Livedoid vasculopathy

Posted by angelasmom @angelasmom, Aug 3, 2011

Looking for people with the rare blood clot and leg and foot ulcer disease of Livedoid Vasculopathy. Mayo seems to be experienced at treating this disease so I thought I would find you here, I have it.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Blood Cancers & Disorders Support Group.

Hi steph, Did you find out what was causing your rash? Zenk

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@zenk

Hi Stephanie, Yes people with Lividoid Vasculopathy have reported having ulcers that itch very badly. I have had to put benedryl cream or spray on the ulcer or at least around it to stop the itching . I have not heard of a rash like you describe with LV. Check with a dermatologist for best guess. People with LV unless they have been diagnosed with a coagulation abnormality are not at risk for clots. Do you know if your blood clots abnormally? A blood test would tell. Blood thinner is the treatment of choice for LV ,so with your other condition , your doctor would have to determine the safety of blood thinner. Keep in touch, Zenk

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I do not have a history of clots. I take an aspirin daily as directed from the dermatologist.

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Hi Stephanie, Yes people with Lividoid Vasculopathy have reported having ulcers that itch very badly. I have had to put benedryl cream or spray on the ulcer or at least around it to stop the itching . I have not heard of a rash like you describe with LV. Check with a dermatologist for best guess. People with LV unless they have been diagnosed with a coagulation abnormality are not at risk for clots. Do you know if your blood clots abnormally? A blood test would tell. Blood thinner is the treatment of choice for LV ,so with your other condition , your doctor would have to determine the safety of blood thinner. Keep in touch, Zenk

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Not sure if this is still an active blog.
I'm 23 years old and was diagnosed with this a few years ago.
I'm wondering if anyone has the ulcers that itch extremely bad? Or if they have ever had a rash that spreads to their thighs, forearms, buttox, back and stomach from this condition?
Also, how bad is the risk for clots?
I am trying to be on birth control with estrogen for PCOS but I am apparently at too high of a risk because of this condition even while taking aspirin.
Thank you!
Stephanie

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Hi Ms. Merry, Sorry about your current flare. I always get the ulcers in the same places also . Feet and ankles, especially over boney areas. Evidently, the micro vessels in these areas are blocked by fibrin and oxygen rich blood can't reach the top dermis of the skin. Glad you are seeing you GP next week. If you haven't tried Rivroxaban 15 mg. yet it is surely worth a try. Once I have a very deep and painful ulcer good wound care is essential and I have had to be on MS contin for pain especially at night. Topical cream with Ketamine at least 10% and Gabapentin in it was a life saver last time around. I finally had to have a skin graft over my right ankle in sept. My foot was in danger and they had to operate. Maybe Rivroxaban won't be as expensive in Canada. Please let me know how it goes at the doctor. Thinking of you,stay strong. Zenk

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@logansnana

Thank you. My hat is off to both you and my daughter. LV is definitely not for the faint of heart. My daughter, Angel, has had three of the ablations done at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland California over the course of the summer. The last one was just done three weeks ago. I am happy to report she is doing extremely well. I shared your post with her and she typed this reply for me to share."Stripping is how they used to do it. Essentially, the goal in both procedures is the same....
To stop blood from flowing through inefficient veins, and cause it to reroute to veins that work better . That being said, how do we keep these efficient veins from going bad? The answer is compression while upright and elevation when you're sitting.
Only time will tell if the laser ablation has proven to reduce the reoccurrence of the ulcers. The only thing I know for sure, is that compression helped me heal and at this point, the stockings give me hope that I'll be able to continue standing behind the styling chair ."
All the best to you msmerry

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I am so happy that this is working for your daughter and thanks for sharing her post. Compression is not an option for me as the ulcers are too large and even a sock or the slightest touch sends off deep pain signals. It was after this procedure was done that they discovered it was LV and not a venous problem. The ulcers keep coming back to the exact same spot on my foot/ankle. I am out of remission again and can manage only about 4 hours of being up or sitting and both feet again and the same areas with what looks like a new one busting loose. ( Gotta keep a sense of humor on this ) 🙂 Elevation, I try to do consistently throughout the day. I did have a DVT and I now know that this is also an indicator. The other thing that was noted about a year before the first time it happened was my feet were turning bright red and swelling. ( a client pointed it out) I had had this happen when I was in my 20's and they couldn't figure it out or why it was so painful.
They made mention of the fact that LV is very rare and that most people are misdiagnosed for at least 5 years when it first happens. I for one can attest to this. Anyway, I just wanted to get back to you and apologize for being so slow in replying. I had not been here in a bit and not knowing too much about forums forgot to check in. Happy Thanksgiving coming soon for our American neighbors! I hope it is a wonderful time for all.
I do have to say thank you to the two wonderful South African Surgeons who took it upon themselves to do more. Unfortunately, they are no longer in my area for further follow-ups. I am grateful that one of them said all the others (specialists I had been sent to see) were wrong and did the Biopsy and sent it away. That takes courage to do.
I am sincerely grateful for this forum and any others I have yet to discover. No one can know or relate to this disease unless they
a) have it
b) live with someone suffering from this...

