergency they'll phone you back within a few hours, but either way you can stay at home and get an opinion. Nothing to lose.

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/

You still have the option of phoning your doctor's surgery and explaining that you're not well enough to come in. It might not seem a bad symptom to you but we're not doctors and although it's maybe not severe as a symptom, to a doctor it might indicate a severe condition that's urgent to treat before it gets worse. If so, your doctor should visit you at home or send an ambulance for you.

I totally get your frustrations with trying to get urgent attention via the NHS but I think it's worth making those phone calls.

 

[sianrecovery]

Many of my patients had DVT's, and while sometimes they could be pretty ill, a lot of the time they were ambulatory and able to kind of stumble on (I worked in addiction). Do you have any swelling or tenderness in that leg?

I agree entirely with Sasha - if you even suspect a DVT is a possibility, you need to go through the lengthy and boring process of going to A&E and being scanned. There really isn't much choice. Bear in mind if you do have a clot and it travels, the consequences can be swiftly lethal. Also, many of my clients who didn't seek help lost legs. So even if its a vague suspicion, do something.

 

[snowathlete]

A quick update. This symptom has not been as bad, but it hasn't gone away. Apparently it could be vasculitis related to the Bartonella so I've been told to take aspirin to reduce the risk of thrombosis.

 

[Sasha]

A quick update. This symptom has not been as bad, but it hasn't gone away. Apparently it could be vasculitis related to the Bartonella so I've been told to take aspirin to reduce the risk of thrombosis.

Glad to hear you got it checked out and you're under treatment - I hope it resolves!

 

[LisaGoddard]

Good that you may have a possible explanation and treatment, Joel! Hopefully, this means the treatment for Bartonella is working?

 

[sianrecovery]

Ouch! keep alert to possible dangers xxxx