[janerose]

Hey, everyone! I'm new here (intro under Roll Call thread) & was wondering who else is having swelling. What are you doing to treat it?

My ankles just started swelling yesterday. Guessing it's cause I was on my feet a lot this weekend w/Mom who was visiting. Aside from just putting my feet up & resting for a couple days is there anything else I should be doing? I've had no edema at all until this point, now all of a sudden my ankle bones have disappeared

If that wasn't bad enough, I have a tendency towards tendonitis in my legs anyway & the swelling is making my left leg *throb*

Really, any ideas would be much appreciated! TIA...

Holly

 

[msrog]

Hi, JaneRose, and welcome! Jump in on our weekly threads...

I'm so sorry to hear about your painful swelling! Only thing I know to suggest is to drink lots more water. Sounds contradictory, but it is supposed to help with swelling... And if it doesn't go down soon, I guess you need to get looked at for (isn't this right?) preeclampsia...

No, I don't have any. In fact I'm getting the "you look great, all belly, too small to be having twins, look how thin your arms and legs are still" comments. I think I got a wee bit of swelling right at the end with Nicolas, maybe last 3 weeks? He came at 41wks1day.

 

[benharperfan]

I've been having occasional swelling, but only in my right foot. I think its because I sit cross-legged at work and I am putting more weight on that leg. I have found that elevating my feet while in a chair or putting my feet up on the arm of the couch have helped some. So has swimming in the pool (though I am not sure why) and drinking lots and lots of water. I've also read that reducing salt intake will help though I don't salt anything to begin with.

I worry sometimes about pre-eclampsia myself, as my blood pressure has been slightly elevated during my pregnancy (although I had it read yesterday and it was normal again 110/67).

Hope you are feeling better soon! I am sure it is due in part from being on your feet for so long!

 

[plantmommy]

You should salt to taste in pregnancy. You might need the iodine (?) in the salt.

I only swell when I'm not drinking enough and on my feet alot, especially when it's hot. So, drink, drink, drink that water! Drink as much as you possibly can. Your body is holding fluids because it's not getting enough coming in. And yes, put your feet up when you can.

 

[hjohnson]

I have a tiny bit of swelling due mostly to the heat. I didn't get any major swelling until the end of my first pregnancy and that was due to pre-eclampsia. I find the swelling goes down when I increase my water intake and I come back inside from the heat.

 

[cottonwood]

Plantmommy is right, drink as much water as you can, and don't limit your salt. Keeping cool helps, wear airy comfortable shoes and clothing, and don't spend too much time on your feet, or in a chair with feet on the ground.

If you start to swell a LOT, you definitely want to watch your blood pressure. If you press on your leg and the indentation stays there, you might have trouble. Also if you get swelling in your face. Otherwise, don't worry about it, some swelling is normal in pregnancy.

 

[Tree Swallow]

I've had some swelling in my ankles, a first for me. Putting my legs up is a problem -- I can barely lay on my back. I do OK for a while sitting up with my legs up ... then my tailbone starts killing me. If it ain't one thing, it's another.

:

I have been trying to drink plenty of water too. I find if I don't, I really feel sick!

 

[banana girl]

Hi holly!

I've had some swelling of my feet and ankles. nothing that extreme but painful none the less. a few things that have helped me

A cool soak... I use a dish washing tub from the sink, filled part way up with cool water. I add some lavender oil for yummy smells, and have towel on hand cause the phone always seems to ring as soon as i sit down!

Big comfy shoes, dorky looking but comfy with arch supports. i went to target and bought 3 or 4 different kinds of inserts and have found different ones work better in different shoes, experiment.

My midwife recomended a "prenatal cradle" http://www.prenatalcradle.com/prenatalcradle.htm
I haven't tried it yet, but have enough weird things going on i may yet check it out. I was told i could buy one at burlington coat factory. Anybody tried one?

And get off those feet when you can!
good luck and let us know what works for you!
Anna Banana

 

[JenInMpls]

My good heavens, the prenatal cradle is quite a contraption! I have a support belt that a mom at school gave to me, but I haven't tried it yet. I haven't had much in the way of lower back pain, it's been more concentrated in the middle of my back and a lot in my rib cage. Sprout just went through a major growing phase and I had some very uncomfortable days, but they seem to have evened out now.

I get swollen toes on hot days. My ankles haven't seemed to be affected yet - knock on wood. However, I can't feel my ankles swelling the way I can feel my toes swelling. But the hotter it gets, the more I swell. Today my rings are not tight, but they fit... and today it is 80 degrees.

benharperfan (Jen, right? - your sig doesn't show on the topic review), you may be losing water when you swim by sweating, which you do, but just don't notice as much, or maybe the gentle water pressure forces the fluid back into your body. The last one is pure speculation, but I know that we do lose a lot of fluid when we swim through sweating, but we rarely notice because we're in water...

jen

 

[4under6]

Well, my feet always end up swollen after a shift at work, but that's obviously going to happen!
My socks leave marks in my upper ankles that last for hours.

