Bad oedema & exercise

[NCembarassed]

I am v.overweight and my feet/legs do swell.

I have had blisters all over one leg for a few years now. Blisters have appeared on other leg and my feet in the past couple of weeks. GP says it is oedema and it's nothing to worry about, just elevate legs when possible.

I really want to do some (gentle) exercise, but if the blisters break I end up with cellulitis. I can't use plasters, as the adhesive tears my skin (GP was very dismissive when I told & showed them) - I now have really bad scarring on one leg as a result, so will only wear ankle length clothing. If wounds need dressing it has to be non-adherent pads with a bandage.

Thankfully I have no open wounds at present, but do need to protect my poor skin from splitting/infection.

Any ideas on what I can wear?

I'd love to go back to pilates or swimming. The only thing I can think of are swimming leggings, or a plastic cover like ppl use with a plaster cast.

do you know where this comes from?
does your gp surgery have a cardiovascular clinic?

ask if compression garments are the right approach for you. same for lymphatic massages (might need to go private for that).

also look if you can self refer to a specialised oedema physio.

Demand things of them now. Since June 2020 I kept going to the GP (video consult and then face to face as pandemic eased) water tablets, cream nothing helped except temporary pressure through tight fitting shoes and you can’t do that 24/7.

They all say Oedema is nothing to worry about but it bed bounds people.

It got to the point a blister grew and off to surgery I went to stop ‘allegedly’ necrotizing fasciitis. Aftercare completely terrible.

I’ve had suggestions I need general medical or vascular but how the hell do you get there I do not know.

Please let me know how you get on with leg bag access to pools - pools around me apparently won’t allow entry with an obvious wound. 😢 even though one runs a disabled swim session so less people around.

It sounds as if you may be getting lymphedema. There is a drainage technique that you can use and specialist nurses and practitioners who can teach you. It is best to get treatment when you are at an early stage - please don't leave it.
Resources are tight but some cancer units/ hospices have lymphedema clinics and will see people who don't have cancer but just need help with their lymphedema. Please don't be upset about mention of a hospice - our local ones offer this service as well as dementia and other types of support - it is a vast range of services and not all for life limiting conditions.
Hope you can advocate for yourself and do some research about what is available locally.
One option is district nurses coming to compression bandage you but many are not fully trained in the specialist area but I hope you can get some support.
Remember to keep your legs up when sitting