serious answers only please,Dont say-go to Doctors-?

Question

Been there-done that.I have 5 balloon an stents -and have heart failure-l had heart attack 3 years ago-I am on ALL medication I am allowed- .My ankles are swollen from on plane journey ,- really sore and tight -I have taken extra asprin is there anything else that will help take swelling down'?. Also, Do you know "WHY" they are swollen?. I really need a fast answer -thankyou. x x

Thanks-Will Try Them ALL.xx

congratulations bypass5x

Answer 1

Put on compression stockings and lay down with your legs elevated. Take a lasix if you have one. Wiggle your ankles once and a while. Go to minimal fluids, 4 cups per day / no sodium.

Lasix works better when you are laying down because the blood flow to your kidneys is increased allowing them to remove more fluid.

Edema (swelling) is a symptom of heart failure. Sitting still for long periods will allow fluid to pool in your legs. If you get work on it right away it will go down quickly but if it stays their a while it can take days to go down.

If you have pain, call your cardiologist. If you gain more than 5 lbs in one day, call your cardiologist. If it is hard to breath or you cough call your cardiologist. If you can reach your cardiologist he may prescribe lasix if you don't already have it.

Answer 2

swelling ankles is often characteristic of congestive heart failure (the inability of your heart to pump enough blood to your whole body) which leads to fluid retention. The compensatory increase in sympathetic tone required to maintain an adequate blood pressure thru vasoconstraction via alpha 1 adrenergic receptors and the activation of the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone system to increase fluid resorption in the kidneys maintains arterial blood pressure and causes fluid to accumulate in the ankles.

Your heart condition was probably exacerbated by your time in an under-pressurized airplane cabin.

Extra aspirin will probably not help, other than to make sure you don't get deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot) from flying. I would wear compression socks or leggings (while you fly next time too), cut out salt for a bit, and elevate your feet, do some ankle circles. Good luck.

Answer 3

Once you eliminate doctors and meds as part of the solution one thing remaining is to keep them elevated. Wearing ped supoport hose in the future may help as well as reducing salt intake. "...When the right side of the heart starts to fail, fluid collects in the feet and lower legs. As the heart failure becomes worse, the upper legs swell and eventually the abdomen collects fluid (ascites). Weight gain accompanies the fluid retention and is an excellent measure of how much fluid is being retained. Puffy swelling (edema) is a sign of right heart failure, especially if the edema is pitting edema. With pitting edema, a finger pressed on the swollen leg leaves a finger imprint. Nonpitting edema is not caused by heart failure..."
The actual cause of the edema deals with the difference of the pressures in the tissue and plasma ( see second link)

Answer 4

It sounds like you've had angioplasty at least once with placement of either drug-eluting or bare metal stents to maintain the patency of one or more coronary arteries - the right coronary, circumflex, etc, and presumably not the left anterior descending artery but perhaps one of its branches. Presumably the heart attack preceded the left heart failure - an obvious question then is did the heart failure precede or result from your heart attack. That's important as it may yield more insight into potentially more effective therapeutic modalities. If your heart attack compromised left ventricular contraction, your options are limited. If the other way around, and your left ventricular contractility isn't horribly compromised you may benefit from a drug called digitalis which promotes contractility of the heart muscle, thus making it more efficient. If you have an associated arrythmmia like atrial fibrillation or a heart block, there are certain drugs you could take to control the rhythm problem. I also assume you take nitroglycerin to stop anginal pain when it occurs and that you may be taking a calcium channel blocker to prevent potential coronary artery spasm. Now to your real question and a suggestion or two.