Keep on researching and sharing when you can. Thanks to everyone.
MsMerry

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So just an fyi I have started a group page on face book called Livdoid Vasculopathy support, for those of us on Facebook. There are people from around the world in this group. We discuss our stories and help each other out! We'd love to have you on there too!

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@ethanmcconkey

@angip83 and @msmerry welcome to Connect.

I'm tagging @zenk, and @logansnana, who also have experience with livedoid vasculopathy (LV) and may be able to help you find some answers.

@angip83 you must feel so relieved to have found a cause and solution. Did your rheumatologist explain why the immoglobin G (IgG) deficiency was causing the LV?
@msmerry, you mentioned that you were on pentoxaphylinne, but it stopped working. Has your doctor prescribed any other medication, and if so what are you now using to treat the LV?

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I am so sorry I missed your post, Ethan. I am not used to the forums and how they work. No, my Dr. has not changed any meds nor has he done further testing to find out the underlying reasons. Mostly I am on my own so really really appreciate all of you guys! I see my GP again this Monday and hoping to go in armed with some information for him. We do not have the kind of specialists some of you have seen here. I have actually just started trying CBD Oils as they are now legal in Canada. I am staying as positive as possible but with the pain, I am wearing down quickly. I cannot get anything on my feet other than flip-flops or flat shoes that don't touch the top of my foot or ankle. We are in snow now...LOL, so this is a really fun time.
I just did some more research today and of course, it brought me back here so that has me smiling. I saw Rivaroxaban being tried and the report was dated 2018. I am hoping my Dr. will switch me to this. I think if memory serves me, it was in Brazil.

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@zenk

Hi Eva, Sounds like your dermatologist is responding to your flare with good attention. Sounds like he wants to get the blood thinned as well as possible. I will be interested in knowing how well the Fraxaparin is helping . What dose of Xarelto were you taking before you stopped taking it? Is he consulting with a vascular doc? I am glad you went into hospital for a new look. Did you have an extensive workup when you first got LV ulcers? Did they look for underlying reasons for LV then? More questions than help I'm afraid, but maybe they will turn up something new. Zenk

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@zenk I have had LV for over 20 years and am Factor 5 Leyden, biopsy diagnosis about 10 years ago for LV. You mentioned an article in Lancet (1916) about Xarelto as a possible help for LV. If available, could you please give me the issue or page number of the reference? Wound care in ND isn't used to seeing LV cases and the current option they used on me (Apligraf) did not work due to an allergic reaction. I have been on warfarin several times for blood clots, and currently take 2 regular aspirin a day to keep blood from clotting. I think wound care will be transferring me to rheumatology or hematology after today because they have run out of options for treating my LV.
Thanks for your help, Sheila Sears Wichmann

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Hello Zenk. Thanks for your interest!
I have been taking 20mg of Xarelto since 16 of March, 2018 but no results at all. That's why my doc decided I became resistant to it. But when I took Xarelto for the first time, they were of benefit after 3 months. So at the beginning I took 20mg, after two months reduced to 10mg, after a month reduced to 5mg and on the fourth month I took Xarelto of 5mg every second day. And than I stopped it. It was amazing! I was so happy it worked and I forgot I have LV for a year and a half. Thank it came back! Than Xarelto again for some 6 months and than remission for 9 months and than flare up again since March 2018, introduced Xarelto again but no results ever since. And did I have an extensive work up? Yes I did, during 2011-2013. But all the tests I did than, showed no underlying reason. This is why we are doing it all over again and this time even more extensively I guess, because I was taken 10 test tubes of blood 🙂 We'll see what it shows now! I'll get back with more news over the week. All the best, Eva.

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