Peripheral artery disease - measurement and treatment

A search on google like the following: 'diagnosis and treatment of peripheral artery disease' will yield many potential websites to read. I found one from our hosts at Mayo Clinic that might get you comfortably started:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/peripheral-artery-disease/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20350563

I have leg numbness up to knees and continue to gradually have more trouble walking. If I have momentum, I can walk with sticks. I also have some narrowing of L1-2 that causes feeling of "puppet strings" from my groin to instep! So together I can't tell one from the other. Biggest concern is what next!!! I think I have good doctors but all of them are so compartmentalized! Drives me crazy. I do all the right things, but now I wake in the morning with numbness in hamstring muscles! Anyone out there?

Yes! I have periodic epidurals and deep tissue myofascial release or MFR works fantastic. It takes a while. There is a section here on it and exercise. Just had an epidural in that area two weeks ago and it was amazing how much pain it got rid of I’ve had lumbar replacement infusion surgery L3 to L5, but the areas around it are now collapsing, so it’s back to the drawing board.

What is MFR and who provides it?? How do you keep your spirits up?

This is great question @urbantraveler. I'd like to invite @talltxlady, @jlf2, @neiko1998 and @marykayriver to this discussion to share their experiences with PAD and how they, or their loved one, has progressed over time.

@urbantraveler, if you are comfortable sharing, what was suggested for your next steps after your diagnosis? Are there any lifestyle changes you are facing that may be challenging?

MFR is myofascial tissue release. Over the years your muscles start gluing together and moving as a unit instead of sliding gliding over each other and so they weigh down on your connective tissue and pull things out of whack. It’s like a painful massage. In my case, it took me a lifetime of bad Postural habits and bio mechanics that are out of line in my body. It’s going to take me a couple years to get things working as they should. However, I saw relief after the first couple visits. I’m probably nine months out of going twice a month and we can feel my muscles having separated, so they are less weight And my body is behaving much better. Circulation is getting where it needs to go and I feel much better. I am 68 years old and I still like to work and abuse my body so it is a must. I went to a couple people before I found the prints. There is a section here at the Mayo Clinic on MFR that you can read up on and you can also look it up online. You can get it covered under Medicare with certain diagnosis disease and also if you go to rehabilitation they might establish that you need manual work and then it might be covered but only 10 or 15 minutes. I go for an hour and when I get up off the table, I am feeling rather drunk and woozy and have to wait a little bit before I can drive home yesterday. I really noticed that that drunk woozy feeling is now gone as all the toxins have really moved through my system over nine months and I’m starting to feel more energized after the session. A lot of people here really recommend it.

I forgot to say how I keep my spirits up-that is multifaceted. I keep many things lined up that I can do at any given time. I like to get the Mayo Clinic online forum digest every morning. I like to help where I can. I am also an artist so I go to place is doing artwork. I volunteer And help on an annual event where I prepare a map of movies along a 5K route. I get out every day and walk 15 or 20 minutes in the morning and in the afternoon. I have been on low-dose opioid (Percocet) for 25 years. Sometimes I can’t do the exercise without it. It allows me to get through the challenges. I also am an activist for my own well-being and I bugged the crap out of the doctors if I don’t get a satisfying answer. I asked for tests and labs. I feel horrible because my doctor is so overworked, but she said last week that she really is grateful that I bring all the information to her That I research so we work together collaboratively even if the answers aren’t readily apparent. I have many more things that are personal struggle, but I guess I reconciled when I was a child that my choice is life and to find hope and optimism when I can bring it. I only get depressed when I can’t move through things i.e., when I can’t work on something or when I get blocked from progress. I also learned during menopause 20 years ago that not having enough vitamin D metabolize properly was caused for depression. That symptomatic depression was resolved entirely by having sufficient amount of vitamin D.

My youngest is a Queen's University grad (MSc) who, until recently, owned and operated two physical therapy clinics in Calgary, AB. She took a course maybe six years ago now on MFR, and she feels her new knowledge and skills have helped her to treat patients who would otherwise not have benefited from what she had in her toolbox. She is actually quite enthusiastic about it, and believes that it is a viable method of treatment for some patients. So, please do give it careful consideration for its potential.

Hello Justin
I was diagnosed with Pad in January,2024,the occlusion is behind the right knee, in the popliteal and tibial areas, below the knee, I underwent 2 angioplasties thru the groin area to try and clear the blockage, Unfortunately, The procedure pretty much failed, a month later, I was told it had
re-occluded, to 100 percent blockage, My only savior was, that I have grown collateral arteries around the blockage, so , life now is daily Xarelto, Plavix and Statins
I have had some success and pain relief doing PT daily and lots of bike riding, forcing myself to walk and exercise at age 65, even though I feel like giving up, This dreadful condition slowly sucks the life out of you, cold Michigan Winters are no friend, Just do the best you can, this condition raise your odds of a cardio vascular event by 5 fold and could possible lead to limb amputation ,Of course your Vascular Dr will recommend quit eating all the stuff you like and dont smoke, you HAVE to keep moving, even though its painful claudication in leg ,Good Luck

Thanks for your uplift. Am forming a strategy to get MFR. I do the Vit D. Was exercising 1/2 hr a day but not the pain isn't worth it. Just started generic Lyrica and that has helped the nerve pain. I am 87, and long ago retired RN. Be careful of that percocet. I found that elders can't handle it very well. We tend to get confused and even delusional on it as we get older.
Thanks so much. ezzyem