Swollen calves, ankles, feet

[Pbfanatic321]

So im hoping this is just some bad water retention and nothing more serious, but like the title says my calves, ankles, and feet are pretty damn swollen. I had a show last weekend and used aldactone for my diuretic and cut sodium and water over the course of 3 days. Then after the show and the few days following i ate a lot of junk food, so sodium intake was obviously through the roof. This is why im assuming it is just bad water retention and nothing like kidney or liver failure or blood clot (my hemoglobin was 15.8 checked on Monday). If i stand arouns too long my feet begin to hurt a little snd tingle a little. So basically im just trying to keep my feet elevated as much as possible, cut out all junk food, and keep sodium very low (not really adding anything). Any other advice?

 

[Bio]

Go to the doctor and get some labs done! From what you described, I would say your kidneys are not functioning properly...Don't guess when it comes to your health!! Get checked out!!

 

[Pbfanatic321]

Go to the doctor and get some labs done! From what you described, I would say your kidneys are not functioning properly...Don't guess when it comes to your health!! Get checked out!!

Thanks for the reply man. I will go to the doctor. But it just seems strange that it happened right after my show. Also, i am not getting any other symptoms of kidney failure (not being hungry, nausea, no urine when I need to urinate) but i understand what you're saying it isn't worth the risk. God this sucks cause im on vacation too and I want to go to the beach but my god damn feet are all swollen lol

 

[Bio]

Thanks for the reply man. I will go to the doctor. But it just seems strange that it happened right after my show. Also, i am not getting any other symptoms of kidney failure (not being hungry, nausea, no urine when I need to urinate) but i understand what you're saying it isn't worth the risk. God this sucks cause im on vacation too and I want to go to the beach but my god damn feet are all swollen lol

Part of it sounds like a rebound effect...Did you blow up all over or just below the knee? You might want to use some of the diuretics for a day or two and clean the diet up. I would still see the doctor just for piece of mind....PM Alpha6164 in case he doesn't see this thread. He's a doctor, see what he thinks.

 

[Pbfanatic321]

Part of it sounds like a rebound effect...Did you blow up all over or just below the knee? You might want to use some of the diuretics for a day or two and clean the diet up. I would still see the doctor just for piece of mind....PM Alpha6164 in case he doesn't see this thread. He's a doctor, see what he thinks.

Well my face puffed up pretty quickly too, eve though i was off the orals. It puffed up to the point where it looked like i was on orals for a good few weeks. So im assuming its just the rebound. Ill ok Alpha, thanks brother.

 

[jay_steel]

same thing happened to me after the show my ankles were the size of my calves. It was my first show so i had no clue about post diet. I talked to a dr friend didnt have an official visit, but he told me to take dandylion root and drink ALLOT of water. If it does not improve in 3 days then come back to see him. Its convient that i work in the same building as my dr and hes a good friend.

It was not 100% back to normal after 3 days but i could see allot of improvement. I stepped up the cardio a bit and just drank water and more water.

My skin felt kind of funny hands feet were swollen, it was hard to breath, i had no cardio endurance and ect. I thought I had an adema and freaked out but it turned out to be just bad water retention.

Not saying this is you though i would never advice not to see a doctor, just sharing my personal experience.

 

[alaski]

get checked

There are a few reasons this can happen, like other meds you might be taking, if any. It happened to me last summer and that was caused by a particular blood pressure med along with my use of diuretics. The combination gave me so much swelling I couldn't get my boots on.

Cardiac problems can cause serious swelling in those regions. It's probably not that but an EKG couldn't hurt, along with some blood work. Like was said, don't guess when it comes to these kinds of issues.

 

[zman12]

This has happened to me before after doing a show and eating a lot junk and things. What I did was get back on my diet and up the cardio and it went away and then I eased back in to the other foods.

 

[Pbfanatic321]

Yeah like I said I have no cramping or fever or any other kidney failure symptoms, so i doubt it's that. I will drink a ton of water and ride the bike or something for cardio, also ill use asparagus for greens.

 

[jay_steel]

how long has this been going on for? if your back on your diet and doing cardio to sweat out the rentention and its over a week and you dont see the light ahead of the tunnel i would see a Dr.

I noticed mine on weds is when i really say the inflation and by sunday i could actually see my ankles again and vains in my feet. Where before it looked like i got stung by a bee. Saying EKG and stuff this soon maybe a bit much but a dr. visit may not hurt if you have good insurance. I dont know your current situation, but i would say get some dandylion root it cheap and worked good for me, get back to your diet and taper off of it.

