Swollen hands

[Nielk]

nielk your one of the very knowledge people on here that give good advice : )
you mentioned klonpin withdrawl could it be a symptom from that?
its funny because im going through seroquel withdrawls..and it is beyond horrible...doctor fist time told me to go off cold turkey i wanted to go off becuase id gained huge amount of weight on it...and i had to go to er twice they told me they didnt know why i was so sick....probably bad stomcah bug...come to find out i read on interent and seroquel can cause severe withdrawls when stopped..when i went back to doctor he was shocked siad hed never known anyone to have withdrawls he took off...

i was shocked he didnt know this info..so ive tried slowly getting off it for over a year now...i feel like i am dying...
i want to start back so badly...

how are you doing going off the klonopin if you dont mind my asking? hope that it is going good for you getting off it..withdrawls are a very hard thing to live with : (

Hi,

I don't know if you saw this but, I wrote up "my story with Klonopin" here: http://phoenixrising.me/archives/12200

I have been off Klonopin completely now for 3 months but I'm still going through withdrawal symptoms.

I don't know about Seroquel specifically but, I do know that most doctors know very little about how to discontinue medications properly. They know how to prescribe but when it comes time to get off certain medications, they fall very short.

We are lucky that we live in an age of computers and worldwide internet to help us educate ourselves. I have learned that we can't just blindly trust no matter how great our doctors are.

Unless one has gone through the agony of a difficult withdrawal, no one could imagine what a nightmare it could be.

You have my sympathy and I wish you good luck,
Nielk

 

[Nielk]

Lips swelling too definitely isn't a good sign. With your history of allergies, if I were you I'd investigate the possibility of this being an allergic response to something. Possibly even your Zyrtec. I became allergic to Benedryl, or more precisely I developed an allergy to diphenhydramine, which is the single active ingredient in Benedryl that makes it a potent antihistamine. There are doctors who will say it's not possible to have a histamine repsonse to an antihistamine, but quick googling of the subject shows I'm far from alone - and we're talking about a true allergy, not a side effect. My allergy specialist agrees that is indeed what has happened.

I would also take with a grain of salt any professional advisement that "it can't possibly be ____ because we haven't seen that before". Just because 99% of people don't present the symptom as are result of a drug doens't mean you won't. I regularly find myself experiencing the documented side effects of common drugs that "less than 1%" of the population experiences from it. And I've had an allergy doctor who claimed that my extreme fatigue and 18+ hours of sleep within the 24 hours after an allergy shot "couldn't possibly" have anything to do with the allergy shots. Mysteriously, it only ever happened directly following those shots, and was worsening each time. I eventually decided that despite the doctor's protests that in her vast knowledge there was absolutely no way the symptoms could be connected with the shots, I stopped and the problem disappeared. Years later I learned from another allergy specialist that I had been experiencing a low-level, lengthy form of anaphylaxis. Three cheers for common sense over a medical degree!

I'm not saying doctors' opinion should be completely disregarded, just that they're operating by statistics, book knowledge, and experience. And sometimes you may fall outside of all three of those. If that happens, you're the only one who can make a move to recognize the error either by obtaining a second (third, fourth?) professional opinion or by experimenting on your own with removing potential problematic things from your regieme.

Hope you figure things out soon.

Hi Dainty,

Thank you so much for your very wise advice. I agree with you that we, especially CFSers can have strange allergies or obscure side effects to medications. I certainly fit into this category.

Yes, common sense will many times win over a medical degree. It's scary, isn't it? We put our well being in the hands of our trusted doctors and in many cases they disappoint us.

Thank you for your reply,
Nielk

 

[lansbergen]

Does it feel like edema or like gas. I remember an animal became swollen. That was gas under the skin produced by a bacterium. I do not remember wich one. Too long ago.

 

[Calathea]

Before reading the thread, I was going to mention that I do well with anti-inflammatory patches (Voltarol aka diclofenac) put on my wrists when they swell up and hurt due to RSI, but on reading the thread, it sounds like something entirely different. Do you have the opportunity to get it investigated as a possible allergic reaction? Can you think of anything your hands have come into contact with which could be causing it? Now is probably a good time to make a list of all the possible culprits, all the way down to your washing-up liquid.

 

[Nielk]

Before reading the thread, I was going to mention that I do well with anti-inflammatory patches (Voltarol aka diclofenac) put on my wrists when they swell up and hurt due to RSI, but on reading the thread, it sounds like something entirely different. Do you have the opportunity to get it investigated as a possible allergic reaction? Can you think of anything your hands have come into contact with which could be causing it? Now is probably a good time to make a list of all the possible culprits, all the way down to your washing-up liquid.

Thank you, Calathea.

 

[Nielk]

Does it feel like edema or like gas. I remember an animal became swollen. That was gas under the skin produced by a bacterium. I do not remember wich one. Too long ago.

Thanks for your reply, lansbergen. I'm not sure. It's just swollen - no redness.

 

[taniaaust1]

Nielk. Thou it sounds a bit different ..who knows it may be the same so I will share what Ive had happen 2-3 times I think it is.

