Are tiny red dots on my legs due to warfarin?????

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slipkid

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 12, 2014
Messages
539
Location
Schwenksville, PA, USA
It has only been recently that my INR has tested over 2.0 for two consecutive weeks (seems to be 2.5 according to home unit). Prior to that I had been mostly around 1.7-1.8.

In addition, I had a catscan last week, and my arm is a bruised bloody mess under the IV injection site, the worst I have ever had in my life. So I think my INR is truly about where it should be, that is high enough to have an effect on my blood clotting, whereas around 1.8 it wasn't doing this. The IV site is pretty disgusting looking but kind of comforting at the same time.

However I just noticed something weird on my legs. Many tiny red dots near the surface of the skin. Is this something like the capillaries bleeding there? And if so is that normal/OK?

Btw, the only reason I even noticed this is because last night I got shocked by electricity going up my right leg (the leg that already has nerve damage in it because of a vein being harvested for my CABG). We had violent thunderstorms here and I was in my finished basement, working on the PC, had left leg up off the ground but my right leg was on the carpet (which is on top of bare concrete). All of a sudden there was a huge "BANG!" in the room, my right leg felt like I had been shot (it was an electric shock). My leg continues to feel weird (constant soreness and tightness that was not there b4). Point relating to the red marks though, is that because of this I examined my leg closely and noticed many small red dots, never noticed them b4, at first I thought maybe something had happened to do to with the lightning strike but I then also noticed them on my left leg as well. They are not hives (much much smaller). Could they have something to do with warfarin/elevated INR?

My leg was not the only casualty of the lightning either. The keyboard on this PC I am typing on now had the lights turned on and was completely locked. The mouse on my other PC which was also on locked up. (Both of those problems were restored by rebooting). My stereo which had been playing "went crazy" with a loud hum (thankfully after turning it off it seems to be OK). A dimmer in my Living Room (one floor up) is fried and is stuck now as always on full blast (I turned off the circuit breaker and took that bad unit out). In that same room the power adapter for my TV cable "digital adapter" is now fried and I cannot turn that box on. And upstairs in my bedroom a DVD player now will no longer turn on. Crazy! Have lived here 20 years and never had anything like this happen.
 
Hi

However I just noticed something weird on my legs. Many tiny red dots near the surface of the skin. Is this something like the capillaries bleeding there? And if so is that normal/OK?

without a picture its impossible to know ... but without knowing more I'd say no. I'd say that because:
- your INR is nowhere near dangerous territory
- I have never heard of this before

as to lightening damage, if you're not smoking BBQ then you'll be fine

:)
 
also, for your info this chart clearly shows that there is a safe zone on INR

14626794599_442e809525_o.jpg


if you're between 2 and 5 you are really down there on the likelihood of problems. The data is inclusive of older valves, so you can push that over towards the 1.5 end in all likelihood and not get clots if you have a newer pyrolytic carbon valve

HTH
 
The only thing I am wondering is if these are petechiae - if they are flat pinhead or pinpoint sized red or purplish spots under the skin that do not fade when you press them, they could be. They are basically broken capillaries (I don't know if an electric shock might also cause these, persistent muscle straining can). They have about a jillion different causes, but one is endocarditis so they did want to see me when I had them on my legs a few years ago.

They are also associated with Vitamin K deficiency according to the Mayo website, and I found this on Merck's website:

"Vitamin K deficiency results from extremely inadequate intake, fat malabsorption, or use of coumarin anticoagulants."

So to me, maybe they could be related to your warfarin if they ARE petechiae? Might be worth at least letting your doc know.
 
Hi

dornole;n846703 said:
The only thing I am wondering is if these are petechiae - if they are flat pinhead or pinpoint sized red or purplish spots under the skin that do not fade when you press them, they could be.

that's a good point, and why I'd have included an image (and why I sort of suggested one be provided).

So to me, maybe they could be related to your warfarin if they ARE petechiae? Might be worth at least letting your doc know.

The problem as I see it is that without actually seeing the dots the description covers many things, for instance insect bites from sitting outside in late summer.

14987713070_3ee99c98ef_o.jpg


While I tend to look to the obvious rather than the exotic for solutions I agree, consult your doctor is always the best advice
 
some of the images for petechiae seem unclear too
http://www.google.com/search?q=petechiae

(love the butt shot in that lot)...

since I'm still chewing on this topic (well, and my lunch) I thought I'd post this site:
http://www.tti.library.tcu.edu.tw/DERMATOLOGY/mac/ma0004f.htm

where the page says:
These facts would be highly suggestive of a vascular abnormality such as thrombocytopenic purpura.

so the explainations for them vary. We get ground fleas here in the summer time too and they can attack me when I'm hanging out the washing.

Ultimately I try not to play things up for the worst, but to slipkid I recommend that if what you have looks like any of those images (and you can discount insect bites) then a visit to the Dr would be well to at least get their opinion too.
 
