Lucky escape?

[Andy13]

A question to those of you who have had cellulitus. Have you ever felt the signs of the onset of cellulitus but fortunately not gone down with it? I've had cellulitus at least a dozen times however I've felt that I've had early symptoms of cellulitus several more times. This happened again yesterday however after a couple of hours the symptoms just disappeared. The pain which felt a bit like I had pulled a muscle in my thigh, just went. Just wondered whether anyone else had experienced that?

[Snaomi]

Never thought I had it and then it didn't materialize. I have had a few times when I had a scratch on my affected limb or where my toe hurt and was red and then it came on full blast and I ended up in hospital in bad condition. It spread rapidly in a matter of hours. So now when I feel something doesn't feel right I have antibiotics to get started on and get to the doctor immediately. No more guessing for me.

[Andy13 in reply to Snaomi]

Thanks for your reply. My challenge is I usual feel something is wrong, like a tight muscle, before I can see anything wrong. By the time there's any redness in my leg, often about 12 hours after onset, the cellulitus is well established. I suspect it varies depending on exactly what the underlying problem is with the lymphatic system.

[AnneBury]

There are times when I feel a muscle type pain, out of nowhere, lasts a few hours . I think "oh no, cellulitis", but it goes away. Have had it in my thigh and knee.

[MARILYNFJ]

Try a rheumatologist who specializes in arthritis. He may be able to help.

[Andy13 in reply to MARILYNFJ]

Thanks for your reply however I doubt that my transitory pain was related to rheumatism. I suspect it was caused by my inadequate lymphatic system trying, and in this case succeeding, in fighting off an infection. When it's less successful I end up with cellulitis.

[MARILYNFJ]

It took me a long long time to take my road less travelled, but that solved the problem. I stopped at nothing going a long route from doctor to doctor. Persevering made all the difference on the road to better health. If you ARE proactive you will leave no roads untraveled. Don't say no to what could be the answer with this illness none of us know a whole lot about.

[Hidden]

Coincidentally I saw Prof Mortimer earlier this month who diagnosed that some of the pain and flushing I get in my huge arm is caused by a trapped nerve in my damaged cervical spine.

I was confused by these symptoms as I thought they were heralding another bout of cellulitis.

[alfie19 in reply to Hidden]

Yes I was told the same thing with my legs the pain is excruating you can not move or walk it is totally unbearable and I get back spasms told it was sciatica due to the nervous being compressed now I know what the pain is I don't worry so much and pace myself and plan my days to suit me

[DeadfootMo]

I did not find the pain from cellulitis similar to a pulled muscle. But more of an actual burning pain in my foot and lower leg, my skin also went a different colour puce red and due to where it was, I could not walk without sticks. How the hell I got the cellulitis though beats me. As one of the specialists in contagious diseases asked me loads of questions to ascertain how I had it. Such as, had I been to another country, had I mixed with people from parts of Africa, and Eastern China, lastly he asked whether I'd had the condition before. Another specialist asked whether I had been scratched or bitten by a horsefly. When they noticed I had severe eczema on other parts of my body someone told me that my eczema must be the link as an infection can get in at any break in the skin and then break out into a severe form of cellulitis.

I was also asked by another doctor, if I had a fever, vomiting, any loose bowel movements or had I recently undergone any surgery.

The answer to all the questions was no.

So I found myself on an internal drip of antibiotics for 10 days followed by a fortnight of oral antibiotics , as such the antibiotics were apparently a life and limb saviour as the type of cellulitis I had could have easily led to more severe complications. I was lucky the infection had not reached the bone but they did say if it had they could have drained the area and hoped for the best. My god was I lucky and to think I had suffered for almost 48 hours before getting any help, as I was in the process of taking exams in IT. But the first thing I did after that last exam was get myself to A and E, where I was then referred to infectious and contagious diseases.

So this was the pain from full blown cellulitis a burning sensation with loss of feeling, incredibly painful to put on the floor and walk and also that awful discolouration and thickening of the skin. Luckily this too all faded but it took a good 6 to 10 months to return to normal.