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abbigaill2

Active member
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
90
Diagnosis
12/2010
Country
CA
State
Saskatchewan
City
Willow Bunch
My husband was diagnosed with ALS Dec 2010 He has gone from self sufficiency to being fed, lifted, and repositioned, in this short time. In other words total care. He also has diabetes and stage 2 kidney disease. His pulse rate for the last 2 weeks has been 101 to 104. BP 148/93. respirations 18. All of this while resting. His left foot is swollen and turns purple and cold to touch but pedal pulses are present. Is this normal for ALS. The Doctor said it might be part of his diabetes. I wonder if it is part of not moving much or possibly Congestive heart Failure. Please let me know if others are experiencing this as I don't know if this is normal.. Thanks
 
Abbigaill I have not got that far, but just wanted to say I am so sorry that your husband is moving through this so fast. (((HUGS)))
 
I would keep a close eye on him. It may be another medical problem not related to ALS. Keep a watch on his blood sugars also and like anyone if you suspect he needs medical care get him to a doctor or call an aid unit. I am not a medical professional but I worked in the field for 21 years and really this is basic first aid knowledge. Sounds like you are taking good care of him and have some medical background. I will pray for him.
 
Thanks Joni a hug is always welcome. Love to you and yours. :)
 
Thank you Lavender Lady. I sort of felt the doctor just brushed it aside when he said it MAY be part of his diabetes. His blood sugars have been under control. Ric has chosen to die at home and pretty much refused all treatment except pain control. This makes it hard to know what to treat and what is natural progression... As to the medical background I retired in 2000 as a LPN. I know how to take vital signs just not sure what they all mean when they are out of whack like they are. Thanks for the feedback. It really helps knowing that there is always someone out there who knows what we all are going through.
 
Hi, my husband is also total care and also is on BiPaP 24/7. He spends almost all day in bed. He has swellling of the feet and the left always more than the right and more the top of the foot. The foot is not purple but can be cold. We are not sure if heart related or not. However, he's had terrible pain sometimes from the swelling-like a burning as though the skin wants to split open. We do a type of massage which takes about 15-20 minutes per leg. We elevate the legs a little and then rub upwards with your hands in that sort of "L" shape ie thumb to forefinger, from the ankle to the knee firstly for about 7-8 minutes. We do the lower leg like that and then we do the foot from the swollen area to the ankle for the other 7-8 minutes. Oh and yes we use a moisturising cream. We do daily and it has given him some relief. The swelling still comes back but the pain is lessened,

Thanks

Chris
 
hi abbigaill.
his bp is only a tad bit high,normal bp is about 120-130/70-80.
normal heartrate is about 70-90 beats a minute.
it does not sound too bad but you should keep a regular check on it,you can buy very cheaply a home bp machine.
i have one as i have hypotention my bp can drop very low to 60,s/40,s and i have blackouts.
my heartrate is usually very slow in the 50,s but when my bp drops it causes the heart to speed up resulting in arrythmias and i can find it hard getting my breath.
as i said especially with his diebetes get a bp machine and keep a check,i think with this condition a drop in blood suger can cause sudden hypertention.
my son has hyoglycemia,if his blood suger drops he gets very shakey and weak so has to eat something very sugery.
 
His left foot is swollen and turns purple and cold to touch but pedal pulses are present. Is this normal for ALS. The Doctor said it might be part of his diabetes. I wonder if it is part of not moving much or possibly Congestive heart Failure. Please let me know if others are experiencing this as I don't know if this is normal.. Thanks

Hi Abbigail,

I don't want to take away from the concerns for his blood pressure or the diabetes, but actually, my feet become dark red and very cold to the touch as well as to my inner feeling, just from ALS as soon as I'm out of bed.

Ann
 
Sorry to have a "split response", but my husband arrived, ready to hoist me out of bed--which always puts a sudden stop to my writing.

Anyway, to explain further, my feet were deep (purply) red and ice cold when I was still able to walk, using AFOs. When my Primary Care doc saw them, she had me tested by a cardiologist's office immediately. Even their nurse was sure I had a circulatory problem--yet I aced the test. Even my toes were fine.

In my case, with no other diseases, the cause is this: muscles in the calves had atrophied, and without muscle, the blood in the feet isn't pumped up again, but rather, it settles in the feet, away from the warm core of my body... and therefore becomes cold. I know this sounds like a circulation problem (in a sense it has to be!), but isn't dangerous. Keeping my legs elevated in the hospital bed for about 12 hours at a time causes the swelling to stop, other than in my left ankle--which has been sprained several times and stays puffy. I am able to have my feet elevated higher than my head during the evening, which must help. My feet are normal in color until they hang down, when in less than a minute signs of returning red color returns.

Hope this makes sense, and again, l think having his diabetes and kidney problems means your husband's problem is much more complex than my own.

Ann
 
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