Help, Swollen Ankles
JessicaLCHF
Posts: 1,265 Member
I've been back on LCHF about two weeks now, hard core. Was doing pretty good until three days ago. Since then I've been exhausted. I have no appetite. My ankles and feet swell up by the end of the day, last night my hands too. Everything I'm reading says eat less salt. Been trying to drink more water, but with no appetite, it's basically not changed, maybe less than normal. Anyone been through this? What'd you do?
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It's possible you could have too much salt but it's also possible you don't have enough...
You'll have to try both to find what gets it to go down.
First think about how much you've had prior to the swelling. Was it in typical low carb range? How low carb are you? You usually need more the lower you are and the newer you are to it.
Also, if you drink a lot of water you may need more.
I would limit water to drinking only when thirsty. Don't force down extra for the sake of drinking water... and I think all fluids count.
And if you feel like you got enough salt as compared to your water intake, then maybe try a day with less salt. But if you do both less salt and less water you won't really know which one helped. So maybe do one or the other so you know for future reference.
It may take a full day or two to see a change once you've made the right adjustment.1 -
@JessicaLCHF - Contrary to conventional medical science, I tend to swell up like that when I don't have enough sodium... I rarely swell with "too much," whatever the heck that is. I'm regularly over 5000 mg daily, and when I get below 2000 mg daily is when I start to swell.
That being said, if it is happening fairly regularly, I would talk to your doctor. I've learned in the past year that mild to severe edema, when not specifically caused by medication side effect or very rare condition, is actually related to thyroid dysfunction. It takes years upon years of thyroid dysfunction before the swelling becomes a heart related thing.
Since going low carb/keto, particularly in the beginning, I have had to adjust my medications 3 times in less than 2 years, including adding a second medication. When we have metabolic issues combined with anything adrenal related, it's really easy for the thyroid to get super confused. And with the fact that you just had major surgery/surgeries, it is very likely that your system just got temporarily overloaded (and the delayed reaction is common - your reserves have just gotten used up, etc.).
Please check in with your doctor if some good doses of sodium, magnesium, and potassium don't fix you up...0 -
Thanks. It's not a thyroid as I have hashimotos undiagnosed till I had a huge goiter and it's been removed. I take calcium, magnesium and potassium daily because my parathyroid was stunned in the surgery to remove my thyroid. Just had a thyroid panel done and levels are good with sunthroid. So I know I'm good there. I think I'll try more liquids.
I'm a bit worried with the lack of appetite, as it's been four days now and I'm pretty much forcing myself to eat at least 1000 calories. Last night hubby brought home my favorite tacos to tempt me (we re-wrapped in low carb wraps), and I ate less than half mine. Not hungry or thirsty. Just saw my doc last week (that's when I found out I have protien in my urine). I'll give it a few more days. Going to try going on a long walk today even tho I feel exhausted. See if circulation helps.0 -
Have you read this series on the parathyroid stuff, too? http://gwens-nest.com/what-i-didnt-know/
And let me just say that if your thyroid panel "looks good" but doesn't "feel good," I always suggest revisiting, though I understand if you just did it. But I was fine, fine, fine - FACEPLANT. I felt like it could change in a moment's notice. This ME, not necessarily you... And particularly if you don't have your thyroid anymore, everything can definitely be all wacky. My thyroid panicked bad (as did my whole metabolism) when I hit keto hard again after being carby for a while.
And I don't know what to think on the lack of hunger, other than that "first boost" of no hunger when back low carbing... For some it can last a couple weeks while you burn through existing body resources...0 -
Did you have issues with swelling before this woe?
Just to share a different perspective than those above... I'd had edema for years, and used to take a diuretic to reduce the blood pressure increase that can result from edema. I gave up my diuretic during my second week of going very low carb as my bp had plummeted, which worked out well and I eventually rediscovered my ankles lol. 9 months later, I do still have to be careful with my sodium. I'm generally around 3,000-4,000mg/day. Though if I'm exercising to the point of sweating, I have a bowl of miso soup with a tbsp of gluten free soy sauce, which generally works for me (unless I overdo the exercise). But on the occasions when I've made a big pot of homemade soup, and haven't exercised, I can see it in my ankles promptly the next morning. It's not really bad, but it's definitely noticeable. If I make soup two days in a row, my ankles start getting bad.
Just wanted to share as edema from excess sodium can still be an issue, at least for me, despite eating LCHF.2 -
Update for KnitorMiss and PaleoinScotland. I figured it out (swelling). I started walking each evening and since then I haven't had a problem even on days I missed my walk. I think I've just been too inactive with all the surgeries I've been going through.
As far as the thyroid, my numbers are definitely off. I just got checked three months ago and the Dr. said I was fine, but my hair is falling out in handfuls now. I have an appt next week. I think I need more synthroid.1 -
JessicaLCHF wrote: »As far as the thyroid, my numbers are definitely off. I just got checked three months ago and the Dr. said I was fine, but my hair is falling out in handfuls now. I have an appt next week. I think I need more synthroid.
Do you get the Free T4 and Free T3 y=tested, or does your doctor only order TSH? TSH is a fairly useless number.
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For me, Reverse T3 was critical, in addition to the Free numbers to show my issue. @JessicaLCHF, I hope you're headed towards feeling better again!0
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JessicaLCHF wrote: »As far as the thyroid, my numbers are definitely off. I just got checked three months ago and the Dr. said I was fine, but my hair is falling out in handfuls now. I have an appt next week. I think I need more synthroid.
Do you get the Free T4 and Free T3 y=tested, or does your doctor only order TSH? TSH is a fairly useless number.
Yeah, I know. He knows too but I think he thinks I don't know. I figure I'm prolly headed for a fight to advocate for myself when I go in (he's an endocrinologist and the best in town). Sigh. It's exhausting. Why don't they make it easy. Last time he only ordered TSH and said I was fine and I knew I wasn't but I let it go. Bother.1
