Flyingdumbo, I’m concerned you’re ’going in the wrong direction’. You are supposed to be improving, with baby steps to getting better and being able to walk again! Not getting worse.
I have mentioned this before but I’m going to mention it again because it’s what my gut sense is. I take care of people with fluid build up and not only have to help them to get rid of it, but help them understand how to keep it off. What none of us realize is that fluid build up can be quite painful. I didn’t understand it myself until I had surgery and developed pockets of fluid which were extremely painful. True lightbulb moment. I am wondering if you’re developing lower extremity edema from your legs being in a dependent position as well as the salty broth you have for lunch every day. (Sorry, I know you love it.) It’s concerning because it’s affecting your Dad now and is not good for you, either. You have to be able to move! You’re young!
Thinking about it I would really like you to try a two week challenge, of giving up the broth for two weeks. And making sure you don’t replace it with anything else salty/high in sodium. Sodium causes fluid retention when it seeps into the tissues and fluid follows it and gets trapped there. For most people it moves around when walking and bending and all that. But your legs are fairly stagnant so naturally it would stagnate there. This can be what the pain you’re experiencing is from. Bilateral discomfort of both lower extremities is a sign that something systemic is going on. (All over.)
And motrin won’t really help it; at least not the cause. Nor will cream, really. What will help the most is to get rid of the fluid.
This week I ate some ham that I’d baked, and I’d bought some new cottage cheese with pineapple because I love that, and had it two days in a row, then we got McDonalds for a quickie meal when we were working in the apt, and guess what? My ankles became a little swollen from all that sodium! When I got home from work and took my socks off I was like, uh oh! I had to take one of the tablets I keep for that (prescription) and had to spend the day near a bathroom as lots of that fluid came off! (I don’t take this every day but only when fluid build up happens, with my doctor’s blessing. Just filled a new prescription last week as a matter of fact, but it will last me for years.)
It’s also why I think a trip to a PCP could help you get a better handle on the big picture here, rather than just focusing on the feet. It would be good to have your overall health evaluated and get to the bottom of what is happening. BPs can run high with fluid retention. You are at high risk for falls and you could break something. (We had a lady this week who fell flat on her face and broke her nose!) And Dad could become injured if you slipped or something and he tried to catch you. These are things we see all the time. I hope you don’t mind me posting this but I really want to try and help you and my gut is that this has a lot to do with your pain.
Hugs, I know it’s very hard for you. But you can get better!
Here is the Campbell’s Beef Broth label. 860mg sodium per serving and 2.5 servings per can. So if you eat a whole can, that’s 2,150mg of sodium just in that one meal. The limit for a whole day’s sodium on a low sodium diet is 2,000mg. So having this day after day, there isn’t anyone who wouldn’t start retaining fluid from it! If you enjoy that can you find a way to get one you like that’s lower sodium? I know you like certain brands and all that but if it’s hurting you, you need to look at it and see if there’s an alternative. This could potentially be a relatively easy fix if you can bring yourself to try it. You also need to look at the foods you’re eating the rest of the day and make sure they’re low sodium content, too.
) Clean up was pretty easy, then they all went to play games and make bracelets downstairs in the family room and DH and I plopped down in our living room - and fell fast asleep, both exhausted from a long week!
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