Oedema - help!

[daisyrosie]

I have oedema in my feet and ankles and whatever I try it doesn't seem to go down, and my feet look quite red in the morning. I've tried putting feet up, but I have cerebral palsy and because my hamstrings are tight I'm not able to put them up very far. I've tried changing activity so I'm not sitting or standing for too long but if I go to bed by the morning they are really swollen, and the skin feels tight.

Would compression socks help or would that mean they swell further up my legs?

Otherwise frozen peas?! Happy to try anything, I'm only 28wks so have a while to go yet. Any advice appreciated, thanks.

Have you had it checked out by a midwife? It's just I had pretty eclampsia which started at 26 weeks. Probably just swelling buy really important to get it checked.

I see the midwife again on Tuesday, so I'll check with her then. I had BP checked last week and it was normal, so hoping it's just swelling.

Prop the end of your bed up by petting a couple of bricks or books under it. That helps and it doesn't feel like putting your feet up.

I feel your pain, my feet and hands ballooned over this past week. I strongly recommend you get checked for pre eclampsia, they will check your wee for protein and blood pressure.

Hot weather makes it worse and it's been hot here recently.

I've tried everything to settle it down but nothing works that I've found. I got told off last night from fella as I was fed up of not wearing shoes so I put my sandals on before they swelled and by 5pm when they came off my feet looked deformed with solid bumps and are painful today. Don't do that!

Hopefully someone will come along with a solution that works!

@daisyrosie - I don't want to frighten you and I am sorry if this sounds a bit scary... If you have swelling which doesn't reduce with elevation / overnight then please call your maternity unit now and go in for a check to rule out preeclampsia. Tuesday is too long to wait.

PE can come on quickly and requires immediate monitoring and treatment, even if aside from the swelling you feel completely well. Even though your BP etc was fine last week that doesn't mean it is now - please get it checked. You won't be wasting anyone's time - they would rather see you 100 times and rule out any complications than not see you and miss something.

Please get checked today.

That sounds like my feet kittysparks! It's really uncomfortable isn't it!

I phoned the triage at my local maternity unit but they didn't seem concerned enough to see me, as I didn't have any bleeding, visual disturbance, headache or rib pain, but they said to call back if I do, keep on with the elevation and drink plenty.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone x

I suffered with odema from think 32w to 3 was after baby born

Got so painful that I could barely walk more then a shuffle and getting up and down stair very painful due to ankles not bending due to water and fluid

Shoes didn't fit for last 6w and brought extra large slippers and wore them everywhere

Same with maternity legging. They would dig into my ankles and in the end I wore huge baggy skirts

I found only way to help my swelling was to put feet into ice cold water and just keep them there

Triage kept an eye on me due to previous dvt and geratric 😉 And wasn't till I went into labour they said I had pre eclampsia

But all fine now

Massaging my feet and lower legs helped a little. I was so happy when I went on maternity leave and could just stop wearing shoes though, so you really do have my sympathy!

Blondes there you are! How are you ? All ok with new addition?

Waves to @dame.

All good here thanks

Dd is now 3.5mth/16w

Love being a mummy

👶🏼💓👶🏼💓👶🏼💓👶🏼

Hooray!!! I'm SO pleased for you

That sounds awful Blondes, glad you are feeling better now, and congratulations on the birth of your DD!

Spam - thankfully I only have a few weeks of work left, I am looking forward to not having to wear shoes all day and putting my feet into cold water! Will have to ask my hubby for a massage, can't reach my feet anymore! 😂

thank you and your feet swell less soon and ice coldwater is amazing for relief

In my first pregnancy I had horrendous swelling in the third trimester, with pitting oedema that went up to my knees! I could quite literally sink my finger into my ankle and shin swelling up to the knuckle and leave a big dent. There was only one pair of flip flops that I could wear and it was a long and uncomfortable summer. Thankfully my BP and protein were always fine, so it was isolated oedema and not pre-eclampsia. I can't say much helped except elevating my feet as much as I could manage, drinking a lot (and spending half my life in the loo), and cool showers. Could you sleep with a couple of pillows under your feet at night?
My subsequent pregnancies I have hardly had any swelling, oddly enough. I'm currently 33 weeks with DC4 and for the past couple of days I've had a bit, but it is seriously nowhere near as much as with #1.
Hope you get some relief and yy to getting a quick BP and urine check. Takes a couple of minutes, and genuinely saves lives these days compared to the olde days.

FYI OP, I developed pre-e at 35 weeks in my last pregnancy without any of those other symptoms, just swelling and then my BP shot up. Don't let triage fob you off, like PP said, a BP and a wee test takes minutes and can be vital

I spoke to my midwife about the swelling today. BP is normal and she is sending a urine sample off to the hospital to be tested as I needed to send one anyway for kidney function.

Feet felt better this morning after having them up on several pillows last night.

Glad your swelling is much better in your current pregnancy orchid, that must have been really painful!

Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated!