swollen feet

Hi,

Good to hear from you again. But not good that you have swollen feet.

I didn't know that it could mean you need oxygen. I have been suffering with swollen legs and feet for months and months. I put it down to sitting so much. I haven't been at all active due to depression and spend a lot of time sitting on my bed. So I put it down to this, but maybe it is a heart prob or lack of oxygen. Will mention it when I go to clinic next.

Let me know what you find out.

How are you coping with this warm weather?

Tessa

Hi Tessa, thanks for your reply, sorry to hear about your depression - i think this rotten condition has a lot to do with it. I'm seeing doc tomorrow so should know more about edema then. Trouble is i don't have much faith in my local GP's , they are a nice bunch but don't seem to know much about copd. Thats why i was fishing for info here too, its always helpful to read other folks experiences and learn as much as we can from each other. I'm not worrying too much about the edema - while it is cited in all my copd books as a sympton of heart problems/ low oxygen, i am well aware that its also a common problem in ladies 'of a certain age' regardless of copd. I will let you know what doc says about it tomorrow.

Well the sun has been shining here in Cornwall all week which was lucky for Polperro (my village) as it is our festival week and we have had literally thousands of visitors. Today is the last day, and at about 2pm there will be a procession through the village with music and everyone doing the traditional 'furry dance' through the village streets. I no longer join in but i will watch from my upstairs window where i can get a better view than if i were in the crowded street below. It says a lot about this disease if i tell you that i live just 250 yards from the sea but have only bothered to walk down to the beach once in the last 12 months! I'm not totally lazy by the way, i do work 6 mornings a week cooking breakfasts for visitors at a local inn. Thats the problem i think, as when i get home at 11am i am already exhausted for the rest of the day! Well, i' m off to make a cuppa now, will chat again tomorrow after doc's, big thankyou for replying to me, vanessa x :D

Hi Tessa, just back from the doc's. Would you believe it - my feet had gone down a lot when i got up this morning! They were still slightly swollen so i still went though. Doc said i was right to do so, better safe than sorry. She listened to my chest and said she could hear fluid in my lungs too. As there wasn't too much it didn't necessitate any emergency action but they take it as a warning flag for either heart or kidney problems, so i'm booked for an ECG next Monday a.m. along with a fasting blood test for protein or glucose in the kidneys. In the meantime she has given me low dose water tablets - Furosemide 20mg. as a temporary measure until everything is checked out. Assuming nothing too sinister shows up i will probably just have to continue on water tablets, but she said we will keep a particular eye on my heart and kidney function from now on.

I think you are right to get yours checked out too Tessa. Like the doc said, its a warning flag. It may be nothing, but if it IS a sign of fluid in the lungs, or heart or kidney problems, then you need to get treatment for it rather than letting it progress over time to heart (cor pulmonale) , kidney or lung failure. I'm not wishing to be alarmist by the way, just common sense proactive health precautions as these potentially serious scenarios are avoidable if action is taken early on. Better safe than sorry.

Well, i now have to get on with the unenviable task of cleaning up masses of seagull poop from the front of my house! My own fault really, i've been looking after and feeding a chick since he was a little fluff ball. He has grown rapidly and hopefully will be ready to fly sometime in August. Just wish he'd poop a bit less! After that i'm going to stay indoors out of the sun as i cant take the heat so much these days. time for a nice cuppa too

:tea: Best wishes to you, Vanessa x

Hi Vanessa,

I am so sorry, but somehow I missed your last two posts.

It was good that you saw your GP and that they are going to keep an eye on things for you.

I hve renal impairement due to a my kidneys reacting to one of the TB medications and they always feel my ankles and look for any swelling. Normally I'm ok, but recently they have been swelling. I have clinic on Tuesday so will see what they say.

Vanessa, it is a marvel that you can cook breakfasts, I'm not surprised you are worn out when you have finished.

We have had nothing but rain here every single day. This morning the sun was out but now the clouds are rolling in, so it will be rain by the afternoon. It's quite chilly too.

Take care and let me know how you get on.

Tessa

:chef: Hi Tessa, so glad to hear from you and know that you are o.k! Im fine, just home from cooking those breakfasts. Funnily enough i've just been having a chat with my boss about giving up work as it really exhausts me. Trouble is I haven't a clue where i stand regarding benefits, if im supposed to apply for dole, sick pay or what. Being on my own with my daughter still at school its all a bit of a worry but i will phone citizens advice on Monday. As for health concerns, my ECG was fine as are my kidneys. My red blood cell and haemoglobin levels are at the highest that can be classed as 'normal' so i will be tested periodically for polycythaemia. My feet and lower legs continued to swell so the doc upped the Lasix to 40mg, however as that still has no effect I have been naughty these past two days and doubled the dose to 80mg, which has had some effect though still not enough. Don't worry, i took my normal dose today, but i will ask the doc if we can raise the dose. My dear seagull accomplished his maiden flight a few days ago, i felt like a proud mum and had a tear in my eye - daft i know! Anyhow, he took off permanently a day later, so i guess he is really in his element now he has found the harbour, the sea and his fellow gulls. Wish i could fly with him! The sun is shining on Polperro today, I shall wish it to come and shine on you too! Take care, Vanessa8)

Hi,

I am also a swollen foot sufferer and like you say Tessa if I walk about then my feet don't swell.

Most days like today when it is very warm and clammy I am sitting at my computer and my feet swell,mainly my left one.

