Blue Fingernails

My husband suddenly became ill last night, developed within a few hours of dinner. It was a fairly quick onset, but all of his symptoms seem to correspond with a common flu bug, 'tis the season after all.

He had a fever through the night and all day, which finally just broke. He dealt with several bouts of bad, but not painful diarrhea, upset stomach enough to be sick once, but has managed to keep food down this afternoon. He is also experiencing overall muscle fatigue & weakness. Sinuses & chest are clear of congestion.

The part that concerns me is that both of his thumb nailbeds are tinged purple/blue to about halfway up.

I know that the cause of this is a drop in blood oxygen levels. But I've never seen this associated with common flu.

We've both been exposed to people with colds, flu & 3 people with walking pneumonia just in the past week and a half. Oh, and he's been a smoker for the past 15 years. At one point up to 2 packs a day (@ 10 yrs ago), he's been down to @ .5 pack of additive-free cigarettes for the past year.

Could the smoking history be fighting his body's attempt to fight the bug? Or could we be looking at something more serious... and how long should we check the symptoms before checking with a physician?

[sherid623]

Probably should seek another opinion because they are way backed up on here!  Good Luck.......

[OneCarat]

Oh well, it was worth a shot. He's finally feeling better now... but his fingernails are returning to their normal shade much slower than the bug backed off. I guess we'll have to get it checked out to make sure it's not something more serious.

I hate not having med. insurance!

[sherid623]

I also do not have medical insurance and I have Type i Diabetes....literally we have our lives in our hands!

[Enoch Choi, MD]

a smoker with blue nails and exposure to friends with pneumonia would make me worry that his oxygen level is low.  i'm glad the bug backed off, but if he worsens, go see a doc.