Erythema Nodosum/Herbs/ Bad Circulation?

[Guest guest]

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Just wanted to update my previous

post. I went to a Chinese Medicine Doctor on Friday and her mouth

dropped when she looked at my legs. Then of course I hit her with the

big PCOS problem too. She looked at my legs and went over my history

with me. She kept pressing in my legs and arms and said my blood

pressure was great and circulation very good till she got to my

calves and feet where the nodules are. She seems to think there is

poor circulation there and that may be a factor. She gave me bags of

herbs to make a tea for my PCOS and some herbal pills for pain from

the Erythema and another formula for circulation. I was really

stressed out about it all day. Chinese medicine is not really that

cheap I found out. I am figuring it is a bunch of plants and berries-

yeah 70 bucks worth and looking around, that was by far the cheapest

for a week supply. So I am thinking, 70 bucks every week or so is a

small price to pay for this stuff to go away but gosh that's not just

a one time fee ya know. She wants me to come back in a week to see if

any progress and then 2 weeks after.I only wish she gave me the names

of the herbs so I can look them up and post them. That will be next

visit. I didn't think it would be circulation when she told me that

and since we were going to Disney this weekend, I decided to start

all the herbs on Monday. So I go to Disney this weekend and was on my

feet a lot. By the time I got back to the room, both ankles were red

and the nodules were worse than ever. The new one on my right leg was

tender and there was redness all around it. The size of a baseball is

how large of an area the redness was. So then I think now, it must be

circulation? Makes since, I was on my feet all night! I know I should

not have been but this was the big day for my girls and I am paying

for it. So tomorrow I start the herbs and the support hose(thanks

for the idea-never thought of it). I wanted to know if anyone

in this group has ever thought of bad circulation as being a culprit

for Erythema Nodosum. Very interesting seeing that I am 27 and have

never been diagnosed with bad circulation. Even more interesting is

not one of my Doctors checked for it either. I will keep everyone

posted. Have a great week.

[Guest guest]

Dear Mav,

I have only had a little experience in dealing with Chinese

medicine. It is my understanding that Chinese medicine looks at

" Chi flow " --which may be what the dr. means by circulation. I also

was given a bag of herbs to cook up and drink. The herbs looked like

my yard clippings, but I faithfully prepared them and drank the tea.

I only experienced one thing from the herbs--they knocked me out and

I slept very well. I was disappointed that the herbs didn't help any

of the other problems I was being treated for: bursitis, infertility

and EN. Yes, the dr. visits and the herbs were expensive, but I gave

it a try anyway. I felt I gave it enough time and finally gave up on

it as it didn't seem to be helping me. The bursitis went away when I

rested the arm for a few weeks. It took a full year to recover from

it. I never got over the infertility--western medicine could never

find why I could not get pregnant--but that was years ago and they

have better methods now. The EN saw no improvement....just the usual

going in and out of remission without meds.

But don't let my experience sour you on Chinese medicine! I only

saw one doctor and you can't generalize. I am very interested in

knowing how you do on the regimin! Keep us all posted, and Good Luck!!

Love,

[Guest guest]

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Just wanted to update my previous post. I went to a Chinese Medicine Doctor on Friday and her mouth dropped when she looked at my legs. Then of course I hit her with the big PCOS problem too. She looked at my legs and went over my history with me. She kept pressing in my legs and arms and said my blood pressure was great and circulation very good till she got to my calves and feet where the nodules are. She seems to think there is poor circulation there and that may be a factor. She gave me bags of herbs to make a tea for my PCOS and some herbal pills for pain from the Erythema and another formula for circulation. I was really stressed out about it all day. Chinese medicine is not really that cheap I found out. I am figuring it is a bunch of plants and berries-yeah 70 bucks worth and looking around, that was by far the cheapest for a week supply. So I am thinking, 70 bucks every week or so is a small price to pay for this stuff to go away but gosh that's not just a one time fee ya know. She wants me to come back in a week to see if any progress and then 2 weeks after.I only wish she gave me the names of the herbs so I can look them up and post them. That will be next visit. I didn't think it would be circulation when she told me that and since we were going to Disney this weekend, I decided to start all the herbs on Monday. So I go to Disney this weekend and was on my feet a lot. By the time I got back to the room, both ankles were red and the nodules were worse than ever. The new one on my right leg was tender and there was redness all around it. The size of a baseball is how large of an area the redness was. So then I think now, it must be circulation? Makes since, I was on my feet all night! I know I should not have been but this was the big day for my girls and I am paying for it. So tomorrow I start the herbs and the support hose(thanks for the idea-never thought of it). I wanted to know if anyone in this group has ever thought of bad circulation as being a culprit for Erythema Nodosum. Very interesting seeing that I am 27 and have never been diagnosed with bad circulation. Even more interesting is not one of my Doctors checked for it either. I will keep everyone posted. Have a great week.

I never had swollen ankles in my life before I got EN. I am not sure what it's all about. I have always been under the impression that the condition and accompanying inflammation create extra lymph/fluid...then again, if EN is caused by what someone earlier called a "sticky substance" that makes the affected cells and capillaries clump together, it makes sense that it would impact circulation.