Have a painful calf one leg only ... uss shows no blood clot
Any one else please had this ?
Is it a Pred side effect ?
I'm quite concerned as no other GCA symptoms
ESR 7 from 39
Crp 1
No headaches at all this time around just presented witch jaw pain clarification
Calf pain is worrying mr something more is going on.
Sorry - really not clear what you are saying. Have you been diagnosed as having GCA again? And what is the leg pain like? Where? When?
yes, after 4 years remission it came back but no headaches this time drs just gone by my raised ESR 39 and ultra sound which showed up birds Halo effect .. on 40mg Pred but feel I'm in it without having the classic symptoms ... guess have to do as told and take them and see what happens
Was fine until taking Pred first week have a throbbing left calf pain hurts to walk on it .. uss was clear no blood clot !
Is painful calf a side effect of Pred perhaps ??
Pred makes muscles and attachments muscle to muscle and muscle to bone (ligaments and tendons) more delicate and easy to damage. I have had ruptured muscle fibres in the calf long before being on pred. When it happens it can feel like a popping sensation with sudden pain on stretching the calf muscle is in stepping off a kerb. It can be excruciating with movement.
It does not sound like a GCA symptom or possibly not even a PMR symptom. Is it the whole calf or just the back? I was wondering whether it could be the sciatic nerve or tendinitus or claudication. In fact there are lots of possibilities. If you are woried I would try and get medical help.
Morning 777s. I've had this, or something similar a couple of times now. A few months ago my right calf/shin was so painful I could hardly walk. Extra Pred seemingly had no effect on it, so I just had to up my Co-Codamol dosage. An Orthopaedic Consultant I finally saw, after the pain had gone said he would have considered Peripheral Vascultis. We never really came up with a solution other than it wasn't PMR/GCA related and it disappeared after about three weeks of resting. I have same, exceptionally painful, problem again now in my left leg and another appointment with the same Consultant in a couple of weeks. Neither of my legs has been/is swollen. As much as I want to be out of pain, part of me hopes the pain is still there when I see the consultant this time. As Piglette says there are a number of possibilities, although I had no lower back or buttock pain which probably makes Sciatica less likely.
that's interesting you say it does not sound like GCA or PMR as I'm sure I've not got a relapse! Just my gp doing a run of blood tests Markers which were ESR 39 crap 1 got referred for a USS few days later which confirmed as Boarder line GCS! Told to start Pred 40mg immediately which I did .... while having NO headaches at all! No aches and pains either
Just neck pain which I put down to a trapped nerve treating myself .. but did have a one off weird episode of left side jaw pain which eased once massaged. Have also, left side ear pain and swollen lymph nodes in neck and left jaw are up!
I'm sure it's something else and not GCA
While on Pred again the symptoms have been awful come back with vengeance! To in lise this left leg calf pain which started after 7 days in Pred ... not red or swollen just aches all the time and on walking, I'm wearing a Ted Stocking just in case as I do get blood clots in Pred last time after 3 days on 60mg ... I am going to request another leg ultra sound and maybe a second Head ultra sound as it was boarder line.
When saw Rheumatologist this Monday he was not sure either what to do, take me off or stay on the Pred. He said he has to go by the USS which does show clarification a Halo effect ... but I don't have any symptoms presenting as GCA
Have been sent to get eye sight checked out all ok Eye Dr said I don't you have have GCA too!
Symptoms are Ear ache and left side jaw lymph modes are up have been now for nearly 3months hence, visiting gp who have me Amoxcillin for a saw throat! Didn't work then said because esr is 39 you probably a return of GCA! I'm not convinced at all ...
ESR will rise for an awful lot of things - it is about the most non-specific marker they could think of! Symptoms are far more reliable and it is often said that an isolated raised ESR without symptoms should not result in a kneejerk reaction of raising pred dose. However - I do see why he thinks it could be if the u/s is showing a halo effect.
I'm assuming they didn't consider any other diagnoses that could interfere? Or the fact that the halo effect CAN persist for months after diagnosis although more often it recedes once high dose steroid treatment is initiated.
hello thank you for your reply back
That's interesting ... as I'm not showing the same awful painful headaches as last time, all my symptoms now are from being on the Pred again .. all seem to have settled down a except for the painful calf .. which as a another reply said it could be Philibitus ? I will ask this at next appointment ... I'm also going to ask can a Halo effect on ultra sound be caused by anything else than GCA? Perhaps someone here knows the answer to that. I didn't have PMr last time maybe In have this time around ... but when read dr Google (I know we shouldn't) !! it says people can't even turn over in their bed or get out of bed ... I do not have that at all ... I'm so confused, and by the sounds of my Rheumatologist he his too! Don't see him again until 4 weeks either
😏
This is the link for the paper where they mention it CAN persist
academic.oup.com/rheumatolo...
and is all about using the various arteries to look for it.
Amyloid infiltration in amyloidosis can also produce the halo effect - but I'd have thought there would be other symptoms if it were that and it is rare. Biopsy shows the difference at the cellular level. I don't know enough about it to know if there are other causes of it though. Persistence of the symptoms seems not unlikely.
Don't believe Dr Google on everything - some people aren't so bad they can't turn over in bed! But equally - without Dr Google lots of people wouldn't find their way here! It isn't all bad.
when I was on 25 mg pred, my left leg and foot were swollen and painful. My veins were protruding and I couldn’t put weight on that leg. Of course rheumatologist told me it wasn’t from GCA or prednisone. Had test done. Was not blood clot. Vascular surgeon said it was phlebitis. Don’t know why I had it but it eventually went away on its own after 2 months
During my time on prednisone for GCA I also developed a very painful left calf. The pain would start in my left calf very quickly when walking and my toes would get numb the longer I walked. I would have to raise my leg off the ground or sit down, but then it would start again. It turned out to be not enough circulation in lower leg and I had to have a stent inserted. I guess the vessels narrowed and had to be opened for better circulation. I hope this helps.
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