Swelling of the Feet, Ankles, and Lower Legs...

[CRyoul]

I also have a question about swollen feet, ankles, and legs. For the past few weeks I have been experiencing swollen feet ankles and now it's even moving up my legs from my calves to just above my knees even. the feet are so bad recently that it feels like the skin on them is going to burst open. Especially in the morning when I first wake up and get out of bed because they have been not used all night and when I first step out of bed the skin is pulled so tightly do to the swelling it is very painful. I also drink quite a bit. I drink vodka pretty much daily and about 2 pints a day of it. I thought perhaps this was the cause so I cut way back for a week but that seemed to do nothing to help it really. it seems to be getting worse week after week. I am really beginning to grow concerned as to why this is getting worse not better. I have been monitoring my temperature several times a day and it has always been normal. So I seriously doubt it is an infection because I have no signs that go along with infection such as, fever, cold sweets, shaking, feeling sick, etc. a few days ago my right foot was itching quite a bit so I was scratching it, the next day where I was scratching turned into open wounds, so I have been putting rubbing alcohol on those wounds several times a day and then Neosporin on , to ensure that I do not get an infection. I've been looking online and there are quite a few things it could be. As I said I've pretty much ruled out infection, I don't think it is my salt intake because I don't really use it, it's not caused from being on my feet all day because I am not. I was beginning to be concerned when I read an article about heart failure, because I already have issues with my heart (an artificial Tricuspid valve and pace maker). I called my cardiologist and told him of the swelling issues I was having with my feet and ankles 2 weeks ago and told him I was concerned about heart failure. He told me not to worry about it because and I quote, " I see swollen feet everyday, I'm pretty sure you don't have heart failure because you do not have the other symptoms that go along with it, chest pain, excessive shortness or breath, etc." Well that was a relief , so I'm thinking perhaps it could be liver failure? I have Hep-C and have had it for about 10 years now. As I said I drink quite a bit daily, so perhaps my liver is shutting down? What do you think and what do you think I can do to try and get this swelling to go down and hopefully away for good? Please E-mail me your answer or copy and paste what you write here into an E-mail and send it to my e-mail account on this site my username is "CRyoul". Because I've never been to this site before and doubt I will be able to find it again =). Thank you for your help with this matter. btw I am 36 years old. White Male. if that matters at all when it comes to this issue. Thanks again. Chris

-  OK I just Uploaded the pictures of the swollen feet, Ankles, and Lower Legs to my profile.  To get a better idea of what I'm talking about please view my Profile "CRyoul" and click on my photos, and then select the album titled "Swollen Feet, Ankles, and Lower Legs 2-1-2012".  Thank you very much for your help with this matter, I welcome any and all feedback, suggestions, advice, or opinions on this matter.  - Chris =)

[Willy50]

If you happen to find the site again just click on the little box beneath where you post;

[ X ] Add to watch list.

When you get a reply, you'll get a notice; maybe one per day.  Follow the link in your e-mail back to this thread

I think I would consider going to the ER or going to the doctors and showing him, or sending pics by email.  Phone them and send them pics saying you think it's serious and people have urged a trip to the ER.

You may also need a hepatologist.  You might ask either at the ER or your doctor for a fibrosure test; a blood test which approximates liver damage; results in 3-5 days and a relative low cost.

I think you may have more serious issues than you think/ your doctor thinks.  A guy your age on all these drugs w/ all these issues?  Something ain't right.

Yeah, it is vital whoever sees you knows you are HCV positive and the staging of your liver, what drugs you are on and whatever co-morbidies/health issues you have.

Also.... in all likelihood, no one is going to e-mail you.  
If you are savvy enough to find this site, join and add pictures you can probably find and read this thread.

willy

[nygirl7]

I PM'd him the responses so far.

[mikesimon]

"....If you are savvy enough to find this site, join and add pictures you can probably find and read this thread...."

That's an astute observation Willy. It raises some questions in my mind.

Mike

[nygirl7]

I think the problem is that he posted on a lot of forums all at once from what I can tell on the profile.....probably can't check them all often enough or something. Either that or the vodka.

GO TO THE ER or a DOCTOR NOW.

[CRyoul]

First off it's def. not the vodka... second I wrote that in my first post when I just came upon this site and wanted to post my question.  after I checked it out more thoroughly and found it to be a half way decent site, I joined and opened a username here.  I then figured out a few of the features on here and saw that you could check off "follow this post" which is somewhat helpful.  now that I am back home i just logged back onto this site with my new username and clicked on "posts" under my profile HOME and it listed all the messages I posted earlier, now I am just clicking on each one of the messages I posted earlier and seeing if there are any "comments" listed under my post if there are then I simply scroll down untill I get to the comments and read them, then I post a comment myself under that to EVERYONE to answer any comments that I have received from my initial post.  And yes I did post the same message on a few different topic boards, because I do not know exactly what is causing this issue so I tried to post it under any of the topics that I found listed that have something to doo with my medical problem, or what it may possibly have to do with (Hep-C, Heart conditions, General medical, undiagnosed, etc."  It has been roughly 7 hours since I posted these messages and i have already received quite a few very interesting and helpful responses that I thoroughly appreciate.  Just because I drink a decent amount, pretty much daily doesn't mean I'm out of my mind drunk all the time, on the contrary, you probably wouldn't even be able to tell that I was drinking if you saw me in person and we had a conversation.  That's what happens when you drink a lot on a daily basis, it stops effecting you as it used to and you build up a high tolerance for it.  Unfortunetly that is where I find myself these days.  Unless I drink a ridiculously large amount of hard liquor in a relatively short period of time, I will not become drunk , infact I would probably become sick before I became drunk to the point of being out of control.  either that or I would go into a black out and not rememebr most of what I did or said the next day when I came to.  But anyways, here is a brief description of what happened today after I left here at about 1:30pm to head over to the hospital....

I haven't seen a doctor yet.  I did show my cardiologist my feet about 2-3 weeks ago when I last saw him but they were only slightly swollen then, nothing like they are now.  I plan on going over to the ER tomorrow if I wake up and they are still looking similar to the picture.  Today I spent 5 hours waiting at the hospital to see the charity care woman and fill out that paperwork because I have to health insurance to pay for a ER or doc visit right now.  so after I finished that I was too tired to go sit in the ER for the rest of the night, so I will go back over there tomorrow morning and sit there all day tomorrow.  I will post what the ER doc tells me tomorrow.  I'm relaly curious as to see exactly what it is, what is causing it and how I can fix it.  hopefully I will get some kind of decent diagnosis tom. in the ER..
Thanks for all the input and please, anymore comments, advice, suggestions, opinions, etc. are more than welcomed .  
Thnk-you   - Chris =) .

[1oftheclub222]

Any alcohol is bad for your liver and affects it, it doesn't matter that you don't feel that drunk, that has nothing to do with it...it is sheer volumn of alcohol going through your liver...your liver does not like alcohol at all and if you have Hep C it likes it even less...it has nothing to do with how the alcohol makes you feel...

Hep C doesn't feel like it is damaging your liver until it is too late, same with the alcohol...but I understand how one could justify that it is not so bad for you...

Hope they fix your feet quickly, that's looks so painful...