Weeping Edema-Defining cause

[smallzoo]

Hi again

My mum is nearly 99 . She is in heart failure but has been for years. She also has a low CKD of 24 ( The kidney organisation said at 99 even though its poor its not actually that bad )

She was poorly a few weeks ago which means she stopped eating and drinking. This is coming back now but she has developed swollen ankles/feet. She has always had large ankles and legs but they started weeping a week ago.

The Doctor but her on 20mg Frusemide ( lowest dose possible ) and her swelling came down quite a lot the first 4 days and she stopped weeping. Then my brother came up to look after for a few days while I went away. I now see the legs are back swollen again and weeping again

I am going to talk to the Doctor tomorrow about upping the Frusemide dose but is it actually possible to tell whether its the kidneys or heart that are causing the issue ?

Also other than elevating her legs ( which I am guessing my brother didn't do ) is there anything else I can do to help the weeping.

Thanks

[RoxanneKidney]

The kidney and the heart work together. Obviously there is an issue regarding fluid retention. I am no expert, but if she were my mom, I would probably reduce he fluid intake and salt and try to get her to move around more. Very hard indeed being a caretaker.

[GoodHealthIsAJourney]

Has she ever been diagnosed with Lymphedema? You may want to ask her doctor if compression stockings would help her. They may be a good adjunct to the diuretic, with her doctor's approval. (I have a sibling like that too! 😠) Best wishes!

[Michael__S]

AFAIK there are many other causes of edema, one that comes to mind is too little protein. Mayo clinic mayoclinic.org/diseases-con... got a page about edema, and while searching for a reference for low protein I came upon this one. hopkinsmedicine.org/health/... If anything it shows the importance to rely on your professional team for diagnosis.

To help her relieve her symptoms, you might want to check with your doctor whether compression boots (they are pricey) such as this one compex.com/compex-ayre-wire... or perhaps those EMS foot massager/circulation promoter is safe to use. I have never tried the former outside of an hospital stay, not this exact model. I bought the latter (one made by Homedic that was on sale) and it helped relieve my gout symptoms but I don't know whether her heart issues would prevent her to try that. Or how effective it would be for edema, all that I can say is that I can feel the positive circulatory effects up to my knees and it wasn't too expensive for me to try. Hope this help.

[Sammi_n_Munk]

Hello smallzoo. I’m sorry you’re going through so much distress. I actually had a very similar episode back in 2009 when I was diagnosed with kidney disease. But they also found that my heart and respiratory system was also affected. I was in a very bad state, and my legs were also weeping. What my specialists advised me to do was to increase my protein (I was deficient in many vitamins and minerals at the time due to my kidneys “spilling”, as they called it, meaning that my kidneys were expelling too much than they should’ve been, and leaving me highly lacking in vitamins).

They’re advice to me was to add more protein to my diet; remove the sodium and potassium, as mine was exceptionally high which could slow down the heart rate also; elevate my legs “higher than your heart” was also what they recommended; and exercise (walking). They had also put me on three 40-mg tablets of Furosemide daily. But again, my issue was severe. I would suggest you speak to her doctor(s) about how to remedy this issue safely as everyone is different.

I hope you will find this helpful. I’ve actually been experiencing some edema myself lately, so I’m back onto following that advice once again. Please keep us posted on her progress. We’re always here for you to provide support and help in any way we can. I hold you both in my thoughts and prayers, dear. God bless. 💕💕🙏🙏