Weird bruises on calves

[Gingergrrl]

Does anyone else get weird unexplained bruises? I have been getting multiple bruises on my calves without any injury causing them. My naturopath said might have "poor capillary integrity" whatever that means? Should I be concerned and can this be part of ME/CFS?

 

[daisybell]

I get lots of bruises, often without knowing how. Plus I am now getting patches of discoloured skin where the blood vessels have altered - a bit like some old peoples' legs look but I'm only in my early forties... I'm sure this must be related. My once good pins are no longer a source of any pride!!

 

[daisybell]

I get lots of bruises, often without knowing how. Plus I am now getting patches of discoloured skin where the blood vessels have altered - a bit like some old peoples' legs look but I'm only in my early forties... I'm sure this must be related. My once good pins are no longer

 

[golden]

I get bruises on my calves and thighs too but they fluctuate like with everything else.

Sometimes they are big and get worse over time until they start getting better.

 

[rosie26]

I used to get a lot of bursting blood vessels in my hands in the severe years - I felt like an elderly woman but I was only in my 30s. I still get the odd ones every now and then.

 

[minkeygirl]

Some times bruising can be from adrenals. Mine were anyway.

 

[Sushi]

Does anyone else get weird unexplained bruises? I have been getting multiple bruises on my calves without any injury causing them. My naturopath said might have "poor capillary integrity" whatever that means? Should I be concerned and can this be part of ME/CFS?

Poor capillary integrity could be an obscure "doctor-speak" term for EDS--a connective tissue condition (genetic) that a higher proportion of ME patients have vs healthies. I have EDS and my veins are more fragile than most.

Has he checked your coagulation? It is common for ME/CFS patients to have hyper-coagulation (something to do with viruses and infections ), but I spose it could go the other way to0.

Sushi

 

[Gingergrrl]

Just wanted to add that my "lymphocyte percent auto" test from the ER was supposed to be in the range of 19-55 but mine was only 18.2 I know that it is just slightly below the range and probably nothing to worry about but does anyone know what this test measures and if it could relate to bruising? This test may have other names outside of the U.S.?

 

[manna]

in trad chin med i think they have blood quality and how it flows in the vessels as the spleen. in polarity therapy, the calves are a reflex zone for the large intestine, though i wouldn't necessarily tie the 2 together. cramping in the calves is, i think, the large intestine.just another angle

 

[Gingergrrl]

@manna, I don't know anything about the therapies you mentioned but I also get frequent cramping in my calves. This has improved as I have been increasing water and electrolytes (since starting Florinef) but the bruises are still there. It's strange!

 

[Gingergrrl]

I wanted to bump this back to the top to see if anyone else had any feedback or similar experiences. I literally have about eight bruises on my right calf, three on my right thigh, and two on my left calf (but no where else on my body.) I did not bump into anything and they are unexplained.

1) Can Florinef cause bruises?

2) Does anyone know which supplements can cause bruises?

Thanks in advance!

 

[SeaShell]

@Gingergrrl43
I've had a similar experience of bruises on legs, especially thighs. They'd come on without any cause that I could identify and then go through the usual phases of normal bruises - changing colour from light bluish - reddish - purple and then fading away.

I don't know the cause and they haven't been as frequent for a while. I have never taken Florinef and I used to get them even when I was not on any supplements. I suspect this has something to do with food, diet and digestion. I have been gluten-free, dairy-free for a while and have not had any serious bruises since then.

Have you noticed a pattern related to the kinds of food you eat, and how long before the bruises fade away?

 

[Gingergrrl]

@SeaShell I first got the bruises in 2012 when I actually had mono and they were all over my body at that time. My liver tests were off the charts at that time and they almost hospitalized me. My pcp had me see a hematologist who ran a lot of tests and was not concerned and felt that I was just slow to recover from mono.

The bruises eventually stopped but now two years later with full-blown CFS, the bruises are back (but just on calves/legs and not the rest of body.) They are worse since I started Florinef but that could be a coincidence. I am on a very strict diet from my ND based on food sensitivity tests (no gluten, dairy, yeast, soy, corn, sugar, eggs, etc) which has basically cured my digestive issues but also seems unrelated to the bruises.

The best answer I got was from my ND who said I have poor capillary integrity or fragility. I just wish I knew why! The bruises scare me and they also look horrible!

 

[manna]

has there ever been any problems with constipation? thats the main thing that comes to mind. you can have regular bowel movements and still be constipated as well. i certainly think that cramping is too much unprocessed food in the colon. i know a way to sort that but if you're digestion seems fine then must be something else.

 

[Gingergrrl]

has there ever been any problems with constipation? thats the main thing that comes to mind. you can have regular bowel movements and still be constipated as well. i certainly think that cramping is too much unprocessed food in the colon. i know a way to sort that but if you're digestion seems fine then must be something else.

