I'm new here thanks for letting me join

[Deborahj2727]

I have a lot of swelling in my lower legs also my stomach is a lot bigger its as if i have put on loads of weight, i was told it is probably oedema has any one else had this ?

and i have heart problems on medication as i suffered a very fast heart rate

[Saggyuk]

Hiya Deborah

Yes, I used to have that a lot.

Do you have thyroid issues? might be worth posting your results if you want to check if optimally medicated or not??

Also, many of us are VIt B12, Vit D, Iron and folate deficient so might be worth getting these tests done if you haven't done already or posting these results too if you have as most GPs are a bit pants where these things are concerned.

Low Iron and Low Vit D causes heart problems in myself. My heart rate was always 110-120 resting ever since my teens and a few years ago it went up to 140-150 and they were doing tests and had tried to get me to take medicines> I got treated for vit d deficiency suddenly at the same time and my heart rate went down to 70-80 for the first time in my life so always worth a check of these.

In regards to oedema - many heart meds especially heart pressure cause this as a side effect so have a look on the side effects on the little bit of paper you get with them.

If you are autoimmune and/or have stomach issues - you might want to try a gluten free diet as can help with this. I had fluid retention all my life until I went gluten free and my bloated stomach dissappeared and discovered I did in fact own a pair of ankles Many of my immune issues also cleared up.

Other suggestions for more general water retention are ensuring that you are not overdoing it on the salt, drinking more water, increasing potassium (bananas) to help balance, and sometimes an epsom salt bath can help relieve temporarily.

Hope you work it out soon

[Katepots]

Welcome 😀

I see you've had some good info above.

You need to have thyroid tested

THS,TT4,FT4, FT3, RT3, thyroid antibodies

Folate, Ferritin, Vit D, B12

If the GP won't test all of these then there's a company called

Bluehorizonmedicals.co.uk that do private testing. Not cheap but worth it for answers.

Thyroid plus 11,12&15 are all good comprehensive tests.

Are you under a heart specialist or just the GP? If just the GP then ask to be referred as again you'll know if there is anything going on that needs attention and if you need meds, don't go with the GP's guesswork.

I had a very fast heatrate, not so bad now and have Wolf Parkinson White syndrome due to excess adrenalin which I now know through my own research was caused by excess cortisol. All linked with Hashimotos.

Also various vitamin deficiencies as talked about by Saggy.

[helbell in reply to Katepots]

Thanks for the heads up on WPW. I think that might be me.

[Katepots in reply to Katepots]

With it your heart short circuits (some electrical fault that I think excess adrenalin causes) and just pumps blood around the heart rather than round the body for 10/20 seconds although feels like forever. Mine races at over 200 beats. Feels horrible and was very scary when I was young. Afterwards you feel exhausted.

Since learning to control my adrenalin and staying out of stressful situations it doesn't do it.

[helbell]

I get swollen lower legs ankles and feet, and tummy. Sometimes it just disappears for weeks or months. Great advice here. Also try to get some walking in. Sitting with legs down or standing for long periods of time aggravates. The oedema is common so do as advised and get all levels checked and post results for others to comment on. My swelling sometimes correlates with dose change during adjustment period...no idea why that is.