tips for reducing water retention and ankle swelling?

[THE_REAL_OBLIVION]

Pardon a veteran user (although I do not have 30K+ posts >_> ), but I don't know where to discuss about it, whenever I post in Healthy Living about health issues it gets moved :shrugs:

So hey, I got on methadone in october, all is going well, it did its job at having me not want to shoot up dilaudid and eat oxycodone as food and not do anything out of my days. I'm slowly being able to reduce dosage thanks to clonidine and xanax, am now at 51 from 63 I had gotten to 3 months ago ( I do very slow careful drops in dosage) But whats happening now my make me want to speed up the down dosing so I can get on suboxone pronto. (i need to be at 25mg and then stop taking anything until I am in withdrawals, not too bad ones though, cos that would require higher doses of sub that I would really need).

My left ankle get so swollen, my knees get so painful, the kind i opiates cannot do anything for, the kind where prednisolone pills would be awesome, I've had to take prednisone and prednisolone pills in the past and it was kicking the ass of the family genetic rheumatoid arthritis a lot of us get on my dad's side, my knees are so crooked i'm shy of showing myself when wearing bermuda shorts even. Yesterday my left ankle was so swollen, but not THAT painful cos the methadone which I got to using because I was using former mentioned opis for another pain problem (cervical and spine related pain). My knees would hurt but it doesnt seem like my left leg swollen either, either way, I know something fucked up is going on there.

I know methadone can cause water retention, when in the waiting room at my montly appointments with my methadone doc, mostly women told me about how it made them fat because of the water retention and one was just switched to suboxone and she had lost a lot of weight. I definitely gained weight, all the weight I lost while being an IV Dilaudid junkie who was taking his dexedrine (surprisingly, as prescribed) who was losing his jeans as he walked around at his worst is gone now, now I barely fit most of my pants.

Now to finish this post swiftly, what can this be, since it is localized swelling, only one ankle,but that left feet is getting a bizarre thing also where the side part of the foot and a bit on the left-most part of it, it is all red, with a bizarre thick structure, with very hard lines on it, I can take a picture later (even if I find healthy feet disgusting for the sake of science). It scares me about how such things can be related to heart congestion and that scares the fuck out of me, I already have high blood pressure without the clonidine I have given for my MMT treatment (I'm one of the unlucky people who gets high diastolic pressure from the methadone). Basically i'm looking for advice and also tricks from people who got ankle pain and swelling and also knee pain (not necessarily without swelling), but some days i have to push myself out of bed with my hands because my knees lack the force and then once up my knees take a good 20 minutes of walking around to get to feel right...really scare shit

 

[Foreigner]

I'll keep this thread in HL as long as we stick to talking about water retention and ankle swelling. If it shifts to drug recovery I'll have to move it.

Have you had your kidney function checked for nephritis? Has your urine tested normal? I ask because lower body edema can be kidney related. If it's related to a heart problem, then the edema is often systemic, and you may have more lung signs like watery phlegm and chest oppression.

What is the reason for your high blood pressure?

The swelling of the ankles can be due to localized edema from all the fluid pressure build up. This in turn can cause veinous insufficiency to the foot. The hardened layer that's forming is the keratin layer of the skin becoming thicker as it adapts to internal fluid pressure. If the area is very hot and red, then your doctor needs to rule out an infection, which is another potential complication of edema. The area doesn't receive enough fresh blood and in turn immune factors, so local immunity decreases. As a side note, make sure you always wear protective foot wear. A puncture to the skin could cause an infection more easily in the swollen area.

Pressure stockings are the main way the symptom is addressed, by pushing fluid out of the legs. However, you will still need to address the root cause of the excess fluid because the pressure stockings will just shift it toward your abdomen. Keep the affected leg elevated above the rest of your body when you are at rest to help with drainage. Your knee arthritis will have to be tackled with other methods down the road. I would say your main problem now is the edema and high BP.

If your kidney function is normal, then you can try natural diuretics like dandelion and nettle to purge some of the fluid. (Dandelion being the stronger of the two.) They are taken as a tea. A deficiency of vitamin B6 can also cause edema, as can not enough potassium in the body. Potassium naturally lowers blood pressure by stimulating the body to excrete sodium.

Your doctor should be monitoring you closely because you have more than one high risk factor at play here.

 

[THE_REAL_OBLIVION]

Thanks a lot for you reply. I went to my family GP this morning to speak to him about this. After seeing my ankle and left foot which were much less swollen since a friend of mine had meloxicam 15mg pills to lend me (just 3 taken over 3 days from friday to sunday) and his diagnosis was phlebitis or something related because my job requires me to sit sometimes up to 16 hours a day (network admin). So he has scripted me the meloxicam and given me a sheet with checked boxes for blood tests at the local hospital (thats how it works in canada). He did mention potassium levels and I see that he checked the box to test my blood for "Electrolytes (Na.K-Cl)". Other tests he included are cortisol 8am, testosterone bioavailability, testosterone total (for the methadone reduction of testosterone which might be causing some of the weight gaining problems and other chronic fatigue symptoms I experience), THS (thyroid), glucose , magnesium and lipid profile (cholesterol, Trig. HDL).