My fingers have only swelled slightly, and it's only sometimes.
My wedding rings still fit for the most part.

I hear it might get hot here this week, so I'll be on an extra water-drinking rampage!

 

[cottonwood]

"My socks leave marks in my upper ankles that last for hours."

Oh, mine do that even when I'm not retaining water! I'm talking about a serious thumb indentation that just stays there.

Treeswallow wrote: "Putting my legs up is a problem -- I can barely lay on my back."

The important thing is getting your legs elevated -- you don't have to be on your back. Lying on your side will do just as well.

 

[Lazuli]

The only real swelling I've been having is in my hands, and not all that much. I'm trying to drink as much water as I can. I spend probably too much time on my computer but I sit cross legged in my chair. And of course if I get too warm I start to swell. I don't know what I'd do without air conditioning. I'm really glad I got a pair of Birkenstocks.

 

[janerose]

Thanks for all your responses! Our puter has been down for awhile, so this is the first time I've been able to check back.

:

Thankfully the swelling did go away after a day of sitting with my feet up & pumping myself full of water. It wasn't severe swelling, thank goodness, but any sort of swelling gets my tendonitis going.

Now that my computer is back up I'll hopefully have more time to hang out here & get to know y'all a little better.

Thanks again!

Holly

 

[msrog]

My ankles disappeared yesterday, and I still can't see them today!!!!!

I look like I did last year, after severely spraining BOTH ankles when I landed funny doing a round-off back flip. (Yes, I am nuts, doing gymnastics at 31... but such fun!)

I was up running around all day both days, and didn't get my nap yesterday, and today couldn't take one until 8:30 p.m.! It's also super hot, and I keep feeling thirsty even though I'm constantly drinking, so I'm probably not getting enough water still. I'll have to start chugging instead of sipping, I guess.

 

[HeatherB]

Holly, I'm glad your swelling went down! I was just noticing yesterday that my hands and feet were starting to swell, too. Up to this point, I've been doing great on that front (except for maybe one day when I knew I wasn't drinking enough). Of course, yesterday DH and I went out to lunch and then did some shopping - so lots of time out and lots of time on my feet - and the heat indices have been around 110 here! I was drinking a bunch of water, but probably lost it much more quickly than I realized.

Today, after camping at home most of the day, everything's back to normal. Whew! I am SO glad we're heading north in a couple of days for a vacation! I had a feeling getting out of Texas in July would be a good idea.

msrog, I hope your swelling goes down quickly, too! I am WAY too familiar with the look of badly sprained ankles! Ugh! My ankles would swell very easily for years after I injured mine - maybe that's actually affecting yours now? At any rate, we should probably all take a lesson in chugging water! :LOL

 

[JenInMpls]

I wish I knew how to balance the chugging of water (because I know that I am thirsty) with the fact that whenever my stomach is full, I get acid reflux, and that includes full with water, especially after about 5 PM.

hm.

j

 

[Caroline248]

Jen..did you try milk later on in the day? I know I can't drink water once dinnertime comes around, but milk isn't AS bad for the heartburn...

Chocolate millk is even better....but I could do w/o the sugar...

Caroline

 

[JenInMpls]

Yeah, I did try milk in small quantities, it went down a little easier but I think I'll have to pour a 24 oz. glass of it and sip it from about 6-10!!

Chocolate milk? mmmmmmmmmmmmm... maybe I wasn't as crazy as I thought looking for Ovaltine at the grocery store today. I didn't get any, though.

Jen, Chocolate Milk Lover

 

[Dodo]

that swimming is indeed helpful because of the pressure. Apparently, the deeper the water, the better.

My massage therapist also recommended self-massaging my feet with a small rubber ball. She said there are some important points on the balls of the feet.

Going back into lurkdom,

Dodo

 

[banana girl]

This weekend we were visiting family at the farm and had a bonfire... (which was awesome by the way) and my feet swelled up like balloons! You know the scene in the most recent Harry Potter movie... where Aunt Marge blows up and floats away... I felt like that! It was pretty funny how horrified my dear (never been pregnant) little sister was. They went and got me cool water to soak my feet in. I think it was the car ride that really did it. 3 hours with my feet down below the rest of me.....

I think i'm down to 1 pair of shoes that fit... the 3 dollar flip flops we bought 2 weeks ago!!! Yikes!

Anna Banana