kidney failure how long does the pain and swelling last

[lizzie1954]

On June 16th I slipped and smashed my face on my dresser knocking everything off my dresser. I was uncounscious for about 3 days. When I finally came to I was very disoreinted, and thought I had broken my upper leg. My whole left side was extrememly swollen. I finally called an ambulance and was taken to the hospital. I was diagnosed with kidney failure and something called Rhabdomyolsis. This means the rapid destruction of skeletal muscle resulting in leakage into the unine of the muscle protien. This is caused by prolonged lying down on the ground. I was down on the floor from Thursday night until Saturday night. I was 115 pounds befor this happened and when they weighed me before they gave me dialysis I was 140 pounds! this was all toxic waste. It took 3 times using dialysis to get my kidneys working again. The pain was incredible. It has taken 1 month for most of the swelling to go down. In the hospital I was on 50 mcg of Fentanyl patch, morphone injections every 4 hours and Lyrica 50 mg. As of today I the back of my leg, and my foot are still swollen and my foot burns like it is on fire. According to the medical literature everything should be back to normal. NOT! Has anyone gone through this and what medications were you given and how long did it take for you to be able to walk normally?

[lizzie1954]

Hi, Thanks for all your support and questions. I had to go to the "hospital doctor" I work in a hospital for reevaluation last week. He agreed with my diagnosis of Rhabdo... and kidney failure. I had see my nephrologist and he ran all my blood work witch was perfect. I am now going to see my GP to fill her in on everything on Thursday. I am also going to see a Neurosurgeon next Tuesday for the second part of my EMG (the part where they stick little needles in you to electronically see if there is nerve damage) I am supposed to go back to work on August 24th!! My foot still feels like it is wrapped or taped up, but the swelling has gone down. The top of my thigh front and back feels very congested and very painful. I am still on fentanyl 50 mcg / 3 days, 2 mg of dilaudid every 4 hours if needed an 50 mg of lyrica which I am slowly weaning myself off because it is doing nothing for me. Then fentanyl is also not doing anything for my pain but I don't think I could manage weaning off them. I have enough problem without that. I would love to go back to work but I have fallen 2 in the past week. I now no I can get off the floor but by putting all the pressure on my good leg i tend to loose my balance easily. It scares the hell out of me thinking of getting on a bus. Also 1 of the girls is taking 2 weeks of vacation and I don't think I could do also of running around alot, so I am going to try and stay off until the middle of September. I have done alot a research and I can't find any infomation on how long this is going to take to get better. I also have no appetite. I am living on "Ensure" and I am down to 107 lbs They have a walk in clinic in the hospital and I went there to get more fentanyl. I just go my last batch of dilaudid. Once again thank you for your encouragement and thoughtfullness.
Liz

[mellie4]

Oh, boy, you poor thing.  I can't imagine being unconscious for that long.  That is truly frightening.  What doctor is following you on this?  Is it your primary care or a nephrologist?  Do you still have to have dialysis?  Have they recommended physical therapy for you to help you get walking normally?  I think you have a lot of questions to ask your doctor about.  This is a great forum and so helpful in getting information, but we are all chronic pain patients that share our experiences on our very different pain issues.  There are no doctors on this forum, and to be honest, it sounds like you have a lot going on.  Who is prescribing your medications?  What medications are you on now?  Are you still on the Fentanyl and morphine and Lyrica?  When is your next appointment for follow-up?  If it's not for a while, I would call your doctor on Monday and ask that the appointment be pushed up.  Your physician needs to evaluate you and see if you're where you should be in your recovery.  If your pain is not being covered, the doctor needs to know.  I hope you'll call your doctor on Monday.  Keep posting and let us know how things are going.