Patient: 64 year old male, smoker
Symptoms: Burning, cramping sensation in both calves.
Pain sometimes shoots UP the legs.
Pain is blinding and lasts for 10 to 15 seconds. Patient cannot move and frequently has to lean against something until it subsides.
Pain happens sometimes when bending, sometimes when standing and sometimes (though not often) when resting.
Duration: a month
Patient is under doctor’s care. Prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs and vicodin. Has been on meds for a little over a week.
He could have venous insufficiency with no obvious objective medical evidence, I think- at least, AFAIK it’s more likely than arterial insufficiency without discoloration or coldness. You can do a quick at-home test for arterial insuffiency by elevating a foot and squeezing the big toe- normal color should return in less than 3 seconds. Might want to get him an ultrasound either way.
For a 64-year-old smoker I’d actually be surprised if he didn’t have atherosclerosis.
I agree with you on the probability of it being circulatory. However the doctor doesn’t think it is, either. It’s really strange. It will stop him dead in his tracks a few dozen times in a day, and then completely disappear until the next episode.
Sounds like a deficiency. Specifically a deficiency of second opinions. If his PCP hasn’t come up with either a diagnosis or a referral, then getting someone elses thoughts (besides ours) is the way to go, IMHO.
My mother had horribly impaired circulation, but her feet remained normal in color with no numbness up until about two months before she died, so it’s possible to have impaired circulation with no overt symptoms.
Not a doctor, btw - just reporting what’s possible, not what is.
The doctor said it might be some one-off version of sciatica, but isn’t it rather rare to have it in both legs, with the pain shooting down to up rather than the reverse?
Okay, this makes me feel a little better about the diagnosis. I’ve never known anyone who had both legs and reverse radiating pain. We’ll see how these meds go for another week or so. Thanks!