The meloxicam is working for the pain and the swelling in my left foot and leg. He talked to me about a blood pump we have a little bit behind the knee which I need to get moving through exercise which can be just moving around in the house (no need to be at the office when a network admin) and now that summer is showing up in canada to pull out my mountain bike and do exercise once the pain is dulled by the meloxicam, which seems really good. I had to mention it though, because of course it is ultra cheap 15.95 which was paid by government insurance unlike celebrex which would also be paid, but since doctors are all almost in conflicts of interest by having shares in drug companies, like I said I had to bring it up myself because he would have scripted celebrex had I not mentioned meloxicam, which is used for a lot of the same things as celebrex and even if it is a classic NSAID, it is really easy on the stomach and doesn't even need to be taken with food.

If things do not get better I will return and I will go back to see him, I also am on a waiting list to see a rheumatologist, that doctor's nurse coincidentally called me this morning to evaluate me by the phone and unfortunately she doesn't see me as an extremely urgent case yet, which I am fine with since I was taken care of this morning by my GP. I'll wait for the blood test results and start exercising those legs once the nsaid has done its job, which after only taking a dose this morning I do feel a definitive pain reduction. I wonder how much in pain I would be if not on methadone.

Could the PEG 3350 with electrolytes juice that I take for constipation from opioids have any role in this ? As for my kidneys, I've never had a single problem with them, not even a kidney stone, never peed orange etc. But if things do not get better in a month of meloxicam + exercise I will go back to the GP who could accelerate the process of meeting the rheumatologist with a referral. Thanks and I will give a follow up

 

[THE_REAL_OBLIVION]

I'm seeing him again on the 10th only because he took a week off

I have a feeling I need to get this checked out more seriously. Some x-rays/ct-scans, have the juice from that fluid extracted with a syringe and analyzed. So far walking around the house on a line on the tiles over and over (like if I was walking outside in some ways), hot compresses and putting that leg up against the wall does significantly reduce the swelling to where it seems to be totally gone for some hours. What makes it worse is :

1) sitting at the computer chair, since i have flat feet, especially the left foot, the one with the swelling ankle is always at an angle when on the floor, meaning that theres always a downwards pressure on my toes because the leg and foot go like this sort of : _\ , as I sit with pressure. I also noticed that the upper surface of my foot swells and that the superficial phlebitis Dx makes sense since I can see a vein protuding there and as it goes to the left/outwards side of my left foot at the ankle it disappears into swollen tissue when at its worst. I have a feeling it is DVT though because...

2) smoking cigarettes (I really need to stop, it's getting crazy, I have severely reduced, well except on the days I get my pay....where I always end up having extreme left leg pain and lung pain similar to pneumonia (but it isn't and it goes away after that 1 day). It can also happen after chain smoking 3-4 cigs like I do sometimes in the morning and won't smoke any more until 12+ hours later....I don't know what to do to stop, it's guaranteed that it is what is causing me high diastolic BP..., I've succeeded with the patch in 2007 and I gotta say I was in much better health then, now it raises my BP to unacceptable levels, so I cannot comply, and if I start at step 2 I always end up needing to smoke 2-3 a day still, there should be personalized dosing patches...I have a feeling I could succeed if there was a middle-way in between the 21mg and 14mg patches, i'm sure 17,5/18mg a day would be great to start with

I also tried wellbutrin in 2007 before the patches and like all antidepressants, they felt like some cheap RC psychedelic that isn't worth taking, it did make cigarettes taste awful but not worth if it gives me saucer pupils at starting doses...

Then the less said about varenicline the better...this evil medication was making me see myself sleeping and other crazy nightmares I wouldn't seem to get out of when awakening by the time I was at 1mg a day. I do not know anybody who succeeded with that SHIT compound. I've read recent studies about it that it only has a success rate of 14% so why bother, trying to stop cold turkey has probably a better % chance

3) Drinking lots of fluids/caffeine

It causes chest pain, lower back tingling/pain, burning pain a bit lower than my armpits

If anybody has ideas meanwhile I'll take them. All I do right now is smoking the least possible (only smoked 9 in 3 days), put warm compresses over my left ankle when it swells and take a regular aspirin every 6 hours or so. I dropped the meloxicam because of the chest pains and if I have blood clot(s), well it doesn't take a genius that aspirin would be a better thing for me to use.

 

[Foreigner]

While you're at work, your feet should be rested on an ergonomic foot stool that has a slight incline so that your feet aren't flat on the ground. Is your job the type where you could request an ergonomic assessment of your work station and have them provide you with such a stool?

It sounds like, perhaps, a major part of your problem is lack of lymphatic circulation because your day-to-day routine is very sedentary. I'm surprised that your doctor has not recommended pressure stockings at all, since they would be good prevention for someone in your situation.

Prednisone will just cause more water retention in the long run, since it messes with the adrenals in some heinous ways. Steroids tend to do that.

It's hard for me to give more specific advice because although your ankle is a local problem, it seems like your over all physical health is complicated right now. So I'd rather not.

