Skip to main content

WTF... My Leg Hurts!








Hi everyone! It’s been awhile from my last posting… sorry.
All well on my mm journey- but there are some call outs as I adjust to meds and my body reactions to this interesting journey. A month ago I awoke in agonizing pain at my right leg. It was an excruciating leg spasm from what I thought was a subtle stretch. Well let’s just say I’ve been having problems ever since. I know somewhere down the line this has to do with these crazy meds being taken- after my 3rd week and alerting my team of weekly nurses, I was given a leg sonogram.
It was so agonizing waiting the final results, but luckily there’s no signs of the dreaded DVT everyone speaks about that is actually quite scary….
What Is DVT?
Deep Vein Thrombosis
Clotting that can form in any area of the body, It’s more prevalent in the legs. The huge concern is when these clots travel through -out the body and travel to the lungs causing death of pulmonary embolism. Some signs to look out for:
Warm skin
Red skin
Swelling
Leg pain
Like we don’t have enough to think about L
It’s important that we pay special attention to our bodies and certain signs that we’re given that there may be a problem. My regimen as an mm pupil I consist of daily aspirin 81 mg to be proactive of DVT just in case. Effort made for constant movement of the leg when you’re in a stationary position is important- light stretches through- out the day is necessary. We have to keep that blood moving without hiccups.
Recently, my myeloma RN suggested tonic water for leg spasm as it has quinine. Quinine was used for malaria and it seems to help spasms; however the views are mixed in regards of too much use of quinine as the side effects are damning – like:
Nauseous
Ringing ears
As the amount used in tonic water are so miniscule it’s not considered a huge threat but is said to help a lot… with that said check with your doctor before drinking. I’ll try it perhaps not nightly as suggested as my system was rare but caused some call outs to my leg in general. Never a dull moment!

More information on tonic water and quinine here

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for your positive comments....

Popular posts from this blog

Plugging Multiple Myeloma

I had a wonderful conversation with a new friend on the trials of myeloma, and it was interesting that we’ve both experienced to some degree the nonchalant reactions when faced with our disease. The saying to walk a mile in one's own moccasins could never be far from the truth, sometimes you get the feeling that no one cares or your cause and or experience is not of interest...., or better yet taken seriously.... I'm reviewing various sources to promote Another Face of Multiple Myeloma , and after extensive research I found there a not many books on patient related experiences, which I find odd, with the exception of popular myeloma blogger Pat Killingsley, I found just two other personal stories from author's penned memoirs on myeloma, and one unfortunately passed away and the other I'm desperately trying to gather contact information. I was in the process of working with a top myeloma foundation to present my book to readers that could possbly relate to my experi...
4 comments
Read more

Out of Commision

Hello Fellow Readers, Excuse the short absence. I was ill with some kind of strange viral infection- that no one knows for sure what it was..... This was one time I knew for sure MM was about to be the death of me! What started off as a quick turn sore throat to losing my voice in 1 day, to an ear infection the next day, to horrendous back spasms- i cannot tell you how much pain i was in. Now this may not have had anything to do with MM, but the back spasm and me crawling and dropping to the floor due to the pain.... I cannot tell you how crazy the experience has been. My concern was even more intense with the back spasms, as it was at my lower spine, where I already have small indications of lesions, so you can imagine how scary this was. I recovered from this, but hope there was no damage done, but my practioner assured me if there was fractions, I would not be about to bend and do some of the tests he had me do. I'll need to share this experience with my oncologist in th...
2 comments
Read more

My Story is Your Story.... Or Is it?

Okay, it's clear those with mm have experienced different journeys than others, whether doctor care, medicine faux paus, infections, lesions, renal issues, anemia, Thrombosis, or no signs of  lingering harsh effects at all. My pain in the $#^ with myeloma as of this Tuesday April 23 is just the slight uncomfortable discomfort ever so lightly in the lower chest area, like someone gave me a hard push in the chest, or the slight pain at the lower back, where the lesion is being watched once a year with hopes it doesn't act up and calling for treatment. My only treatment thus far has been radiation at the chest sternum, and me hoping my skin turns back to normal, well 2 1/2 years in, I've realized this isn't going to happen! Radiation burn is just that a horrible burn! Health coverage - no issues yet, but than again I'm not on medicine so not sure of the bull that comes with having to be medicated for a specific amount of time. Bone marrow transplan...
2 comments
Read more