Swelling Hands and Feet

Sounds like edema. Instead of drinking milk why not switch to water. You need to drink at least 1/2 your body weight in ounces per day.
Also, avoid taking NSAIDS and eating plants from the nightshade family as they tend to make joint pain worse.

1 mom found this helpful

Joint pain can be a problem when your thyroid is off. Have your blood tested and see an endorinologist. Post baby can be a crazy time for your endocrine system.. good luck

Hi Nokolina,

You could have several things, but a couple came to mind: you should be tested for diabetes and you could also have plantar fachiitis (google it). You could see a podiatrist if the symptoms match what you have; it sounds like this is what you have wrong with your feet. Women get it a lot, and it is really common.
Good luck!

go back to your doc(or call, if he has call-in hours) and shake your diagnosis out of him. then you at least have the starting point.
Good Luck
V.

Hi N.,
I had horrible swelling with my first pregnancy. My feet became non functional. And I never did get the feeling back in my big toes til now... I am 8 months pregnant with my second and I decided early on to get my feet massaged once a week and it's been brilliant. No swelling. I've cramped up maybe three times in the whole pregnancy. I now have sensation in my big toes again!!! I highly recommend it. I have a foot massage place in my neighborhood. Exotic Massage, san Gabriel . $15 for an hour.
Good luck.

You need a complete physical from ANOTHER doctor. Most doctors don't listen to women and you have to assertive. Make a list of your problems and log them as to date and time and what you are experiencing. This way the NEW doctor will see that you are serious and not just a complainer. I don't know what is wrong, but it is not normal and needs to be diagnosed. It might be nothing or it could be a forerunner of a more serious illness. Do not delay. You have to take control of you own health and be assertive with doctor's if they just brush you off. You need to find a doctor that takes time with you and listens to what you are saying. Your first one gets an F.

N.......Please check out my website www.nussentials.com/bjdudley as well as getting medical attention. Hope to hear from you.

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Best of luck.

B.

You should ask your doctor for a referral to a rheumatologist. The swollen hands and feet and the low iron can be symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. If your primary physician doesn't find anything else wrong, ask him about this. If he does blood tests and says he didn't find a rheumatoid factor in your blood, tell him you would still like the referral because you can still have it without the blood test being positive. There are over 200 types of arthritis.

I use potassium gluconate and take 5 of them each night, or more if my sodium intake was high or if I had alcohol. The kidneys are responsible for water retention and blood pressure, so you may want to try potassium (natural diuretic) and maybe even CranActin, just one of those in the am - it'll help clean out the kidneys.

One of my friends had to do a homeopathic anesthetic detox because her body was achy and had all sorts of problems after the anesthetic given for childbirth. Once she did that, all of her pains and problems went away. She got it from her chiropractor and she said that most of the pain and swelling went away after a few adjustments, but the detox rid her body of everything and she felt normal again.

Good luck.

Hi N.. Have you considered trying accupuncture? Good experinced accupuncturists are excellent at finding the underlying problem to many ailments. Accupuncture helped me get over chronic bladder infections when nothing else would. Be gentle with yourself. Remember that a cesarean is major surgery and you need extra time to heal from that. I had a cesarean for my first birth that was quite traumatic and I'm still trying to heal from the emotional scars it left nine years later. I believe mental and emotional health are directly linked to physical health. So, take good care of yourself and find a healthcare provider who will give you the attention you deserve. Best Wishes.

Everyone else had some other opinions, and I'm not a doctor, but I had similar symptoms after having my son, so I thought I'd chime in.
Swelling hands & feet are very typical during pregnancy. Your body retains extra fluid as you prepare for birth. After you give birth a lot of this extra fluid goes away. However, LONG after this my feet were still giving me a lot of grief.
I am typically pretty active - I hike on the weekends, go on walks during the week with my son. After pregnancy, my feet hurt so bad, it was hard to get up in the morning. After sitting at my desk for an hour, it hurt to stand up & walk. I mentioned this one day to my parents & they said "Oh, yeah, we have that too - you need orthotic arches!" Turns out EVERYONE in my family over 30 years has this issue, and I never knew it.
I am usually pretty skeptical about things like orthotics. But finally, my feet were impacting my life so much I had to do something. I went to Good Feet, and go their "Excerciser" arches. I HAVE NOT HAD FOOT PAIN EVER SINCE. I don't tell you this to get you to spend the money (they were like $300 for a pair of arch supports). Again, I am rather skeptical to begin with, but this completely worked. I think, if you get a perscription from you doctor or podiatrist, you can get them reimbursed through an FSA, or possibly through your insurance.
The other alternative that I recently found is getting shoes specifically fitted for your feet. The Running Lab does this, and with their shoes, I don't need my arches for the first time in almost 3 years.
For all of the other conditions that the other folks mentioned, be diligent in demanding care from your doctor, but if you don't have other symptoms, look into the arch supports!

L.

I had the same thing and still had problems 2+ years after having my daughter - the only reason it has subsided is because I'm pregnant again. It was sooo bad that if my daugther sat on my foot I would cry out in pain. I JUST found out recently my problem could be plantar facitis but I won't be able to do anything about it until I have this baby and I'm sure the pain will return. I was just about to go to a podiatrist when the pain stopped and I made the pregnancy connection. I suggest going to see a podiatrist rather than your regular Dr - particularly if it's joint pain. Mine was all joint pain.

For the swelling in your hands, I have no idea! But I had the same exact thing with my feet. When I first woke up, they ached until I got going and then if I sat for any period of time, they got sore again. My Dr. did say it was Plantar Fasciitis. A big contributor to this are... bad shoes. And if you're in So Cal, I bet you're a big fan of the flip flop. There is no support in many of the shoes that I wear and was told to get a good pair of laced up shoes. I, personally, am not a fan of tennis shoes so that's been a challenge for me. I found some decent sketchers that I try to wear. Don't go bare foot on hard tiles... he perscribed a 5 day oral steroid thing and along with trying to be more reasonable with my shoes, it's subsided greatly. Every so often when I wear my flat peek toe shoes / ballet shoes too many days in a row, I start to feel a ping of pain but nothing like before!
I bet the pregnancy just added weight to your feet and kicked it in to gear!
Go back to the Dr and ask him about it again! Don't leave until he does SOMETHING.

Good luck

For the low iron I would try eating cream of wheat. It has a lot of iron and that tip was given to me fromt he Red Cross when I was donating blood. Good Luck

Hi N.,

It sounds like you're having circulation problems. If your heart is working too hard (possibly from the salt intake, are you hypertensive?) and it's not able to circulate the blood flow easily enough. One of the two natural remedies that I know if is cayenne lemon water (mix the juice of a lemon into 16-20 oz of water and dash as much cayenne in as you can stand). Drink that at least once a day. Cayenne is amazing for circulation. It really helped me keep from getting swollen during my last pregnancy. The other is raw garlic, which isn't nearly as easy to take as the water!

Good luck.

I had this exact same problem when I was pregnant and my feel also hurt for about that long after my daughter was born. I had a lot of pain in my feet but mostly mine was in the back of my feet and back of my ankles but it was really hard when I would first wake up. When that went away I started having the swelling in my hands and feet which was very annoying and almost like a heavy, almost tingly feeling in my arms. It turns out I have a thyroid condition and am now being treated for it. It's pretty common so it may be worth looking into. As long as you don't have high blood pressure then it's probably no big deal but I would at least re-mention it to the doctor. Good luck!