Hi! Everybody, I saw my DR. last week and I asked him why my skin on my lower legs was red, he told me I had cellulitis. The Dr. put me on Amoxicillian and he told me I have to stop my Ra meds for 2 weeks. Has anybody here ever have cellulitis? You all have a Merry Christmas!!!Haven't had it but saw a woman with it in the ER one time. It is painful and scary looking. I hope you recover quickly from it. I'm glad that they are treating it right away. It can be very serious.
Paul,
I had cellulitis once, about a year before I had or knew I had RA. Deanna's right. It's very serious. Pay very close attention, and if the medicine isn't clearing it up or if it even starts to get worse instead of better get to the doctor quickly. Call or go that day, or if it looks or you feel a lot worse and you can't reach the doctor, go to the ER.
I got it on my eye, which may be the worst place to get it because it can lead to blindness and/or get into the brain pretty quickly. We got mine controlled before then, but it did spread down the whole side of my face and neck and swell all that up like a bizarre baloon in less than 36 hours.
It's serious anywhere, though. Not only can it spread quickly, it wants to spread internally, too, getting into your lymph system. My cellulitis was caused by the staph germ, but there are other germs that can cause it too. It did get into my system and I was very sick. It took weeks to get on my feet, and months to really get my strength back and function fully again.
I'm sorry if this seems a little scarier than it needs to be. Hopefully yours won't be anywhere near as bad and you'll recover very quickly. I just want you to know to be vigilant and not waste any time hemming and hawing if you're not getting better.
Good luck with this.
Thanks RK Gal, I am not sure if I have cellulitis now because I just have the redness but not any swelling. after all I read about it, I hope I don't have it. The Dr. was not sure but he gave me some strong antbiotecs anyway...Hi All,
I had cellulitis once after getting a massive bruise on my thigh, the bruise took ages to go and I got redness and the skin felt hot and tender. Had some antibiotics and it cleared up quickly. I bruise easily and now have to be careful in case I get a big or deep bruise again. It doesn't help that I have poor coordination and am always walking into things or bashing myself! In my case it was caused by the massive increase in blood in the tissue so close to the skin and it not being able to drain away properly due to the inflammation from the bruise. The Dr warned me to take my antibiotics carefully as it coud lead to septicaemia. I hope you're feeling better!
KT