Does anyone suffer with????

Question

I have had swelling in my lower legs, ankles, feet and toes along with my hands and fingers since March of this year. I have gone to my family doctor and he never really said what kind of edema I have. He put me on Lasix 10 mg's to take once every other day. I've been doing that for months and increasing my water intake too. So far those areas I mentioned above are still swelled. Not only am I swelled and uncomfortable, but the skin is a light red and shining. I elevate my legs often thru the day, but nothing else helps. I will be going back to my doctor at the end of this month. At first it appeared to be pitting edema, but now it isn't. Any help from anywhere would be appreciative. Thank you.

The doctor originally had me on Lasix every day, but he discovered it was too harsh on my bladder and kidneys. So he told me to take one Lasix every other day.

In addition to the swelling, I also have rheumatoid arthritis. The combination of the two make it very difficult for me to get much exercise.

Answer 1

This is called dependent edema. Dependent edema affects those areas of the body that "hang down" or are dependent. Lasix is the drug of choice for edema because it makes you pee a lot, but in doing so you pee out a lot of potassium which is very important for your heart. This may be why the doctor decreased your dosage frequency. Other ways to help the edema is to wear compression stockings which your doctor would prescribe for you. You can also elevate your arms and legs at night, but this only helps to a very small degree. One big thing is you do not want to increase your fluid intake. What you do by increasing you fluid intake is you counteract the Lasix. Right now you have more fluid in your system than your body can handle. You don't want to stop drinking all together and if you are very active outside or you exercise a lot then you need more fluids, but you have too much fluid right now. YOu should talk to your doctor about possibly restricting your fluids. He or she can tell you what fluid intake is safe for your at the current time taking into consideration your daily activity level. Good luck!!

Answer 2

Chat to your doctor about your amount of exercise that you do during the day and what you should be doing.

You should be drinking 2 litres of water a day, not 2 litres in one go or even 2 glasses in one go, this actually does not help the body to process this water at all.

Rub your feet, gently, with body lotion or cream, or a vegetable oil such as grapeseed or avocado oil.

Don't take hot steamy baths or showers, this actually in short may "confuse" your body about the water in your body. Luke warm or body temperature is just fine.

Make sure you don't have food or pollen allergies, this could be contributing to the issue.

Leave all your lights off at night, and once your lights are off, leave them off until morning. You allow for maximum melatonin production this way (between 10pm and 2am is the best/most).

Eat more green leafy vegetables, salads, less animal fat, and try taking some flaxseed oil.

You sound a little overweight with this description?

Please, whatever you do, don't wear tight clothing, you inhibit your blood and lymphatic circulation this way, and you need to be comfortable and in looser clothes, even materity wear may be what you need. For comfort. And to help decrease symptoms.

Talk to your doctor, get a fitness trainer (pref. physiotherapist or pilates instructor).

Good luck.

Answer 3

that sounds like too much fluid in your system,lower leg swelling especially,do you have diabetes?because that is a symptom of diabetes due to kidney failure or you could have a clot,i strongly suggest you get a second opinion.lasix is usually prescribed to rid the body of extra fluid,are you going to a county hospital?they are notorius for just changing around meds and not finding the real problem,good luck.