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Swollen Left Leg After Fall, Had Shortness Of Breath, Fatigue That Went Away. Any Diagnosis ?
Hi. Over a year ago, I fell off the back of a box truck after thanksgiving. This was approximately 14 monts ago. One month after it happened, I noticed my left leg was swollen. I weigh 415 lbs. I m physically active as I own and operate a moving and delivery service that keeps me physically active all the time. I m constantly carrying sofas on my shoulder and stuff like that. I have had myself checked. My blood pressure is fine. No diabetes . No cancer that they could find. The left leg is swollen from below the knee to my ankle. It is pitted adema according to my doctor. I suffered from shortness of breath for about six months and fatigue , but when I fired my helper and started doing the work myself, the shortness of the breathe went away and so did the fatigue. I wasn t getting enough exercise with him helping. Well, I just got checked for cancer and they didn t find any. I was wondering what could be causing my swollen leg? Is it just my weight, or something serious? How do I tell? I eat out almost every meal. I drink lots of soda . I could use a lot more cardiovascular exercise. Anything you can tell me that will help diagnose this? I m on a budget so anything will help.
posted on
Sun, 10 Feb 2013
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Sun, 24 Nov 2013
Answered on
Mon, 25 Nov 2013
Last reviewed on
Hi,
Thanks for writing in.
At 415lbs, there is a good amount of weight your legs need to bear. As your primary health workup is normal for cancer, blood pressure and diabetes and your fatigue and shortness of breath has gone away, it doesnt look serious. However there is a lot of weight that may be causing erosive changes in your knees. You can get yourself checked for liver and kidney function tests just to be sure they are normal.
Hope this helps
Thanks for writing in.
At 415lbs, there is a good amount of weight your legs need to bear. As your primary health workup is normal for cancer, blood pressure and diabetes and your fatigue and shortness of breath has gone away, it doesnt look serious. However there is a lot of weight that may be causing erosive changes in your knees. You can get yourself checked for liver and kidney function tests just to be sure they are normal.
Hope this helps
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