# Name That Ailment **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853 "2009-10-23T14:00:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/1 "2009-10-23T14:00:10Z")
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. What’s going on here? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/2 "2009-10-23T14:28:31Z")
Sounds like the pain is radiating from a lumbar injury. Herniated disk, maybe… Does he have low back pain too? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/3 "2009-10-23T16:03:31Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Sounds like the pain is radiating from a lumbar injury. Herniated disk, maybe… Does he have low back pain too? No, no low back pain. The x-ray showed a couple “close” vertebrae that the doctor wasn’t concerned about in the slightest. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/4 "2009-10-23T16:13:21Z")
Circulatory problem, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/5 "2009-10-23T16:19:46Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Circulatory problem, maybe? I thought about that, but no coldness, numbness or discoloration of the extremities. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/6 "2009-10-23T17:01:07Z")
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’m not a doctor, FTR. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/7 "2009-10-23T17:14:14Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > 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’m not a doctor, FTR. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/8 "2009-10-23T17:17:25Z")
I just can’t think of anything else other than radiation from a spinal issue or a circulatory problem that would affect _both_ calves. Well, I guess he could have separate but matching injuries to both legs, but that’s kinda unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/9 "2009-10-23T18:23:51Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/10 "2009-10-23T18:27:16Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I thought about that, but no coldness, numbness or discoloration of the extremities. 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. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/11 "2009-10-23T18:42:27Z")
My first thought was sciatica. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/12 "2009-10-23T19:56:33Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > 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. He’s with a specialist already. Which makes the suck suck even harder! ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/13 "2009-10-23T19:58:26Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > My first thought was sciatica. 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? ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/14 "2009-10-23T21:32:46Z")
Hyperkalemia. Or lupus. It could always be lupus. Spontaneously occurring bilateral DVTs? Growing pains? I hear that Kirk Cameron is a sneaky bastard. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/15 "2009-10-23T21:53:04Z")
> [@ShelliBean](#): > > Hyperkalemia. Or lupus. It could always be lupus. > > Spontaneously occurring bilateral DVTs? > > Growing pains? I hear that Kirk Cameron is a sneaky bastard. it is never lupus … except for that one time it was ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/16 "2009-10-23T22:11:31Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > 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? It’s not uncommon for sciatic pain to radiate into both legs, but it’s generally more severe on one side or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/17 "2009-10-23T23:19:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s not uncommon for sciatic pain to radiate into both legs, but it’s generally more severe on one side or the other. 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! ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/18 "2009-10-24T00:15:54Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > 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. That makes me think of [Claudications](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudication)but that’s usually a symptom of something going on. The key should be to separate if it could be nerve pain vs. vascular pain. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-that-ailment/514853/19 "2009-10-24T13:58:26Z")
> [@ToeJam](#): > > That makes me think of [Claudications](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudication)but that’s usually a symptom of something going on. > > The key should be to separate if it could be nerve pain vs. vascular pain. He describes it as intense cramping/burning. It almost sounds muscular to me.