Guess I may need a softer office chair. :lol:

Hi everyone, swollen feet eh! Had mine for a few months now and the legs - b. uncomfortable. I have an electric bed so raise the feet at night, mostly they go down but as soon as I put my feet to the floor in the morning up they come again. The left is bigger than the right mainly and they both feel like they willl burst! I take Frusi mide but it doesn't make any difference. I have severe COPD and am virtually chair/bed bound now. MY doc says that because my heart is working so hard the circulation isn't good along with the fact that I also have diabetes which oes'nt help matters. I've got to the stage where I take whatever life dishes out and not worry about it. Its more an exsistance now and I live in hope that tomorrow willl be better than today. Sorry I'm being a misery now- must not get going on this subject. Let me know how you all get on. CAZ

Hi dogs and cats, Hi DaveR, nice to hear from folks. Guess i'm getting used to swollen feet and legs now its been a few months. I think its just another stage in this condition. Looks like i will be giving up work too in mid September- got mixed feelings about that one. I am relieved because it leaves me totally exhausted, but again it feels like another stage along the way. Less than two years ago I still had my own massage and aromatherapy business and I loved my work so much. When my strength left me I took on this local part time work, but now thats too much. I am trying to be positive and see it as a chance to re-arrange my life, particularly as my daughter will be 16 next spring and going to college. Its the ideal time for a move to a more accessible home. Its lovely where we are but miles to nearest hospital, dentist etc. I'm waiting for my appointment for pulmonary rehab too, but thats going to be a 30+ mile round journey so yes, time for a sensible move methinks! I'm a bit worried about Tessa, our moderator, we don't seem to have heard from her for over three weeks now. I do hope she is OK, In the meantime Tessa if you read this, we send you our love and hope you are well. Well, bye for now, talk to you all again soon I hope. Vanessa x :wink:

Hi all,

Sorry I have not been posting for a week or so, but fighting a horrid infection, which is making me feel so dizzy and weak. Can hardly lift the laptop some days.

However, am half way through a course of antibiotics and dare I say it, feeling a bit better.

Funny enough I have had a few days where the legs and feet haven't been swollen. That could be because I have been putting them up on the bed to watch a film in the afternoons.

Vanessa, I know exactly how you feel, when little by little you have to let go of the things you normally do. I was in tears today trying to clean the sink and draining board. I had to use so much pressure to clean the stains that I know tomorrow I will have chest pains. It seems over the last few months I am doing less and less. Like you I try to be positive and think I will just have to find enjoyable things I can do. It is hard to stay positive, but if we can we are doing ourselves a big favour.

hi.  my feet and ankles especially the right foot have been the same way for 14 years now.  The diagnosis has been 'Chronic Vein Insufficiency'.  You can take supplements for this condition, but they never worked for me.  Furomeside water pills, didn't do anything either.  My mistake in life was to choose work that 'allowed' me to sit too much and also came with this too much weight and this condition manifested itself.  Apparently it is hereditary too, as my grandma on my mom's side had this very same thing but she didn't know what it was.  It changes your life, and walking is never the same, a chore, a 'have to' as the ankles feel every movement and the foot has edema and stays the same.  I wear medical compression stockings that keep everything at bay.  My heart/bloodpressure, all that seems to be fine.  Breathing sometimes is tight.  I am fighting this with feet up, and lots of water and eating greener.  No cheese as well, no wheat, no sugar, no salty stuff.  These are triggers.  Just have to lose this weight, as now I have a grandson to run after!  Maybe check out CVI with your doc?

let me know if you are still around. i just joined...5-22-2016

I have the same stats as you hae but I don't have a clue of

what fev40% is. thank you.....collymar

Hello, I had congested heart failure about three years ago. My Cardiologist informed me to not allow swollen feet, because it is an indication of the heart becoming sluggish again (not doing its job making circulation go efficiently through the body, thus causing the lungs to slowly fill up with water). I went about six months with very low oxygen (due to water buildup in lungs), and I also had very swelled up feet. After six months, I ended up in the ER at local hospital having Cardiac Heart Failure. The worse symptom, as informed from Cardiac Doctor, is having swollen feet. Swollen feet is a symptom, and I was informed to contact my Doctor as soon possible if I had swollen feet. I had to be placed on IV Lasix, and other strong medications and calcium. I was under a nurses care for a long time, following three months of hospitalization. Later, after lasix was given and cleared up my water problem, they found that I had COPD. But, that is another story, since my lungs look perfect, but my FEV1 is about 40%, and I am in a wheel chair outside the house, due to not being able to walk very far, and my SOB is strong after walking. My doctor says I may have Serious Asthma. She see's inflamed airways on the catscans, but the lungs are perfect. Usually people who have emphesema are much older than me when they have to use a wheelchair and oxygen 24/7. I  use oxygen 24/7 now, and wheelchair outside my house. I am afraid that if I get off my oxygen, I may go back into the heart failure again, so I stay on, and with usage my oxygen level is about 90-98%. My feet are never swollen now too. I hope one day, if possible, to be off oxygen and wheelchair. 

I think you should go and visit a Cardiologist and possible obtain some Lasix or have your system checked for possible heart failure. 

I hope I've helped! 

Take care, 

Brenda

Hi my name is Claire and I've just joined this page my symptoms are the same as yours swollen feet and ankles very sore and hot I recently did a walking breathing test and now I've been asked to have a heart monitor fitted for 24hrs I am worried sick of the possible results If anyone has got any advice I would really love to hear from you or anyone Thanks hope to hear from someone soon