Help!! sodium and water question

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danielwillis22
danielwillis22 Posts: 43
in Health and Weight Loss
I am worried as I have swollen ankles and shins. my abdomen has also enlarged and made me look fat. I have put about 3 kg on in weight in the last week which I don't understand. Yea i havent been eating my healthies but this much weight gain would require a monster pig out, right? My stomach and shin leave an indent when pressed for about 30 seconds after I take my hand away.

I have tried reducing salt intake for a day or two and nothing worked, tried drinking more water for a day to flush sodium out and that didnt work, then i considered that maybe I was drinking too much as I can drink up to about 5 litres a day and eat a lot of watery foods like cucumber, apples and oranges.

It seems as if one day I had a flat stomach and the next day I had a belly.

I am 18, 6 ft and about 170 pounds now.

Replies

  • anewlife1980
    anewlife1980 Posts: 225 Member
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    If you are tracking your food on here I would go back over it & check sodium contents. Sounds to be like you are retaining fluid & sodium will do this. It also takes more then a day for it to get out of your system. If I eat over my daily sodium allowance (I aim to leave a few hundred daily), I will notice 2-3 days later that suddenly I am using the washroom like crazy. Its never the very next day. For me personally it takes a little bit for it to work itself out. After a day or two of more often then not bathroom trips I am usually back to normal. That's why if I am going to have a treat like pizza I do it weigh in day or the day after, since I only weigh in weekly, that gives me 5 days to get it out of my system.
  • Anniebotnen
    Anniebotnen Posts: 332 Member
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    If this continues for more than another day or so, please see a doctor. The swollen ankles are not normal for someone your age and could mean there is a medical issue going on.
  • donjessop
    donjessop Posts: 186
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    I had the same issue and I ended up needed compression stockings. They are essentially very tall socks that squeeze your calf forcing the water out of your system. In combination with my diet and exercise my calf has shrunk over 3 1/2 inches in the past 9 months and pushing my finger into my skin no longer leaves a lasting impression. I have no idea what they call it in the area where you live, but up here it is called a "Lower Limb Assessment". Did wonders for me.
  • fushigi1988
    fushigi1988 Posts: 519 Member
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    If this continues for more than another day or so, please see a doctor. The swollen ankles are not normal for someone your age and could mean there is a medical issue going on.

    agreed
  • danielwillis22
    danielwillis22 Posts: 43
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    It happened before and somehow it went away, i cant remember if i lowered sodium intake, or upped or lowered my water intake but nothing seems to be working this time, im pretty worried and it annoying me. Last night I felt a kind of throbbing in the inside of my thighs where i have veins sticking out slightly. my veins are very visibly when the house is warm and it looks like i may have varicose veins. Could this at all be related?
  • Charliebarleymo
    Charliebarleymo Posts: 97
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    This happened to me last year during a heatwave. Has it suddenly got hotter where you are? I cut out booze and salt for a few days and the swelling all went down. Hope you get to the bottom of it soon.
  • danielwillis22
    danielwillis22 Posts: 43
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    I live in Scotland so it isn't particularly warm, the temperature has gone up maybe 3/5 degrees Celsius but I don't think that would be enough to cause me to retain water. I dont drink a lot of alcohol and dont intentionally eat a lot of sodum. i did start eating chocolate and stuff like that, and became a little less strict with my diet. Ive seen my mum put two oxo cubes in a pot of soup she makes for me and each cube had almost 2 grams of salt. I go through about half the pot of soup in a day, so that is about 2 grams just from soup. But she only makes soup once every week at most.

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