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For the last two days I have been getting puffy feet and ankles and when I put my shoes or sneakers on, they are too tight.
I don't think it is water retention because I took
one of my boyfriends water pills (40mg) and it
did absolutely nothing.
I have to go to rehab tomorrow and am going
to show the nurse there.
I had blood work done 2 weeks ago and my
glucose is good...at 80 points...
I wonder if anyone else here has this
problem?
Heart disease Asthma Cancer Heart failure Surgery Confusion Allergies Physical therapy Breast cancer Atacand Lasix Pain Heart attack Coreg Sarcoidosis Hypothyroidism
wondering48,
I too have some swelling of my feet and ankles on and off. I did the same thing and took 40 mg of my hubs lasix. It helped a little but then it would return. I talked to my doct about it and he told me not to worry about it unless i was seeing an increase in weight on the scale. For instance...3 lbs at a time and increasing daily. Just a reminder... when taking a water pill your body looses potassium. So make sure to discuss this with your doctor.
Marie
Hi wondering48: You didn't give any information as to what could be causing the swelling, have you had by-pass surgery, with the veins from your leg used; an angeoplasty; or a high blood pressure problem? In any case , leave your boyfriend's water pills alone. I'm no medic but I would suggest a visit to your doctor. I had by-pass surgery 11 months ago and the leg used for the veins still swells ( I'm told that could keep up for a year and a half ). Also you could be getting too much salt in your diet. In my case, I should be getting no more than 1,200ml per day and that includes all the sodium intake from all food including everything from milk to processed dinners, sandwich meats and the bread -- in fact everything that goes into my mouth. Try writing the amounts down per serving for a couple of days and see just how much you really get on top of what you put on your food. It might surprise you. More than likely some other heart sisters will have a lot more help for you. But keep your head up many of us struggle with the same problem. --- Gloria ---
If there is pain or redness involved, call your doctor. A blood clot could be a concern.
Plus -- When it comes to moving fluids out of our legs, our bodies have to work against gravity. Also, the fluids in our lower legs and ankles have the farthest distance to travel back to the organs and have less muscle tissue (than thighs/behind/abdomen) to work with.
In addition to water pills and sodium intake, I learned a few other tricks to help with my leg swelling (tied to high blood pressure/heart failure). First -- (based on physical therapist/doctor's recommendation) I wear very attractive compression stockings.
Second, elevating my feet .. even just a little bit -- helps.
And lastly, working those muscles. I try to take a short walk (to the printer or get a drink of water ...) every hour. If I'm stuck on a phone call at work, I can pace around my cubical. If I'm stuck in a meeting or a long car ride, I can pump my ankles.
Hello sternum....No, I never had heart surgery just 2 stents put in last July. When I wake up in the morning I have no swelling at all? Could very well be the sodium in my food. If it keeps up I will see the dr....went to rehab today and my pressure was 107/67
i don't know how I could have missed the tension stockings and putting your feet up. It has become such a normal part of the day, I just take it as routine. It does wonders though. --- Gloria ---
Gloria, You are right .... I think the stockings are comfortable ...except for summer ... when they can be very hot. My office has VERY COLD A/C, so I don't mind them during the day.
Had a lady at the fitness center ask me about them. She suggested I should monogram them with a Victoria's Secret logo .... that would make them sexier. Maybe red lace support hose -- think that would work?
I think you're onto something, Karla. Maybe a new future for you in a support hose line...I'll look for it at fashion week next year!
- Peg
Hello ladies...I just came back from the doctor and he saw my feet and ankles. He took my pressure and it was 110/65....so that's no problem.
He wants me to get bloodwork done during the week because I have a thyroid problem being hypothyroidism since 1980 and my medicine might not be right for me at this time. I am taking 150mcg....
so he asked me if I felt tired too...I said, "yes I do and can even fall asleep during the late afternoon lately which has been happening....just to make sure the thyroid is what is causing this, I will have the tests done....(here's when I feel like I am going to pass out and crumble) no matter who does the test, never can find the vein and I always have to be stuck in my hand and even then, not enough blood comes out....