My wife laughed at me because i still had vains in my abs but my stomach was so bloated it looked like i was preg. i had the fattest six pack shes seen lol. I learned my lesson...

Night of the show i had:
Pizza, frozen yogurt

Breakfast
6 waffles
lunch
boston market
snack
corn dog
mexican food
dinner
felt like shit dont think i ate...

monday
ate a box or oreos and chinese...

NEVER AGAIN!!!

 

[Pbfanatic321]

Jay i noticed this about Tuesday so it's only been a few days. Yup im back on the diet and only adding in small things (like i said im on vacation and my aunt is making chicken and rice for dinner, so things like this i will eat) and im gunna start doing some cardio as well. Ill pick up the dandelion root extract, should i just use the dosages on the bottle? Thanks guys.

 

[BigNJ]

Swollen feet,ankles etc... is sometimes due to kidney failure or heart problems.

I am not saying this is the case with you, however, I suggest you go to the doctor and do some blood work.

Kidney failure lots of times does not show any symptoms, sometimes it's sudden.

Have you done any blood work lately?

If so, how was your creatinine?

 

[360]

Lower extremity edema is most commonly caused by heart failure or kidney failure.

Consuming too much salt and water overwhelms the system and causes you to decompensate because your heart/kidneys cannot handle the excess fluid volume.

Go to the doctor and get a CMP to check your kidneys. A CXR, EKG, and echo would rule out heart failure.

 

[360]

How does one put themselves into acute kidney failure around show time?

Your body is dehydrated from the salt and water restriction. This puts stress on the kidneys and pushes them close to the edge. When you add the diuretic it puts an additional insult on the kidneys and pushes them over the edge (acute kidney failure).

I see this daily in the surgical ICU. Sick, dehydrated patients whose kidneys are not functioning properly get a diuretic to "kick start" the kidneys into working properly. This pushes them over the edge and worsens the acute kidney failure.

Google search prerenal failure to learn more.

 

[Pbfanatic321]

Im going to give it a few days of good diet, mild cardio, dandelion root and see how it goes. If the swelling doesn't go down then i will definitely see a doctor. The day of the show i had a little sodium and a small amount of water so it wasnt like i totally cut it out, however i did not taper my diuretic :/

 

[Pbfanatic321]

Little update for anyone who is interested; slept with my feet elevated last night for the second night in a row and swelling has gone down very noticeably! I've been up for a few hours now and the swelling/pain hasn't come back like it did yesterday. I bought dandelion root and used 2 capsules twice yesterday, i am going to use 2 capsules three times today and to that until the swelling goes away completely and then taper it down. Also drinking a lot of water; close to three gallons.

Side note: if anyone is thinking of ways to get spray tan off and has heard that baby oil works, well it doesn't really do much. I scrubbed the shit out of my knuckles and hands and a good amount did come off but i literally tore some skin off. Any other methods you guys know of?

 

[freakybrucebanner]

I made the exact same mistake after my second show ( 1st show I did clean). Here is what happened to me, DO NOT TAKE IT LIGHTLY!

Competed on a Saturday. Partied that night and ate like crap for three days. on the second day, noticed water retention and smoothing over all around. By day 3, my ankles were the size of calves. My toes were like sausages and it felt like I was going to tear through m skin. you could actually see purplish color under the skin from the trauma due to swelling.

After a week, I had gained 49lbs!! I was feeling very tired, labored breathing, and dizzy at times, along with headaches and still had water retention.

I finally went to the ER. My BP was 276/165. I overheard the doctor say: he should have had a heart attack by now. his heart should have basically ruptured.

The did EKG, and other tests. Kidneys were fine, but my heart was not. monitored my over night. Put me on blood pressure meds. Unfortunately the dumb ass doc put me on one that could cause water retention....making things worse. When they finally realized it, they put me on other BP meds and the swelling and my BP was back to "normal" range within a few days. I had to take BP and kidney meds (kidney meds to prevent damage due to me being a diabetic) for three years.

The REBOUND EFFECT is nothing to joke around with. It's ok to eat like a pig the day after the show, but for a few weeks post show, you should eat fairly clean, continue to do cardio 3-4x/wk and drink tons of water. It will help minimize water retention.

 

[E.J.]

The same thing happened to my pal after the npc Pittsburg. He lurks here but doesn't post. Two days after the show, feet and ankles became very swollen. This was the least of his worries however. K+ was critically low and is lucky to be alive. An icu stay for several days corrected the imbalance.