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blocked femeral arteries

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Posted 2/25/2013 11:28 AM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone. Hope you're all having a painfree as possible night, as I finally am.

I'm a newbie to this site & haven't been able to find anyone who's had synthetic grafts done on their femeral arteries, which have blocked. Does anyone else have this problem?

I have very small veins & arteries & during an operation to remove a blood clot & a haematoma, my artery had to be cut. Every time they tried to sew it up, the artery kept on tearing, so they just tied it up. I wondered why I couldn't feel my leg when I woke in recovery. Then a year or so later, I had a huge abyss from an ingrown hair & it must have been pretty close to my artery on the other leg. Also they said there was a weak spot on my artery, which burst while they were cleaning out the abyss. Same problem as the other side. That artery was also tied off.

I was offered bypass surgery, or they said I'd be in a lot of pain. I declined the bypass as I thought I could handle the pain (forgetting that the 200 mlgs methadone I was on was stopping the pain). I had tried to come off methadone years earlier but was sick for 4 months, so went back on it. Then I was too scared to try again. Then about 6 months after the last operation, I'd finally had enough of going to the clinic every day, & decided once & for all that I was getting off methadone & getting a propper life back.

Then I really felt the pain & could hardly walk & that was on top of another few months of withdrawals. My doctor was just giving me "over the counter pain killers" which did nothing. He didn't even mention going to pain management. Finally a friend told me about P.M. so I made an appointment. They put me on Oxycontin, but I had a problem because of my tolerence from the methadone. My dose went up a few times over the next couple of years till I was on 5-40mlgs a day, then they refused to put it any higher. I needed to be on 4-80 mlgs a day & my tolerence hasn't gone any higher since then. Now I'm waiting to see a private P.M.specialist. I changed G.P's & the new one will only give me 3-40mlgs a day & that's only enough to get me out of bed once the withdrawals have stopped. I can hardly do anything because of the pain & I'm in withdrawals every night.

Would anyone know of something that helps this condition more as my surgeon said there's nothing more that he can do for me. Sorry, I forgot to mention that I finally had the bypass surgery done twice, using synthetic grafts, & both times they blocked soon after. As my veins are so small they couldn't be used for grafts. I would have thought they could use veins from organ donors?

Please would anyone have any advise.

Posted 2/26/2013 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
You didn't mention what the cause of those blockages are or what is being done to correct or manage that reason. Would you mind sharing what is causing the blockages and what you are currently doing to remedy and/or manage that.

Sounds like to me what really needs to be done is to correct what is causing the blockages in the first place.

I too have arterial blockages in both legs. Mine is due to high cholesterol levels for years. In one leg one of my arteries has a nearly 100% block and the other leg have an estimated 80-85% block. I fully understand the pain involved in this. As of right now I will be going in for bypass surgery this summer once my son is out of school and I can send him to stay with his grandparents.
Posted 2/27/2013 11:17 AM (GMT 0)
Hi HTP, you also didn't say why you were in the methadone clinic but from your 200mg dose and the fact you went daily I'm going to assume it was for substance abuse.

Methadone for pain works so much better at lower levels. You might consider asking to go back on it at half that dose.

Also if you've had addiction problems in the past your best recourse for a Dr versed in treating you is a addictologist. There are not a lot of them but you should be able to find one.

As for doing 4/80s you won't find too many Drs willing to cross those high boundaries these days with all the hoopla from the DEA and the fact you came from the methadone clinic would invariably set them to scrutinize him.

You didn't say what other types of things you do or meds you take.

I'm inclined to agree with Jim,I would be looking for a way to fix it.

Vickie
Posted 2/27/2013 4:26 PM (GMT 0)
This may involve a deeper issue. If those arteries are clogged due to clots from (and please forgive me if I am making a wrong assumption here) injected substance abuse, this is not merely a pain issue. It is a systemic issue, maybe even auto immune.

Methadone, oxy, or other pain meds will not fix this. Those blood vessels have to be re-opened, but in a way that will not release a blockage to a dangerous place, like heart, lungs, or brain. The blocked vessels are what hurt. If you've ever had a blood pressure cuff pumped up too high for too long, that's probably what it feels like.

This is not a pain management issue. This is a cardiovascular issue. I'm sorry to tell you, but In my non-doctor opinion, the pain is at least #3 on of your list of worries. It is the most obvious, but there is something else lurking.

Restore and stabilize the circulation,
Make sure you can save your legs and there is no infected or necrotic (dead or dying) tissue in there,
Then manage the pain. Restoring the circulation may take care of the pain issues by itself.

Rule of thumb: Air goes in and out, blood goes round and round. Anything that interferes with that procedure needs to be addressed ASAP.

Regarding veins and arteries from donors, they can be used, but you have to have healthy vessels to attach them to. If there is an auto-immune thing going on, you body may reject them, causing even more damage.
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