I have such bad luck....I heard to drink lots of water a few days before you have blood drawn...it helps....
Greetings:
I'm new to this site. Have been on the stop sarcoidosis site for about a month.
I'm responding now, because I care deeply, and don't want to see anything happen to any of you. I am a retired nurse, and one of the worse things anyone can do is take someone else's medication, that was not prescribed for them. For one thing, the person allowing you to take their medication could get in legal trouble if something happened to you. The other thing is, none of us possess the knowledge enough to be prescribing for ourselves. I would hate for something to happen to any of you.
My ankles do swell; I've had poor circulation for years, but it got really bad after an episode of SVT in 2005. My doctor was going to give me lasix, but chose to try the compression hose for me, and they have been working rather well. Just had to get used to them. For those of you who have latex allergies, they do make latex free ones. I prefer the open toe ones - they are just more comfortable for me. The upper portion of my heart is enlarging now; also have left bundle branch block; leaky mitral valve and afib. Going through tests - will get all the results back on the 17th. At least my veins and arteries are open.
God bless you all, and take care of yourselves. Great-gram
Welcome to this site Great-gram. It is wonderful to have a retired nurse here. I will find out what's going on when they kill me at the lab trying to take my blood next week....do you really think that the amount of water I drink will help?
I am a HARD DRAW. These are tips I wish I had learned earlier in life. It would have saved me an awful lot of pain,suffering and terror over having my blood drawn.
I ALWAYS get blood drawn from the hand so do not feel alone. Here are two tricks to make the blood draw easier.
1. Drink at least 1-2 glasses of water before the draw and DO Not go to the bathroom so time this carefully. The more water volume the easier the draw.
2. For the hand draw, and I do not see why not for anywhere else, ask for heating paks, my lab calls them heeler warmers for infants. I place one ontop of the draw sit and the other I clutch in my hand. It helps bring the vein to the surface.
3. And make sure the tec is putting the tourniquet in the right place. It should be placed about 1 inch above the wrist bone and NO HIGHER.
Hopes this helps.
Hello mamellie....1" above the wrist bone????
They always put the tourniquet on my upper arm???
Thanks for the advice with the water...I am going to make sure to drink lots...
Absolutely NOT. The tourniquet is placed above the elbow for the mid arm draw. It is placed just above the wrist bone for top of the hand draw.
I had an tech place the tourniquet just under the elbow for the top of hand draw. When I told her where to place it, she ignored me. Stupidly, I thought maybe she knew something I did not. HA !!!!!!! She could not get the vein. After 2 failed attempts, I told her to either do as I say or stop. She stopped, a new person came in. Placed the tourniquet properly just above the wrist and BINGO.
Greetings!
Have a lot going on so I don't have a lot of time to respond. Right now I should be doing other things, however, I will get to them -- eventually (smiles).
Have to clean house; don't know if my husband's family will be coming here after his brother's funeral. He's not dead yet - resting comfortable, not responding, and it's just a matter of time.
Sermon to write, Bible verses for eggs for Easter Egg Hunt for tomorrow, and devotions for the feeding program tomorrow. Also the Sunday Bulletin for Sunday Morning Worship.
I told staff from my old job that I would slow down someday -- my house reflects that. So now I'm retired and working at the church part-time.
Drinking water will help -- but don't overdo, especially if you are supposed to limit fluids.
They can only use my left arm for needlesticks if they really can't get anything out of my right arm. Lymph nodes were removed from left arm when I had breast cancer, but glory to God, that was almost 21 years ago. My oncologist told me I would be more likely to die from a heart attack than cancer. I just might start picking on him for that statement. Blame my heart problems on sarcoidosis.
I get my INRs at the doctor's office now, because they will do fingersticks. I told my husband I won't use the lab unless I have to have other lab tests, even though the lab is free.
