Fluid Retention

[littlepickle]

Hi :-)
I am looking for some advice on flud retention. I am almost 23 weeks and have just noticed that tonight my ankles look kind of puffy. Does anyone know if there is a cure for this? I drink loads of water throughut the day so I am doing something right at least. I also walk quite a bit. I am wondering if maybe I need to walk more or whether the walking in itself is part of the reason for the swolen ankles. I have never had anything like this before so I dont know if its normal or whether I should try to fix it:o
Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated:)

[Elfin]

I think elevating your feet is best. Try not to sit for too long get up and move and watch out that you are not developing pre eclampsia as puffiness is one of the symptoms.

[Mummabear]

I had massive amounts of swelling during pregnancy, especially towards the end. If you get any dizziness, have bad headaches or see spots in your vision along with the swelling then go and get checked out. It's better to go and be sent home (as I was numerous times) than to let it go.

Do you have a juicer? If so, I found that drinking a couple of glasses of fresh celery and carrot juice each day helped a little. If it's getting bad (mine were so bad that I was swollen right up to my thighs and I couldn't flex or bend my foot) then get some compression stockings. Put them on before you even get out of bed and leave them on all day. Some chemists sell them - make sure they're specifically for pregnancy though so they're not tight over your tummy. Otherwise you can order them online at www.fertilemind.com.au. Keep your feet elevated as much as possible - I found I had to sit in a lounge chair sideways and elevate my feet to head height to get any relief. Also, I would get my DH to massage my feet, starting at my toes and basically applying pressure up towards my torso - pushing the fluid upwards. It would hurt for him to just lightly touch my feet to start with so he had to be very gentle, but as the fluid started to shift he could apply a little more pressure.

Hope this has been of some help - I really do understand what you're going through. The sooner you start being proactive about treating it the better - don't be like me and leave it all until it gets really really bad and then suffer with the massive amount of pain that it can also bring :rolleyes:

Good luck :D

[rynosmum]

I had major fluid retention too and I agree to keep your legs elevated (they must be above your heart line) as often as possible. I was also told that drinking extra amounts of water would help (although you'd imagine it to be the other way around).

I used to walk a lot to try and work the fluid out of my body. What I would find is at the end of the walk though, my hands and feet were more puffy.

It peaked just post-pregnancy (Day 1-2) and then started to fall away rapidly. The good thing is unlike losing normal weight, fluid weight does just start to fall right off you after you have the baby.

Lots of hugs and invest in some very comfy shoes !:hugs:

[Tingles]

Don't know if it will help whilst PG - just something I lived with (swollen ankles), but, squeezed lemon in water has helped me & others:thumbsup:

Good Luck!:)

[littlepickle]

Thanks everyone for your help :-) As always, you have been great!
I will have to work out a way to elevate my legs a bit more. I have been drinking lots of water but will have to start adding some lemon juice to it to see if that helps at all. I will also be paying boost a visit for some celery juice - has to be worth a go!

Thanks again!