Others may offer advice but IMO your best bet is to go with what your doctors are saying. I'm a fan of alternative medicine like acupuncture and herbalism for things like this, but I cannot even begin to guide you down that path without seeing you in person.

Good luck!

 

[THE_REAL_OBLIVION]

Hi Foreigner or anybody else, I have follow ups on these health problems I had developed since march at least and since you bothered giving ideas, I'm gonna tell you what I and my doctor did.

First, my step-dad has a compression suit for the legs for the lymphatic system, using it has been quite useful for the swollen left ankle, it is an automatic ballooning suit, it compresses the feet, the the lower part of the leg, the part under the knee (my god that felt good, its where it seems all the problems were coming from, my doctor spoke of an important blood/lymph pump a bit under the knee, then the thighs and upper legs, a session of this a week and using cold water wet towel compresses got rid of the swelling of that ankle.

But my overall health still wasn't right, since a little more than a year, a bit before I had gotten into opiate IV'ing hell, I started being tired all the time, with anxiety and depression that nothing would touch, my daily benzos make me sleep but that's it.

I had an extensive blood test done where a lot of things was analyzed from my lipidic profile to mineral levels and testosterone levels as my GP mentioned how methadone messes with testosterone ( I wish I had known that, my switch to suboxone is happening early next week, I can't wait to get off this horrible juice, regardless of how much it takes away the cravings...it is one ass backward medication, I hope suboxone is as superior as they say,i couldnt have gone on it right away in my province, the gov will only pay for it if you get real bad side effects from methadone, was surprises me is that the meth started to be horrible only 6 months later after I started my treatment and not before, and I am constantly slowly reducing my dose ever since I got stabilized in october, which was rapid, i only needed 63mg at my worse).

I gained 48 lbs since I had started methadone treatment, all the getting fat, water retention, anxiety, depression and periodical but scary weekly bouts of angina are now very well explained, he told me my testosterone should be at a 4 minimum, when I was blood tested I had been 2 days up and I hadn't eaten anything due to being late in my job and taking a lot of dexedrine...I scored an abysmal 0,66, whatever those numbers mean, I keep reading how anything under <250 nanograms of testosterone in the blood is bad), so he refered me to an urologist and said it was an urgent problem on the paper...I might have to be given testosterone shots, the gel one applies to their back might not be enough...but I think that doctor will have to do another test...I do not take dexedrine anymore, especially since that last time I spent more than 48 hours on it...I was a mess for 2 weeks afterwards and it might have given false test results, although I do suspect I am under the considered 4, which I imagine is 400 nanograms.

All of this is making me quite nervous and anxious, I've been assured of rapid treatment, not instantaneous, but the urologist will see me in the next 2 weeks, which is amazing because had I not had a referral I would have needed to wait until october...which is unnaceptable.

I had a feeling it was the testosterone, I asked for having that tested because the original sheet my doc had used for my blood tests hadn't the testosterone boxes checked...so I checked em myself..turns out it was a very good idea, sometimes I wish us patients had more power over our own health....he would have had ignored this option had I not done that, I didn't even get a call, usually the hospital where the tests are performed tell the doctor in advance what I should be monitored for, they didn't tell him anything, I had to ask and he looked at the results. Very low testosterone, borderline in need of cholesterol reducing meds....but I don't need anything for it, because like the other finding, being borderline diabetic, which I think was also a result of the 2 and half days of dexedrine abuse...because I took a couple private tests at the pharmacy this year to be told I was fine from those instant diabeetus checking devices that take some of your blood to analyze instantly didn't say I was, but there I got a 3.26 which he said was borderline hypoglycemic, I know the number should be between 3 and 6.

One is to be assured I have NOT used the dexedrine again and I am shelving and accumulating my add meds, no matter how much I sometimes need em, amphetamines in my current health condition are a very bad idea.

Wish me luck with the testosterone treatment and also the switching of methadone 47mg to suboxone...i'll have to be inpatient and not take anything for 3 days and be fed a lot of comfort meds while there....finally at 30 years old I am motivated to take my physical health into account, I spent my 20's only working on my mental, ignoring the physical condition I was developing could be related, but it's all a vicious cycle and one has to put a stop to it one way or another, the benzos did their job at making me analyze me own reason for anxiety because I was unable to do so by myself in the past due to having lost my mind due to DOB a long while ago, i think 2003. But I am more motivated than I ever was and I surely do not want to die, my girlfriend noticed how I got so fat and fast in the last 3 months, 260lbs which is almost only on my stomach isn't good, I never fully suspected testosterone deficiency due to the fact I never got sexual side effects....except for lacking interest in it, but I could perform to pleasure miss if she wanted, I just started not to really care for sex out of the blue which is unlike me too..


Woah that's a mouthful, just had so much on my mind I had to say about this, it's relieving to know what is causing all of my health problems since surely 5 years (getting worse and worse) but now that I know I cannot endure the waiting and I find myself reaching for the valium faster than I would normally...I've always been able to take em as prescribed mostly and if I didn't, I would be skipping some days and teaching myself a lesson. Knowing what causes all my health problems is both a blessing since I was for so long in the dark, now I just want to be fucking done with it!

 

[Parabunter]

Hey, how did it turn out?