I'll have to remember to speak up about the tourniquet, because when they tried to start an IV for the TEE, they pushed and prodded and were hitting the bone, so much so I cried from the pain, and that is something I had ever done before. It was my left arm, and almost a month later it still hurts.
There is a lot I don't know, because most of my background was not hospital nursing.
I learn a lot from all of you. Thanks and God bless! Great-gram
To Great-gram and mamaellie...thanks for mentioning the way the tourniquet should be placed...hmmm
no wonder the dummies at the lab never get it
right....hope you all have a good Easter. If I can't
get my shoes on tomorrow, I am going to be
visiting the emergency room. The dr. gave me
a water pill, but it does absolutely nothing...just
goes to show I am not retaining water. I did have
an echogram done the other day and some test
on the right and left side of your neck.....
I'm currently taking care of my Grandma who just got out of the hospital/nursing home after being in for 5 weeks. Yesterday I noticed her feet and ankles swelling. She does take a water pill and we do a little bit of physical therapy for her every day to get her strength back but even this isn't helping with the swelling. Nor is elevating her feet. She does have thyroid problems and is taking medication for it. A few days ago her doctor lowered the dosage of her medication. Do you think lowering the dosage of her medication could be the cause of the swelling? I plan to call her doctor as soon as the office opens but he's very hard to get a hold of.
hello Great-Gram. I have friend that has sarcoidosis in the lungs. Do you think that sarcoidosis leads to heart problems? I,myself have heart failure. My feelings on blood draws, I never have it in the hand I"m too bony,always in the inner elbow. I have blood vessels that roll. They can't even do an arterial blood draw(from the wrist) on me, no amount of lidocain are they going to get blood. If one is too dehydrated getting a blood draw would be hard to do since the blood vessel won't be plump.
Hi Gammacygnus... The new cardiologist I have now told me to cut the coreg pill in half and my blood pressure pill (atacand) cause he believes I was
over-medicated. I also take a water pill now (20mg)
but it only helps a little...the days I go to rehab and work on the machines are the days I feel the best....
it's weird lol..when I leave the rehab I feel like I want to run, run, run..but then when I get home after a few hours I feel like I am going to drop?
Get some more help from your grandma's dr...just tell him like it is....
Hi! Good to hear from you! I haven't been on for a while. We just went through an audit at work - came through with flying colors. Another of my husband's brothers is in the hospital. He's only 6 months older than me and fell and broke his hip. His health is not good at all.
Regarding the question. It's not that sarcoidosis in the lung leads to heart problems, that could happen, especially if the breathing is real bad, so the heart problem could be there because of the difficulty in getting oxygen because of severe breathing problems. I do have some breathing problems, but they were there before the sarcoidosis, as I have had asthma nearly all my life. The sarcoid granulomas can show up in most any organ. They can be in the heart, and not the lungs, but not usually. Usually the sarcoid is identified in the lungs first. You hear of random acts of kindness, sarcoid seems to be random acts of disease. The heart doctor seems to think some of my heart problems come from the sarcoid, but there are others that are from other problems, problems just like others with heart disease. Unless I convince them to give me a PET scan, they'll just be guessing. Ususally if the sarcoid is affecting the heart, it affects the electrical system, and that is what I've had a problem with since probably the early 90's. It's just been getting worse. Now I have a slightly enlarged atria and mitral regurgitation that is borderline for surgery. More meds and even for me, more confusion. I enjoy working because it keeps my mind off of things, and I see and counsel with people with much greater problems. I was reading a book, and one of the writers spoke about wanting to be a joy germ. Sounds good to me. Since God gives me joy, I know I don't need to let the devil steal it. Sometimes I just need a reminder. God bless! Great-gram. I love the sound of that name; hope I'm around for more!
Get help from her doctor, gee why didn't I think of that? What a waste coming to and signing up for the site.
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