Help needed for poor circulation to legs - Red necrosis (updated 26/01/15)

Before intervention

Hi Gary,

I was browsing through your website and saw your article on leg circulation:

I have the exact same ailment which seems to be getting progressively worse. I take 13.5mg of warfarin per day due to multiple blood clots, which has in effect cause much of the problems in my legs. I suppose, my venous issues are compounded with varicose veins which have increasingly developed due to incompetent valves.

Before intervention

I have seen many GPs who are seemingly baffled at how to manage my condition. The prescription so far has been compression stockings which I have learned actually cut off the circulation and cellular respiration in the legs causing ulcers to remain open indefinitely. I have since banished the stockings and applied zinc oxide regularly which has healed up the ulcers. Now I am left with the red necrosis like the gentleman in the above link, which is slowly creeping up my legs.

If I could get the condition that gentleman's legs healed to it would be heaven!


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Gary:


A few years have passed and I can report that the gentleman who owns the legs in this photo is now well into his 70's and his legs are better than ever.  He is a regular walker and in good health.

After intervention

When he first came to see me, he was in distress and I was shocked at the state his legs were in.  My, how things have changed!

Let's be real about this condition: It is indicative of seriously poor circulation to the legs and this may be a precursor to eventual lower leg amputation.  To beat it, we can not afford to mess about.

The nutrition interventions I may recommend depend upon each individual's special circumstances and must also be mindful of what medications they may be on.  For example: Vitamin E may augment the anti clotting effects of Warfarin, so the obvious action is to reduce the amount of Warfarin if we decide to give you vitamin E (This may need the cooperation of your Dr).

The big breakthrough, of late, is iodine deficiency which we can now test for.

After intervention

By far the best first action is to obtain a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) and possibly a Thyrodine test (contact me by phone to discuss).  I am not keen on giving you a "One Size - Fits All" list of advice for a serious health issue.  We must get it right.

For example: You may be lacking zinc but you may actually have too much; you may need more vitamin C but then again it may be copper you need more of.  You may have far too much calcium in your soft tissues and not enough magnesium.  Do you need more fat and protein?  Who knows?  The only way we can know for sure is through the HTMA.

So, the first step you will need about a gram of natural undyed hair that you send to Pacific Health.  The process of analysis takes 3-4 weeks from the date you send in the hair sample.  Once you have your copy of the report you need to contact me to arrange a time to go through the report together.  If you do not live in Wellington, New Zealand, then we can do this either over the phone or with Skype (I prefer Skype).

Oh! - It might be worth taking several photos of your legs so that you have something to refer to in a year or so from now.  Improvements can be very subtle and easily missed.  Photos do the job well and can be matched with other measures such as distanced walked with comfort.

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More related articles:

http://blog.garymoller.com/2015/01/first-aid-treatment-for-severe-ankle.html

http://blog.garymoller.com/2015/01/my-ankle-fracture-dislocation-two-weeks.html

http://blog.garymoller.com/2008/01/how-to-prevent-deep-vein-thrombosis-in.html

http://blog.garymoller.com/2008/09/do-natural-health-therapies-work.html

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The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.  Please give me your support by subscribing to my free email updates. Please encourage your family and friends to do the same. While we may not always be able to compete with the big operators on price, we aim to more than compensate through personal service!




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Is your asthma corticosteriod medication destroying your joints?

Corticosteroids and avascular necrosis
Web site: May 2009
Prescriber Update 2009;30(2):14

CARM has received a number of reports of avascular necrosis (AVN) in association with corticosteroid use. The reports describe the involvement of major joints such as hips, knees and ankles, often with bilateral involvement.

International reports have also included other joints, including the shoulder and wrists. AVN usually causes significant chronic pain and reduced mobility, with some patients requiring joint replacements.

The pathogenesis of AVN is not yet fully understood, but may involve steroid induced osteoblast apoptosis.

The CARM reports involve patients who were prescribed corticosteroids for asthma, immunosuppression in transplant recipients, polymyalgia rheumatica, rheumatoid arthritis, eczema, and cerebral oedema. International reports of AVN have included an association with the use of pulse steroid therapy in multiple sclerosis.

AVN usually occurs with high doses of corticosteroids over a period of a few weeks to several years. Other known risk factors for AVN\ include: alcoholism, infections, hyperbaric events, storage disorders, marrow infiltrating diseases, coagulation defects, sickle cell anaemia and some autoimmune diseases.

As some patients who develop AVN remain asymptomatic, the severity of symptoms cannot be taken as a guide to the severity or stage of AVN.

As the clinical outcome is dependent on the stage at which diagnosis of AVN is made, prescribers should be alert to symptoms of joint pain in patients using corticosteroids and are advised to investigate these symptoms early. In the presence of a confirmed diagnosis of AVN, stopping or interrupting corticosteroid treatment should be considered. Prescribers should also consider investigating for further conditions associated with AVN such as, myeloproliferative diseases, coagulation disorders, and autoimmune conditions.

Reference

1. Assouline-Dayan Y. Chang C. Greenspan A. Schoenfeld Y. Gershwin ME. (2002), Pathogenesis and natural history of osteonecrosis. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism, 32(2): 94 – 124.
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Gary comments:
Avascular joint necrosis is nasty stuff and it is happening in sufficient numbers to prompt Medsafe to issue a warning to medical practitioners.

Having had a child on asthma medication, which included longterm use of low dose corticosteroids, this report hits close to home. I have known for about 20 years that longterm use of these asthma medications causes a number of unwanted side effects, including adrenal burnout and soft bones and joints. It was therefore my mission, as her father, to have her safely off these drugs as early as possible in her life and this was achieved through modifying her breathing.

I am aware of men and women on asthma medication requiring joint replacement surgery before age 50. When one looks at the proliferation of knee and hip replacement surgery in New Zewaland and the parallel increase in the use of corticosteroids for the control of asthma, one must wonder about the possibility of there being a link. I think there is. There sure is a link between the use of powerful corticosteroids, like Predinisone, and the early onset of osteoporosis and joint degeneration as reported here.

Don't worry too much about the medical jargon used in the Medsafe report above: What this Medafe report to medical practitioners is saying: There is an association between corticosteroid use and joint disintegration.

Now that Medsafe has warned your doctor of yet another health risk associated with corticosteroid drug use, will you ever be told and offered safer alternatives?

The Medsafe advice to consider stopping administration of these drugs if joint degeneration is noted is not in the patient's best interests. By the time any joint pain is reported, the damage is well and truly on its way and probably irreversible by then!

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