@manna, I am confused, and was talking about bruises not constipation?!

 

[manna]

@Gingergrrl43 thats what i think might be causing it, in part.

 

[Gingergrrl]

@Gingergrrl43 thats what i think might be causing it, in part.

@manna I don't understand? I don't have constipation (and when I had the prior major digestive problems it was severe nausea and diarrhea- which are now gone with probiotics, supplements, GI Repair powder, and new restrictive diet.) How does this relate to bruises? I am not disagreeing, I just don't understand!

 

[manna]

diarrhea is quite similar to constipatiuon in that both are unable to form a healthy stool and so unprocessed food remains in the colon. diarrhea is generally thought to be worse than constipation. id be surprised if someone with mecfs had absolutely no unprocessed food hanging around in their large intestine (constipation) even with regular bowelk movements. what sits in your colon directly affects the quality and consistency of your blood (hence why dairy affects lungs-the surface of both organs has a high blood supply) and the colon reflexes on the calf muscle. one way or another, the calf muscle is the large intestine, of that im pretty confident but we can always be wrong huh.

i stopped drinking rejuvalac probiotic drink when my calves started cramping, due imo, to the extra acidity. meds can also aggravate this because they make the blood acidic, supposedly, which freezes the organs and leads to more non processing of foods and poor blood. not suggesting to stop meds oir change anythjing. just my 2 cents, feel free to pass. hope you sort it, eiither or.

 

[Gingergrrl]

@manna, not sure if this relates but I was diagnosed with Leaky Gut and put on the strict diet a few weeks ago which I have been following religiously. My gut issues (at least for now) have resolved so why would the bruises get worse vs. better (assuming that this relates.)

 

[ahimsa]

1) Can Florinef cause bruises?

2) Does anyone know which supplements can cause bruises?

I don't know for sure whether Florinef causes more or less bruising. BUT I can say that I've had fairly easy bruising all my life, I have been on Florinef since 1995, and I have not had more bruising after being on the drug.

I thought I'd pass that on for what it's worth. I know it's just a single data point so I don't know how helpful it is.

Most of the time my bruises are from bumping into something. But about half of the time I can't remember what I bumped or when (brain fog). However, on rare occasions I can even get bruises after scratching an itchy place on my arms or legs. I'm not scratching very hard at all, no visible marks at the time of scratching. But once in a while a bruise will show up later. Just another possibility to consider.

I think that vitamin K (leafy greens) and vitamin C are supposed to help reduce bruising. And aspirin and fish oil might contribute to more bruising. (and probably other things, these are just what I remember)

FYI, I completely understand your concern and wanting to make sure it's not a sign of some other problem. Good luck.

 

[Gingergrrl]

I don't know for sure whether Florinef causes more or less bruising. BUT I can say that I've had fairly easy bruising all my life, I have been on Florinef since 1995, and I have not had more bruising after being on the drug.

I thought I'd pass that on for what it's worth. I know it's just a single data point so I don't know how helpful it is.

Most of the time my bruises are from bumping into something. But about half of the time I can't remember what I bumped or when (brain fog). However, on rare occasions I can even get bruises after scratching an itchy place on my arms or legs. I'm not scratching very hard at all, no visible marks at the time of scratching. But once in a while a bruise will show up later. Just another possibility to consider.

I think that vitamin K (leafy greens) and vitamin C are supposed to help reduce bruising. And aspirin and fish oil might contribute to more bruising. (and probably other things, these are just what I remember)

FYI, I completely understand your concern and wanting to make sure it's not a sign of some other problem. Good luck.

@ahimsa Sorry for my delayed response and I really appreciated your feedback. I really do not think my bruises are from Florinef after all as I am only taking 1/4 pill per day. I have not bumped into anything that could be causing the bruises and they are just appearing (several new ones each day) on my calves. I do eat a lot of greens (well as much as I can?!) and also take 1000 mg of liposomal Vit C per day. I do not ever take aspirin or fish oil as you mentioned so it remains a mystery.

My ND was really concerned at my last appt and took pictures of the bruises with her phone to try to figure out what is going on. The weird part is that the bruises are strictly on the outsides of my calves (unlike when I had mono, they were all over my body.) I see the ME/CFS specialist in about a week and a half and am hoping he has some insight into the bruises. Not just b/c they look awful but b/c I am worried why they are suddenly there! I am trying not to get scared about it.

 

[LisaGoddard]

Hi, I also get unexplained bruises on my legs. I think I have EDS as I'm very loosely jointed so perhaps that is the cause. I wondered if it was because I was taking high Vitamin C and E (as I think they may cause blood thinning). I dropped the Vit E and have started supplementing with Vitamin K which improves blood clotting and it seems to help.