My husband has been on PD for about a year. Over the last several months he has had a lot of joint pain, particularly in his hands, back and hips. He has seen an Arthritis Specialists but was not diagnosed with Arthritis or anyhting else for that matter. He was on Lipitor which can cause muscle pain but he stopped using that several months ago. He is a little better in the last few weeks but not enough that would lead us believe it was the Lipitor. He also has some hard deposits in the palm of his hands. Both his Primary Physician and Nephrologist have not been able to come up with anything difinitive.
Hi Jacqueline, and welcome to Home Dialysis Central. I’m very sorry to hear that your husband is having joint pain. He’s lucky to have you as an advocate to help him find answers! I’m not aware of any specific link between joint pain and PD itself (and a PubMed search turned up essentially nothing).
However, joint pain is a common finding in ESRD. The most likely culprit is amyloidosis, and the “hard deposits” in your husband’s hands suggest that this may be a problem for him. Deposits of amyloid protein can occur anywhere in the body, but often happen in the joints and soft tissues. Has he been checked specifically for this?
If amyloidosis is the problem, he might want to consider a switch from PD to nocturnal home hemo, which removes much more amyloid, especially if it is done more than 3 nights per week. In some cases, those deposits sort of “melt away” over time, and this might help him. A transplant could also help remove more amyloid than PD or standard hemo.
Thanks for your response. We are being told that amyloidosis doesn’t usually occur after just 12 months on dialysis so they seem to be ruling that out. How is a test for this performed. Blood work? He is very opposed to HD. We are on the transplant list though. They thought it may be Lipitor and more muscular pain than joint but after being off that drug for several months things have not improved very much. Thanks for your help and advice.
Hi All, I have been on PD for a little under 5 months and i must admit, i feel better than when i was going in-center but i have noticed these “growths” in the tissues on my calves, they are very disturbing to me. I was hoping they would go away but i guess they are not going to huh? UGH, Well, just wanted to say you guys have a great website here alot of information. Has anyone been to Ihatedialysis.com? That’s a pretty cool website too. Hope to see you all there sometime soon.
Here’s an article from MedlinePlus (a government website) that describes joint pain, possible causes, and more.
I have a friend who is diabetic and has a condition called Dupuytren’s contracture which starts with nodules under the skin on the palm of the hand. I’m not sure who diagnosed this condition in her or whether this describes what your husband feels.
I’d suggest that you make an appointment with a dermatologist to see if he/she can diagnose what is causing the growths and what treatment will help them.