It started with some pain in my knees and progressed to pain in my feet within a week. Another week went by and my legs broke out in red, hard lumps all over my knees down to my feet. When I finally was referred to a specialist I had more than 15 clusters of nodules on my legs and my legs and feet were so swollen I could barely cram my feet into flip flops and I could hardly walk.
It was pretty much the most terrifying time I have ever had in my life. For weeks I didn't know what was wrong with my legs and it hurt so badly. But finally I got into see the specialist, who tested for everything under the sun and diagnosed me with Erythema Nodosum, which is an inflammatory disorder. Thankfully a strong dose of Prednisone brought down the swelling within days and now a month later, besides a little aching and calf cramps I am feeling a million times better. I still can't walk long distances or work out for more than a few minutes at a time but I am feeling so much more like myself again.
My doctor says that now we need to maintain keeping the swelling and inflammation down, then we can work on trying to figure out what is causing this issue. It isn't anything major, as I have already been through tons of tests that ruled out the major illnesses and infections that can cause EN. Still I would like to try and figure out what the trigger was so I can find a way to make sure this doesn't happen again and so I can stop this side affect filled medication.
Here are a couple pictures from my legs at their worst. Now my legs look normal save for a few bruise like remnants of the worst of those nodules and a little puffiness just below my ankle.
Oh my goodness, that really does look painful. I'm so sorry you've been going through this. I hope they can get to the bottom of it soon so you can get off the meds.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry you've been having to deal with this! My husband had a inflammatory response before (not EN though), and his hands, feet and all his joints looked just like yours, so I know how excruciatingly painful it is.
ReplyDeleteThe draw-out worry while waiting for medical news is always horrible, so I'm glad that is over for you. Ruling out all those major illnesses must feel like a big relief.
So happy you are finally starting to feeling better! Good luck figuring out the cause, and getting off the prednisone.
Yowch, lady! So sorry you've been going through this but glad it's improved. I hope the meds work out soon as well because I know they haven't been a blast.
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