Ankle swelling, particularly while on a plane, is quite common. When you're active, say walking around, even just a little, the alternating contraction/relaxation of the leg muscles helps "pump" the blood back to your heart. Your heart provides the main pumping action thats enhanced by moving around. While on an airplane, moving about the airplane is usually discouraged, and the ambient air pressure in the plane cabin is less than it is at sea level - planes are typically pressurized to about 5000 ft. The combination of these two factors promotes pooling of blood in your feet, ankles, and calves - thus you get painful, swelling in your lower limbs. (You've probably not noticed that your fingers and hands are usually a little bit swollen, too - but usually not painfully so because you move your fingers, hands, and arms more than your legs and feet.) Having congestive heart failure simply makes the same condition worse because you're not getting enough help from your heart to keep the blood moving in your extremities so you get venous pooling resulting in swollen ankles. First of all - move around when your on a plane - it will help reduce but not eliminate the swelling and will also reduce the possibility of getting developing deep vein thrombosis in your leg veinns. Deep vein thrombosis can occur simply because pooled blood is more likely to clot --- incidently, DVT is a big deal if you have heart disease - a DVT can travel to the lungs, lodge and cause severe pain and respiratory distress - a potentially fatal problem

So for your anlke swelling, I'd recommend walking a little, say at least 5 minutes/45-60 minutes whn you're on a plane. Second, when on the ground, raise your legs and feet above the level of you heart to facilitate blood return to your heart.

Aspirin is a good thing to take in general as its been amply demonstrated that one baby aspirin (80 mg) is associated with lower heart attack rates in people who have had a previous heart attack.

Finally, I'm very disturbed that you're turning to Yahoo Answers for advice - while its great to get advice - it would be better to get it from a physician who truly understands your medical history and current medical challenges. If, as I suspect, you're disenchanted with your doctor, find another who's willing to listen and work with you. You may be surprised to find out that doctors gat lazy, too, and maybe don't thoughtfully consider their patient's specific presentation. Its very easy for Drs. to respond reflexively with little or no thought even when a patients well-being is at risk!!!! Please remeber that you - as a patient - are a consumer. Its OK to get a second and third and fourth opinion, if you want it. Most patients turn their health over to a person they've never met assuming that the doc is the right one - in other words with less regard than what they would exercise on a car repairman.

I wish you luck and happy flying.

Answer 5

my ankles does the same way,i prop mine and also have to take lasik a fluid pill every morning and every evening making it a total of 160mgs a day to keep the fluid from building up.i've had open heart surgery and a mechanical heart valve put in me also.thats about all you can do without going back to the dr.hope this has help you and also there is a website
that you can check out.it will help you also.hope you get better

Answer 6

All kinds of things can make your ankles swell and some can be very, very serious (e.g. kidney failure).

Do you get enough magnesium in your diet? If your electrolytes are off then it can cause the swelling. I get swelling if I'm not drinking enough water or if I am not getting enough magnesium or potassium.

Though the doctor did check my kidneys to be on the safe side.

Answer 7

Elevate your legs, use elastic support hose and do calf exercises for 5 minutes of every 30 when you fly. You can use them now, but it'll be hard on your heart pushing the excess fluid into your vascular system again......
They swell because airplane cabins are not 100% pressurized.

Answer 8

they are swollen from you sitting down from along amount of time, because all the blood rushed to the ankles..just put some ice on them and rest, and yes they will go down give it some time, it happens to my incle all the time, but if it stays swollen for over 3 days you know what to do.

Answer 9

THE SWELLING IS CALLED EDEMA. YOU NEED A WATER PILL TO GET RID OF IT AND A POTASSIUM PILL TO REPLACE THE POTASSIUM THAT IS LOST TAKING THE WATER PILL.

ASPRIN WILL NOT REDUCE THE FLUID..

YOUR CURRENT MED MAY NOT BE A STRONG ENOUGH DOSAGE.

DO NOT SIT BUT LIE DOWN OR STAND. BENDING THE LEGS FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME IS BAD.


WALK OR EVEN DANCE A LITTLE TO GET YOUR CIRCULATION GOING.

Answer 10

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/cardio/messages/35758.html

Really sorry, initially i want to advise you to see doctor as doctor is the best to answer for your question.
Anyway, i found the above link to "MedHelp" website and hope it really help you to clear your doubts.

AND
http://www.iconocast.com/News_Files/HNews1XA_X_05/Health5.htm

Under title : How can i tell if i have CHD ?
Paragraph 8.... (you can see on 'swollen ankles'.

Hope it really help.