Edema

May 9, 2000

Dear Marsha, I am not a nurse or medially trained, so I can speak only from

my own experience. I has severe edema in my feet, ankles, legs and hands

before my surgery and had that problem for several years. All I know is that

right after surgery it started going away. I even had fluid in my lungs. I

think that it was linked to my hormones directly. I had a total hysterectomy

when I was 45 and am now 55 and that is when all my problems started to

magnify big time. I was a mess. At surgery I weighed 242 lbs and I am small

boned and 5 ft 1 in tall/ now I am 172 lbs and feeling great. I can breathe

easy and am very active. I could talk all day about the difference that I

feel and enjoy now. All my senses are sharpened. I can smell things so much

better, everything is better. The thing that helps the most is that horrible

craving of sweets is gone, as is the craving for greasy foods. It is so

wonderful to be free and I think my body is happy too!!! Bye now.

Anne in Missouri

May 9, 2000

Hi Everybody,

My name is Marsha and I've been sitting and reading messages for about a week

now. I am nowhere near close to even wanting to have this surgery but I want to

learn about it. Last week I was feeling desperate enough to do almost anything,

which is why I joined the list. I have a friend who recently had the surgery

and he seems to be doing well.

What finally got me to write was the comment about edema in the legs. I have no

idea how much I even weigh. The last time I went to the doctor I was somewhere

around 340# , which was down some from the time I was there before. I can't

tell if I've gained or lost since then because of the edema. All this time I

thought the edema was caused by my hormones - I'm in the wonderful throes of

peri-menopause and hoping it gets over with soon so I won't ever have to worry

about it again. But honestly, I live with almost constant edema. It gets so

bad sometimes that I can barely walk because my joints hurt so bad and because

it's just hard to bend. I go to the doctor and they feel my ankle and say, " Are

your ankles always swollen like this? " Well, yeah! I've been like this for

years. But my hormones have been messed up for years too. I never thought it

might have anything to do with my weight. Can somebody tell me more? What does

my weight have to do with the edema? I know what it has to do with my hormones

- is that the connection?

Marsha

Just lurking and reading

By the way, I'm 46 years old and I'm 5'11 " tall.

Re: Digest Number 1251

... My blood pressure was out of control and the

edema in my feet, ankles, legs and hands was pathetic.

in Missouri

May 9, 2000

Marsha

I had severe edema the last couple of years and found myself hobbling as much as

walking. After a car accident, I started seeing an exercise therapist who was

also a nutritionist. She recommended a tea combination that I let go for a

while and then decided to try in addition to the diuretics my MD had prescribed.

It was amazing. I recommend it highly - when I drank several cupfuls (or

glassfuls of ice or cool tea) in a day, I could almost watch my ankles shrink.

I do recommend being near a bathroom though because that water does have to go

somewhere.

I buy it in bulk at my local health food store - 1 TBSP cornsilk & 2 TBSP

dandelion leaf (less bitter than dandelion root) per 4 cups of water - I just

put it in my coffee maker and make it that way.

The cornsilk is a strong diuretic and the dandelion leaf has some diuretic

qualities, but also replaces naturally the potassium and other minerals you

lose, because the dandelion has long roots and can reach and leach them from the

ground.

You might try it. For me it helped tremendously prior to my surgery. I now

brew it up daily and add my liquid protein to it as a 'sweetener'. Kill 2 birds

with 1 stone. I drink 2 mugs a day in the morning during the week.

It is a great thing to see your ankles again!!!!!

Just a suggestion.

Shari/No Calif

Post Op LAP RNY 3/14/00

Re: Digest Number 1251

... My blood pressure was out of control and the

edema in my feet, ankles, legs and hands was pathetic.

in Missouri

May 9, 2000

Shari,

Thanks for the reply. I haven't tried the tea but I take both dandelion and

cornsilk in a capsule that my naturopathic doctor gives me. I also take a

diuretic from the regular doctor at times. I have to be real careful with those

though. The last time I took them my potassium level got so low I got extremely

ill. So I try to stick to the more natural remedies. There are several cell

salts I take when it's really bad. I've found that eating watermelon helps a

lot too. Even with all these aides I still have the edema bad. The

naturopathic doctor told me to walk or use my HealthRider because it makes the

leg muscles push the fluid where it's supposed to be. That's good advice but

when the edema is so bad you can hardly move it's difficult to even try to walk

very far - as you probably know.

At the moment I'm okay. I'm in my one to two week time period when my legs are

a more normal size. That happens about every other month. Next time (please,

don't let there be a next time!) I will try the tea and see if it works better

than the capsules.

Thanks,

Marsha

Re: Edema

Marsha

I had severe edema the last couple of years and found myself hobbling as much

as walking. After a car accident, I started seeing an exercise therapist who

was also a nutritionist. She recommended a tea combination that I let go for a

while and then decided to try in addition to the diuretics my MD had prescribed.

It was amazing. I recommend it highly - when I drank several cupfuls (or

glassfuls of ice or cool tea) in a day, I could almost watch my ankles shrink.

I do recommend being near a bathroom though because that water does have to go

somewhere.

I buy it in bulk at my local health food store - 1 TBSP cornsilk & 2 TBSP

dandelion leaf (less bitter than dandelion root) per 4 cups of water - I just

put it in my coffee maker and make it that way.

The cornsilk is a strong diuretic and the dandelion leaf has some diuretic

qualities, but also replaces naturally the potassium and other minerals you

lose, because the dandelion has long roots and can reach and leach them from the

ground.

You might try it. For me it helped tremendously prior to my surgery. I now

brew it up daily and add my liquid protein to it as a 'sweetener'. Kill 2 birds

with 1 stone. I drink 2 mugs a day in the morning during the week.

It is a great thing to see your ankles again!!!!!

Just a suggestion.

Shari/No Calif

Post Op LAP RNY 3/14/00

May 9, 2000

I used to take a diuretic that caused potassium loss so my doc switched me to

Aldactone and I'm doing great. Indapamide, also a diuretic caused me severe

joint pain for years and one day I read the drug profile and found out joint

pain was a side effect. I told my doctor and he switched me to Maxide and it

caused the potassium loss. You need to be so careful with these meds.

Bye,

Genz

Cherokelt wrote:

> Shari,

>

> Thanks for the reply. I haven't tried the tea but I take both dandelion and