Q: I am a 76-year-old woman. I take no prescription drugs, just vitamin B complex, Garlique and calcium.
I was in excellent health until I was treated by two negligent doctors. About 1 ½ years ago I was playing with my dog. She grabbed me by the wrist and left a puncture wound. It didn’t bleed. I washed it off and forgot about it. Twenty-four hours later I was in the shower and felt my arm was real hot. There was a line from the inside of my wrist up to the inside bend of my elbow. I got out of the shower and went to the hospital emergency room. He gave me a tetanus shot and a prescription for antibiotics. Not long after the tetanus shot I got a weakness all over my whole body that is still here. My balance is so off I use a walker. Nineteen days after the shot it was still all red around the area. I went back to the hospital and asked the nurse if I needed more antibiotics. She said no, drew a blue line around the area and said to come back if the redness went outside the line. When my friends saw how bad my arm was, they couldn’t believe he didn’t give me an antibiotic shot.
My arthritis then got so bad I went to my arthritis doctor who gave me Meloxicam. I took that for a while until I noticed brown blotches on my feet, so I quit taking it. I am now awakened by severe pain in the side and top of my feet. The doctor said that comes with old age and recommended compression stockings. They hurt the calf of my leg and left both feet numb so I now wear thinner ones. Because of fluid on my knees I went back, hoping he would drain the fluid. Instead he gave me cortisone shots in the top of my knee. Now I have pain with every step I take. Will the pain ever go away? I’m afraid to go to any doctor for help. Is the pain really due to old age or is something more serious going on? Please help me understand what has happened with the tetanus and cortisone shots.
A: It appears to me that you have unrelated concerns – an infection from your dog, your arthritis and a potential reaction to the tetanus injection. I cannot determine if you were treated by negligent doctors or if you simply had very bad reactions to a prescribed drug and to an injection. The first physician acted appropriately by giving you a tetanus injection and prescribing an antibiotic. Generally speaking, oral antibiotics are given first rather than through injection. It’s when those oral antibiotics become ineffective that intravenous or injectable antibiotics are given.
It was once believed that antibiotic therapy was the answer to everything and when taken properly they can literally save lives; however, we know that they can also cause diarrhea and other symptoms when the normal balance of good and bad bacteria is disturbed. Over-prescribing and long-term use may put an individual at higher risk for such conditions as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory colon disease, and toxicity; further, more and more strains of bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics.
Fluid on the knees can be extremely painful. It is often caused by trauma, over-use, or an underlying condition. Could you have had trauma to your knees that caused the fluid buildup or was this a spontaneous occurrence? I, too, would think your arthritis doctor might have drained the fluid from your knees to determine possible causes such as infection, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or other medical concerns because once the cause is determined in this manner, he or she could have zeroed in on the best cure. However, he must have had his reasons for choosing the injection, instead. Cortisone injections are powerful anti-inflammatory drugs that can, at times, cause serious side effects. You indicate you have had previous injections in the knee. How many have you had and what were the results? Repeat injections can sometimes have less than optimal results.
Meloxicam is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that can cause numbness and swelling of the extremities as a rare side effect. Tetanus can also cause side effects, although they ordinarily dissipate after a few days. I would think the effects of the drugs would have worn off by now and feel strongly that you need to be seen by a new rheumatologist. Bring along your records and a friend or family member. Ask if the drugs are to blame for your current symptoms or if you simply have an acute exacerbation of your arthritis. It is important to follow-up on this because life is too short and you shouldn’t be plagued by something that may be better controlled by a top notch specialist.
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