A few days ago, both my legs from the knee down have swelled up heavily with fluid, but the right leg is really swollen bad, almost ready to burst. it’s leaking clear fluid.
I went down to the local emergency department, and the on call doctor told me to go home and take it easy, and gave me some water pills to take.
I thought at the least he should have ordered blood and urine tests, but no such luck.
On Tue my own doctor will be back from holidays so I will see him.
In the meantime, any ideas on what it could be? I am really worried. I am 37 yo and suffer from a disease called sarcoidosis.
The right leg is significantly more swollen than the left?
If so, did they check you for deep vein blood clots in the legs while you were in the ER? That is one of the most important things that should be ruled out before sending anyone home to get seen by their family doctor later. Such a check would generally consist of a “Doppler” or sound wave tests on the legs, or possibly a combination of IV infusion and xray of the legs.
If the legs were both equally swollen, the need for such testing is greatly reduced.
Thanks for your reply.
I went for a Doppler test yesterday, and nothing showed up on the scan.
The technician also told me these scans don’t always show everything, so my frustration continues.
My right leg is substantially more swollen than my left.
Not a lot worries me, but this has really got me stressed out.
No, the Doppler test is not perfect, but if you had a life-threatening blood clot in your leg, the Doppler would most likely have picked it up. And the fact that your other leg is swollen too tends to argue against blood clots anyway, since it would be very unlikely to develop one in each leg at the same time.
So that fairly effectively rules out the most common acutely life threatening cause. I understand your frustration with not getting answers right away, especially since you have sarcoidosis. I am not recalling off the top of my head any real common associations between sarcoidosis and pedal edema. Did they X-ray your chest?
It is rare, but not unheard of, for sarcoidosis to cause lymph node enlargement big enough to obstruct the lymphatic drainage from the legs. A purely mechanical problem, for what it’s worth.
I’m not saying that’s what you have. But if it is, the problem should be easily treatable. Stick with your plan to see your doctor.
When I was first diagnosed with sarcoid in 97 (which was later confirmed with a biopsy, my left leg was swollen then much like my right leg is now. This was an initial symptom in 97.
Gallium scans later revealed over 250 nodes in my legs and upper body.
Heavy doses of pred reduced these nodes greatly, but the disease has always remained and caused chronic problems.
The last 5 years my left foot has frequently swelled up, and it would come and go at intermittent intervals. My doctor always chalked it up to one of the mysteries of the disease.
The severe swelling of my right leg has me worried that one of my organs might be out of whack.