Water retention

katiemanzelli

Has anyone struggled with resistant water retention and successfully overcome it? It's been going on for over a year and I've cut down on sodium (no canned or prepared foods), more water consumption, parsley capsules, holistic, integrative and traditional doctors, over-the-counter and 3 prescription diuretics and even meditation. Nothing has helped. Any suggestions? I have no idea what, if anything, I've lost because of the water weight.

jacksonpt

Why are you concerned about it? I assume simple scale weight loss?

Losing water weight has no impact on your overall health. Shouldn't fat loss be your bigger goal?

duckdani

I used to get this - I found that raising my legs on a pillow at night really helped my knees stop being so puffy!

22510822

Sounds like you are having a tough time. Are you actually swollen, when I retain water weight my hands swell and it is painful. For me the culprits are too much salt, not enough water and a lot of exercise, I race on sailboats. I believe that part of the water retention might be related to muscle repair though. I find if I take an anti inflammatory ( ibuprofen) it is the only thing that helps me. Don't know it this is an option for you though.

dlionsmane

I know it can be frustrating to see no movement on the scale due to water retention. However, if you have been on 3 prescription diuretics and you have seen no relief from it, then you need to seriously talk to your doctor about what the real problem may be.
Are you sure it is water retention, I mean are you visibly swollen? Ankles? Legs? Waist?
Are you actually tracking the amount of sodium you consume? There is sodium in other things besides canned and prepared foods.
I would talk to my doctor first and get some real answers!
Good Luck!

22510822

Yes elevation really helps, as well I find when I walk for a long time my hands swell and putting them in cold water helps too.

princesswarrior1116

Hey Katiemanzeli,

I have struggled with this issue on and off for about a year now. It was mostly in my lower legs, ankles and feet. The swelling is not simply a weight loss issue, it made it uncomfortable to squat because of the tighness in my calves and sometimes, I could barely walk because of the swelling in my feet.

I started googling the problem and at first, found the usual stuff about elevating and icing. One thread I found though, discussed kidney issues associated with this type of problem. While I didn't think I was having a kidney problem, I read the thread. The people were discussing how eating an alkaline diet helped them get rid of inflamation in their bodies and reversed their kidney issues completely.

I started eating an alkaline diet and withiin 3 days, the swelling was gone! I had been swollen for about 3 months at that point. I had tried diuretics and the other things I read and nothing else worked. Read up about the alkaline diet.

For me, what has worked long term has been sticking with a mostly veggie and fruit diet. I do eat some grains, but they are whole grains such as ezekial bread just occasionally. I do not eat any white bread, pasta, rice, sugar. I rarely eat meat, although I do occasionally eat fish. I bought a good juicer and occasionally juice some veggies, but am not a fanatic about any of that (I tried juiciing for 3 days and felt awful). I am lactose intolerant, so, other than a recent attempt at using whey protein (that failed miserably) I use vegetarian protein for my protein shakes. And finally, I use a concentrated greens powder, usually twice a day, along with several other supplements, magnesium, milk thistle, multi-vitamin, and evening primrose oil.

This has worked for me. I feel heathier, am losing weight and no longer have inflamation in my body and specifically, no swelling in my lower legs and feet.

I hope this information can help you. Feel free to contact me if you need any other information.

katiemanzelli

I don't know how I'd recognize fat loss, considering my entire body is covered by a layer of squishy, watery flesh. And I'm not only concerned about a scale loss. My wedding rings don't fit and I can only wear one of my pairs of pants.

cashthomas

I am also having problems with water retention its like everything I eat holds water, people say that I look as if I loss weight but the scale will not move it stays at 265 to 270 it is so frustrating.

jacksonpt

If you're diet is fairly consistent, then water weight should be fairly consistent too. So it's reasonably safe to say that any changes you see AREN'T water-related. Everyone wants to blame water weight for lack of progress. Sure, in really short time frames, it may be the case. But if you aren't seeing progress over the course of a month or longer.... guess what - water weight isn't your problem.

monartlady

I've been seeing a nutritionalist for weight loss since April of this year. While I've lost 50 lbs, she is always telling me that I'm retaining fluid, even though I drink an average of 2 litres per day. If I'm at the gym (3-4 days per week) I'll drink more. I usually stop drinking water by 4pm. I don't drink coffee, and probably max 2 cups of tea per day. I don't drink any fizzy drinks either. I don't have any measurements, I just record the Fat%, BMI etc.
I don't normally suffer from any swollen ankles, or wrists or legs or anything like that. However, I have just injured my achilles tendon which I'm having a problem trying to cure. There is some swelling around that.
What I've been recommended to take is a good quality Apple Cider Vinegar, Morning, lunch time and afternoon, cooled boiled water with pure lemon juice, and a teaspoon of Apple Cider Vinegar. I've just started 2 days ago, so can't comment yet on how it's working. I did notice an increase in the toilet journeys on day one, but not really today. I return to the nutritionalist in 4 weeks and will let you all know then how it has worked out for me.