I have photos, and was able to "upload" them, but then when I try to "Post" the message I am given a message of "you are not authorized to upload photos".

They are definitely NOT insect bites.
 
Can anyone explain to me how to successfully post photos? So far the message board will not let me. Is there a size limit, or # of photo limit, that is not disclosed? I did successfully upload 4 photos but then was not allowed to actually "post" the message.
 
Trying again on the off chance if I only try ONE photo maybe it will work?

NOPE.

"You are not authorized to create or remove attachments" is the message that comes up when I hit the "post" button.
 
Hi Slipkid - I think you have to be a Premium Level User to be authorized to post photos.

When I paid a subscription I became a Premium Level User and I was able to post some photos of my incision scar and had an avatar, but now my sub ran out (it's 6 monthly) and I'm back down to being just a Registered User like you and I can't post photos or have my avatar anymore.
 
I have them on both legs. Never noticed them before Saturday night but they could have been there earlier. I do not think I had these dots about a week or so ago. The photo makes it look like they are on/above the skin, but they are not. They are beneath the skin. Looks like all are beneath my knees at this point.

I do intend on asking the doctor about this.

They called me with some test results earlier today when I was out at cardiac rehab but of course what they told me leaves nothing but unanswered questions with no prognosis/followup/next steps/no nothing ("you have artherosclerosis in your aorta but that is no surpirse" and "abdominal scan shows liver/pancreas are OK" - with no mention then of why do I have such elevated levels of things in blood tests that the dr. wanted to have me get a CT for to find out what is wrong), so I did call back, and have been waiting for a return call the past 2 hours (sigh). I give up waiting at this point though, I need a shower, will call them again tomorrow I guess.
 
Paleogirl;n846766 said:
Hi Slipkid - I think you have to be a Premium Level User to be authorized to post photos.

When I paid a subscription I became a Premium Level User and I was able to post some photos of my incision scar and had an avatar, but now my sub ran out (it's 6 monthly) and I'm back down to being just a Registered User like you and I can't post photos or have my avatar anymore.

Thanks.....I figured out a way to do it. At least I can see my photos above (not sure if you guys can though - but to be honest not sure you would even want to!).


If you want to try posting a photo yourself...

Upload your photos to a server on the 'net. Plenty of free services out there, like IMGUR or PHOTOBUCKET. I used IMGUR for the ones above. You have to make an account (it's free) then upload your photos.

After uploading your photos, go to the photo server of your choice and get the "link code" syntax to use to post here.

For instance, on IMGUR, they call it the "BBCode (message boards & forums)".

The format of the link will be something like this:
IMG http://i.imgur.com/VmTONe5.jpg /IMG

EXCEPT that there will be opening & closing brackets [ and ] around both IMG and /IMG. If I were to put that above in that example though, the image itself would be shown, instead of the text that I am trying to show as an example.

There may be other ways to do this stuff, above worked for me so I'll just stick with that.

It is possible that you can do the same thing to show your avatar. Think I will try messing with one for myself.


EDIT - With my example above, I just noticed that the http link is clickable, it will open the JPG image for anyone that clicks on it. So that is another way to do it, you don't need the IMG tags, unless you want the image to appear directly in your post.
 
Hi there

slipkid;n846768 said:
I have them on both legs. Never noticed them before Saturday night but they could have been there earlier.

yeah, its possible they were ... I know that with motorcycles when I notice a sound I immediately think "that wasn't there before" ... especially after I've serviced it.

Then often enough I find that it was.


I do not think I had these dots about a week or so ago. The photo makes it ...

well they look very minor compared to what I've seen on the www ... still I'd show them to your doc. Try taking better photos (without flash and with the camera parallel to the leg outside in the light so you can then have a reference for them ... makes it easier to see if they are changing over time.

good for everyone actually. I've been doing this for years with skin marks / moles (we get very high skin cancer rates here in Australia) to track them over time


They called me with some test results earlier today when I was out at ...
why do I have such elevated levels of things in blood tests that the dr.

elevated levels of what?

Best Wishes
 
Paleogirl;n846766 said:
Hi Slipkid - I think you have to be a Premium Level User to be authorized to post photos.

you will note that I'm not a premium level user and I regularly post images. I instead host them on Flickr and post the img via tags here
Eg
13773514575_0a70b3e433.jpg


:)
 
pellicle;n846782 said:
elevated levels of what?

One is elevated "LFTs" (liver function tests).. Alkaline Phosphatase, AST, and ALT. Could be indicative of some type of liver disease (or many other things). It's important if these are elevated to stay on top of them in case it is a problem with the liver, because Warfarin and Statins (both of which I am on) could make liver problems worse since they act on the liver. As I understand it anyways.

Another is elevated Amylase (usually a pancreas thing but could point to something else like the gallbladder?).
 

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