Guest guest Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 Mimi, I am 68 with MS. I also spend a lot of time sitting. I use a " Flexicisor " , It is a motorrized leg exorcisor and works well. Regards, Tom bayuk Edema vs. Lymphedema My 77-year old father with MS spends 99% of his waking day in a recliner or sitting at his kitchen table. He uses a walker about 4x/day - to get from his bedroom to the kitchen, from the kitchen to the living room and back to the kitchen then to his bedroom for the night. The rest of the time he's sitting or reclining. So his legs are getting no circulation and have become swollen tree trunks. He was prescribed a diuretic by his doctor for edema last year, but if anything his legs have gotten much worse since taking it. A PT who comes to the house says he has lymphedema, not edema, and that people with lymphedema should not be taking a diuretic because it doesn't remove the protein associated with lymphedema. I don't understand the difference between edema and lymphedema. Should his doctor be able to tell the difference? He saw a vascular specialist who determined the fluid retention was not vascular in nature. Does that mean it is lymphatic, or not necessarily? Looking to the MS community for help. He is on the verge of ulcerations in his legs. Thanks, Mimi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2011 Report Share Posted February 22, 2011 I do the same as Tom. I have a s Mini which is like an electric pedal machine that you can use sitting in your wheelchair. CST (cranio sacral therapy) helps the leg circulation as does massage, so does marijuana (but I'm imagining at 77 he isn't going to start dropping out ). Alternative supplements which help vascular problems are Horse Chestnut, Diosmin, Hesperidin, Dandelion, Fish oil/Krill oil/Omega 3, Quercetin, Rutin. But I don't know anything about lymphedema I'm afraid. Wikipedia has an article on it plus there are many suggestions on the Internet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphedema Janet To: mscured From: tbayuk@... Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2011 11:44:48 -0500 Subject: Re: Edema vs. Lymphedema Mimi, I am 68 with MS. I also spend a lot of time sitting. I use a " Flexicisor " , It is a motorrized leg exorcisor and works well. Regards, Tom bayuk Edema vs. Lymphedema My 77-year old father with MS spends 99% of his waking day in a recliner or sitting at his kitchen table. He uses a walker about 4x/day - to get from his bedroom to the kitchen, from the kitchen to the living room and back to the kitchen then to his bedroom for the night. The rest of the time he's sitting or reclining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Has he tried lymphdrainage massage? We realized that my leg swelling wasn't vascular and some research and my husband tried it, it really made a difference. Once we learned where the release points were, he could feel my legs change from rock hard to soft as they drained. I then wear compression hose to keep them from just filling up again. I'm sure any kind of exercise would help to but until I actually move next month, I'm sitting in a mostly empty house. > > My 77-year old father with MS spends 99% of his waking day in a recliner or sitting at his kitchen table. He uses a walker about 4x/day - to get from his bedroom to the kitchen, from the kitchen to the living room and back to the kitchen then to his bedroom for the night. The rest of the time he's sitting or reclining. > > So his legs are getting no circulation and have become swollen tree trunks. He was prescribed a diuretic by his doctor for edema last year, but if anything his legs have gotten much worse since taking it. > > A PT who comes to the house says he has lymphedema, not edema, and that people with lymphedema should not be taking a diuretic because it doesn't remove the protein associated with lymphedema. > > I don't understand the difference between edema and lymphedema. Should his doctor be able to tell the difference? He saw a vascular specialist who determined the fluid retention was not vascular in nature. Does that mean it is lymphatic, or not necessarily? > > Looking to the MS community for help. He is on the verge of ulcerations in his legs. > > Thanks, > Mimi > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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