Venous insufficiency & lymphedema

@estherdragonbat, are you there?

@LavishMeerkat70, just given a shout out for the above long term MFP member as I think she also had these problems.

Over time she lost quite a bit of weight and had significant improvements.

I’m totally unsure if weight loss can cure lymphedema and vascular insufficiency, but I do know estherdragonbat had fewer problems once she had lost weight.

You could always do a search for her name and read what she has said on it if you get no further feedback.

Cheers, h.
@estherdragonbat, I miss you.

middlehaitch wrote: »

@estherdragonbat, are you there?

@LavishMeerkat70, just given a shout out for the above long term MFP member as I think she also had these problems.

Over time she lost quite a bit of weight and had significant improvements.

I’m totally unsure if weight loss can cure lymphedema and vascular insufficiency, but I do know estherdragonbat had fewer problems once she had lost weight.

You could always do a search for her name and read what she has said on it if you get no further feedback.

Cheers, h.
@estherdragonbat, I miss you.

Awww! I'm around, just haven't had much urge to post lately.

But yes. My "tale of woe" started in September 2016, when I contracted cellulitus... which developed into lymphedema. Long story short, I was referred to a vascular surgeon who diagnosed chronic venous insufficiency. Thankfully, unlike you, my legs didn't hurt. It felt like my left one was sporting a blood pressure cuff 24x7 (pressure, not pain) and I had a weeping wound that wouldn't quit. So I had daily nurse visits to change the dressing while doctors threw antibiotics at it until one worked.

The vascular surgeon gave me two instructions: get compression stockings (he wrote me the prescription, but I couldn't fill it until the wound healed) and lose weight. At the time, I weighed 254lbs at 5'3".

I joined MFP on October 30th 2016, fed in my stats, got a calorie goal, and got going. Walking is my preferred exercise, but I've run a 5K for the last two summers (as in trained for and ran one race each summer; not ran 5K routinely several times a week) and just signed up for the one being held at the end of August.

Right now, I'm struggling to lose the last 10-15 lbs, but I've gone from Obesity III to slightly overweight. Still in the stockings and expect to be for the rest of my life (unless surgery becomes recommended; apparently it's an option in some cases, but in general, the preference is for less-invasive treatments), but I haven't had a flare-up since March 2017, when my treadmill unexpectedly accelerated and threw me off at 5.3mph—at which point I landed on my shins on the broadloom and scraped both legs badly. This is also known to history as "The Day My Treadmill Tried To Kill Me..."

Yes, there is hope. But take any cut or scrape on your leg very seriously. Like run, don't walk, to the Neosporin/rubbing alcohol, etc. Do what you need to to minimize bug bites or other things that could cause you to scratch and bleed (bug repellent, long pants, etc). I've found that because my stockings are thigh-highs, and because the body adhesive I use to keep them up can sometimes fail, especially in winter—cold temperatures interfere with the sticking power—but possible at any time of the year, I wear leggings over them. (For religious reasons, I always wear skirts, so leggings under the skirt.) It's that or risk wardrobe malfunction. But these are necessary annoyances. Nothing compared to having that weeping wound, where I had to schedule my showers for just before the nurse visits. (The dressing couldn't get wet, so I had to hope that 1. the nurse would call ahead of time to let me know when to expect them and 2. that they would give me at least 20 minutes notice, not 'I'm just turning the corner onto your street; I should be ringing your bell in about 30 seconds...')

It was an adjustment, but these days, it's just routine.