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Swollen ankles and nail problems

I’m 25 years old and last year after working for 1 week as a waitress my ankles had swollen to the size of golfballs and my feet were purple and 2 of my toenails turned black and ended up falling off. Before I began working my toenails were splitting in half and falling off and I have a very painful bunion as well. Four months prior to starting my job last year I had given birth to an 11 lb baby….
I had undetected high sugar….the reason it was undetected was because I was in the hospital with my daughter while I was pregnant……. she underwent her 2nd open heart surgery at 1 year old. I have a very very high amount of stress in my life and at the age of 25 I feel 95! To top things off we lost our home to Hurricane katrina and now I have gone back to work as a waitress again…. It was the first job I was offered so I took it…..
I thought that maybe if I got better shoes this time my feet would not hurt, but after only 2 days my feet are in the same condition as before….they are swollen and purple and I don’t know what to do cause I have to work. I have been through 4 pairs of nice shoes between the 2 jobs thinking that I just needed better shoes…..lol…well, obviously it isn’t the shoes! Something is going on….
I’m too young to feel like this……
I work with a 65 year old woman who works circles around me and has no problems with her feet. And I am not sure if this could somehow be tied into the foot problem, but even though I had my gallbladder removed almost 3 years ago I still have episodes of EXCRUCIATING pain in the upper right quadrant….and it travels to the sternum area as well…..the pain is very very very painful….worse than giving birth sensoredlly to an 11 lb baby …which I have done……lol. It only occurs after drinking alcohol…..which, obviously, I do not do anymore. Even if I just try to sip a beer it starts happening so then I just give up on drinking. It also happened after taking tylenol w/ codeine when I went to the dentist. I went to the ER and my liver enzymes were 300X’s higher than normal. Please help….
I feel like I’m falling apart….and I can’t do that ’cause I have a sick child to take care of. Could the stress be causing my problems or could the foot/liver pain problems be associated somehow?????? I am not overweight nor do I drink/smoke/eat unhealthy. Also, my fingernails and skin are tinted yellow and have ridges…and brown streaks down my nails as well……could I have hepatitis? Can hepatitis cause you to have a child with congenital heart defects? I have 2 tattoos that I got as a teenager….could it have taken this long to show up?


1 Comment found

    Vivian Abrams DPM

    9 10

    Whoa!! You have many health issues to consider and it is beyond the ability of this site to advise. I think you need to be pointed in the right direction. You should see an internist. Diabetes and or liver problems must be checked out. Good luck.

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