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What Causes Swelling, Weakness And Pain In The Legs?

Posted on Thu, 17 Aug 2017

Question: Hello, my mother is 82yrs old. She has diabetes, congestive heart failure, and multiple myeloma. She has been having swelling and weakness in her legs for some time with horrible pain. Just recently her legs were getting weaker and weaker and then finally; she could not walk. She's in the hospital now and so far all with got is the medicine that she was taking caused her kidneys to go bad. So they were trying to flush it with Iv but did not work. Then they said they would give her dialysis more times to see what happens. But in the mean time, she developed trembling all over and cannot control her movement of any part of her body. But the trembling and shakes appears to go away sometimes but hours later; it's back. The only answer we got was that the medicine she was taking made her kidneys bad but we still have not gotton any answer as to why she is shaking uncontrollably/trembling and why she cannot walk. Do you have any idea why something like that could happen? We just keep hearing that it could be various things but it the mean time my mom is doing the same thing and now has to be turned because she cannot move. She is urinating and making an bm on her own. Do you have any suggestions of what test should be give or what this condition could be? Sorry for the long question.

Medical History:
Congestive heart failure, diabetes, bone cancer, kidney problems due to medicine for bone cancer

Current Medications:
Unk of al

Known Allergies: XXXXXXX to take test, penicillin

Answered by Dr. Mahaveer Patil (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Seems neurological

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for posting the question.
I have gone through your medical history in detail.

The weakness in the lower limbs with uncontrollable trembling seems to be related to an underlying neurological cause that needs to be ruled out. An MRI of brain with nerve conduction studies and electromyography of the lower limbs needs to be done.

Motor neuron disease and other affections of the spinal cord need consideration.
CSF examination with a neurologist opinion should be taken.
Severe electrolyte imbalance can also be a rare cause.

I hope the answer was useful.

Feel free to ask me any follow up queries that you may have.

Thank you.
Kind regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Mahaveer Patil (5 hours later)

Thank you for your response. My family and I have been thinking that it could be a neuro issue too. But, we don't even know if they did an MRI of her brain nor any other study. They seem to be focusing on her kidneys. It must be really bad.

The other thing is that, it started in her legs but it's her whole body that shakes now.
I myself remember years ago where my mother told me that the doctor told her that she had something in the back of her neck to close I believe to the brain to do anything about it. So, I' wondering if it could be that and why is her whole body shaking?

Answered by Dr. Mahaveer Patil (9 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Yes,it can be related to upper cervical cord

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Yes,it can be related to upper cervical cord or small brain (cerebellum,pons or medulla oblongata) as the doctor had mentioned a few years ago.

It is high time now that thorough investigations should be done taking in mind the above neurological possibilities.

Do let me know if you need any help from my side.

Thank you.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Remy Koshy