One of my coworkers quit smoking recently and now when he walks, his legs will lose strength. His doctors have not been able to diagnose the ailment. Does anyone have experience with this issue?
He'll be walking and then suddenly lose strength in his legs -- he can still walk, but not at full strength. Also, when he quit smoking, he developed facial acne.
I am not a doctor, but I smoke. The acne is probably from touching his own face too much - you get used to having a cigarette in your hands, constantly raising it to your mouth. When that's gone, you still put your hands on your face. Also, and this is just talking out of my ass (or smoking out of it), if you smoke for a long time your entire body chemistry fits around it. So, who knows what else could be going on. But lots of people break out when they quit.
You are correct, when the you remove anyy constant chemical from your "diet" you are likely to break out. The leg thing though...is he a big fat guy?
Yes. while smoking can decrease your risk for cancer of the lungs, lips, tongue, throat, bladder, not to mention strokes, heart disease, bronchitis and impotence by 18%, it increases your risk of developing of WeakLeg by approimately 16%. Joshing. It could be totally unrelated; I'd go to a care provider in case. Congrats to your coworker.
just spitballing here.... Nicotine is a stimulant. That's why people frequently gain weight when they quit smoking. I'm willing to bet that this person also drinks caffeine... possibly energy drinks. When you're getting a boost from something like an energy drink, and when the energy effects wear off, you come down hard and get tired fast. I can only guess that, without nicotine in his system, this guy is coming down hard and fast from some other energy source (like an energy drink) and getting really tired, really fast. just a theory. (note: I don't smoke, don't drink energy drinks, and don't consume caffeine, so my comments are not the voice of experience)
Keep in mind that nicotine releases stored sugar to the brain. Perhaps there could be a link in there somewhere.
I quit smoking 2 months ago and have not gotten a full nights sleep since. Different things happen to different people when they quit smoking even different quits for the same person can have different effects. Im not a doctor but, I can pretty much guarantee that the 100 million?chemicals in cigarette smoke didnt contribute to the health or strength of his legs. BTW the acne thing is true although it could be from the 5 mile runs I started in the Houston summer.
could be a coincidence of timing...perhaps there is something else going on with his spine. Either just from age or perhaps even cancer completel guessing
The facial acne and smoking thing has already been explained, so I won't touch on that. Losing strength or sudden weakness in his legs while walking and quitting smoking are probably not related. However, problems like this are serious and need a full work up. Questions: How old is he? Does he have any medical problems (diabetes, hypertension, especially peripheral vascular disease)? Are there neurologic problems in the family? Does he take medicines? Does he see a physician normally? He needs a full work up for this. I would get a full blood panel (Esp calcium and potassium), I would consider seeing a neurologist and consider an EMG. Edit: Feel free to parlay any questions from him, I am an internal medicine physician.
38 no medical problems no meds Been testing blood with GP- a full panel with testosterone low and potassium high (but the potassium has came within normal last panel – testosterone falling) Will see a neurologist next week.