In my case its just been one of my hands. My whole hand swelled in the same way it sounds yours is (to the same kind of degree it sounds like your hand swelling is). No reason I could find for it at all I(I had no other allergy like symptoms at the time) except that its probably just another one of the 90+ symptoms I can get with the illness. I wasnt on any meds or anything nor had I been.. so it wasnt in my case med related and the issue wasnt coming at all from my wrist as my wrist was fine.


I cant now remember how long this swelling lasted, from my poor memory.. I think in my case it may of been swollen for a couple of weeks? (maybe up to 3).. It really did concern me but I never went to a doctor about it (due to having no doctor at the time and just many terrible doctors I'd seen for my various symptoms which come and go.. so darn many different symptoms).

Like you.. I had no redness with this swelling issue, it just swelled (whole hand) and stayed swelled for a while. I will be quite interested in you find out what your issue is as maybe the same cause was involved with my strangely swelling hand.

I havent had this symptom now for quite a while. It thou went away itself. (I had that symptom I think it was at the time when I was getting also a lot of neuro symptoms eg the tremors and the spasms).
..................

My other thought is something like systemic mastocytosis..can cause body parts to get swelling but in the pictures of those Ive seen .. they also get red.

 

[Nielk]

Now - in addition to the swelling, which has been getting worse, I have numbness and tingling in hands, fingers, lips (which are now swollen too) tongue and throat!
This is starting to drive me nuts!

 

[Nielk]

I went to a Rheumatologist today and he prescribed Celebrex for inflammation. In addition he took blood work to check for
markers for Arthritis.
Celebrex is an anti-inflammatory. Has anyone had experience with this drug?

I

 

[heapsreal]

Nielk, you tried the ice water yet??

 

[Sushi]

I went to a Rheumatologist today and he prescribed Celebrex for inflammation. In addition he took blood work to check for
markers for Arthritis.
Celebrex is an anti-inflammatory. Has anyone had experience with this drug?

I

Celebrex is one of those drugs with some questions around it. I haven't tried it but I'd suggest reading up on it.

Sushi

 

[heapsreal]

toradol is a strong anti-inflammatory which comes in pills or an injection from your doc. It can only be used for 5 days due to possible liver/kidney issues. But it is a strong med and works well for inflammation, good for when one is in a flare with pain etc. I have seen people in heaps of pain from a flare like a chronic lower back condition and given quite large doses of morphine which havent helped much but then they are given an injection of toradol and 30min later able to walk out pain free.

 

[Nielk]

Nielk, you tried the ice water yet??

I did try it and it feels a little better with the cool water (ice is too cold) but the relief is temporary and the swelling stays.

 

[Nielk]

Celebrex is one of those drugs with some questions around it. I haven't tried it but I'd suggest reading up on it.

Sushi

Yes, I am so leery of any pharmaceutical.

I'm searching for supplements with anti-inflammatory action. So far I got ginger, turmerick, omega 3 oil, magnesium, oregano. Any other suggestions?

 

[Nielk]

toradol is a strong anti-inflammatory which comes in pills or an injection from your doc. It can only be used for 5 days due to possible liver/kidney issues. But it is a strong med and works well for inflammation, good for when one is in a flare with pain etc. I have seen people in heaps of pain from a flare like a chronic lower back condition and given quite large doses of morphine which havent helped much but then they are given an injection of toradol and 30min later able to walk out pain free.

Thanks heapsreal.

My issue is more of a chronic problem than acute so I'm not sure if Toradol is a good fit.

 

[Sushi]

Yes, I am so leery of any pharmaceutical.

I'm searching for supplements with anti-inflammatory action. So far I got ginger, turmerick, omega 3 oil, magnesium, oregano. Any other suggestions?

There is a supplement called Zyflamend but I haven't used it personally. I think you want more of curcumin than tumeric (the active ingredient in tumeric)


Sushi

 

[heapsreal]

good natural anti-inflammatory i have been using is curcumin, it has helped with neck joint pain/stiffness some.
http://www.iherb.com/Jarrow-Formulas-Curcumin-95-500-mg-120-Capsules/13089
I think meds for inflammation should only really be used for flares, too many gastro side effects from long term use.

 

[taniaaust1]

Now - in addition to the swelling, which has been getting worse, I have numbness and tingling in hands, fingers, lips (which are now swollen too) tongue and throat!
This is starting to drive me nuts!

With the tongue swelling too.. it really sounds like an allergy response. You may need to try to work out what you are reacting too to.

best luck

 

[Dainty]

Neilk, it's sounding a lot like a continous and very serious allergic reaction. Which, if it continues, could eventually require an epinephrine injection to save your life. I'm not a doctor and that is not medical advice, just sharing my thoughts based on my own experience and what my doctors have told me with regards to my own allergic responses.

Someone gave me a link to a method of self-testing which I haven't yet tried for myself, but it comes to me highly recommended as easier to learn and more obvious results than the standard methods of muscle testing. Might be a quick way to identify which substances are suspect.

 

[Nielk]

Thanks Tania and Dainty for your advice.

I went to a neurologist on Friday. He did a nerve conductivity test on my legs and the result showed peripheral
neuropathy. He is sending me for a brain MRI.

As far as allergy, you might be right. The thing is that I didn't start eating anything new but, it is possible that I developed a new allergy to something I have been eating all along? Could it be some kind of toxin that I'm being exposed to unknowingly?