Jack Harris3 said:Oh, please, don't drag a doctor into this! I'm terrified of doctors. 😲
Give me a break. So you're scared of one kind of doctor 😁 but perfectly fine with a veterinarian?
Look, maybe it’s nothing serious (by the way, with venous insufficiency, the veins don't necessarily have to be visibly swollen right away, at least not initially), but it would still be wise to have a specialist take a look just so you can stop worrying. 🙂
Any suspicion of a blood clot (even if you get a negative result on the Homan's test 😉) is reason enough to contact your doctor IMMEDIATELY... don't mess around with this kind of thing.
P.S. What is going on with the women on this forum lately? Magic is sick, Jack Harris3 has swelling, ... 😕
Jack Harris3 said:Thrombosis might actually make sense for me... I smoke like a Turk, and I've always been pretty bad about drinking water, though I've started drinking more lately... Maybe something coagulated or some little vessel got blocked. Do you have any idea what other symptoms might look like?
Well, if you’re smoking and taking birth control, the odds are pretty high.
There is something called Homan's sign, but it isn't particularly reliable. Even if it comes back negative, it doesn't mean you're definitely in the clear regarding thrombosis.
Try putting your legs in a horizontal position, keeping your knees straight, and then flex your foot toward you as far as it goes, then point it away—like a ballerina. You might feel pain right where the vein is blocked; you can even point to it with a finger. You can get a similar result by shifting your weight between your heels and your toes. Homan's sign is okay for home use, but it's very insensitive, so I would still advise seeing a doctor.
Edit: I see now that you aren't on birth control, fine... but are you wearing compression stockings?
First off, clarify whether you're looking for advice from a medical doctor or a veterinarian... I mean, we're talking about a dog here, after all. 😁
Now, jokes aside—are there any other symptoms? Are you feeling pain in your legs? How is your mobility when using stairs?
Kidney issues are a possibility, but if that were the case, you should be noticing decreased urination, and the swelling would likely appear in other areas, not just the legs...
I assume your heart is perfectly healthy? ... Also, can you sleep flat on your back at night, or do you find it difficult to breathe in that position? If you're even half as eloquent in real life as you are on this forum, then forget it... you'd be gasping for air mid-sentence. 😉
Is the pain centered in the ankles? Or perhaps the small joints in the hands? Just a stupid question—if they were actually hurting, you wouldn't be able to type. 😁
There is a chance it's venous insufficiency, in which case the edema becomes much more pronounced during heatwaves. However, venous thrombosis is also a possibility, especially if one leg looks thicker than the other, or if there's pain when you extend your toes... how does that sound?
When I'm at the beach, I just stick to regular tap water.
Last summer, my parents bought one of those high-end water filtration systems, so we all switched over to filtered water.
For the first three days, I experienced some minor digestive irregularities—nothing resembling a full-blown gastrointestinal infection, mind you. I was dealing with maybe three or four bowel movements a day, but otherwise, I felt perfectly fine. At first, I assumed it was just my body reacting to a change in environment, especially since I usually struggle more with constipation.
Then, I went back to drinking plain water for a few days and everything returned to normal... but as soon as I tried the filtered water again, the frequent trips to the bathroom returned. It became clear that this system simply isn't for me, so I've gone back to standard water. No one else in my family had any issues at all... it seems my gut is just hypersensitive. 😉
I don't think it's strictly a matter of water hardness, either. For instance, I drink rainwater without any trouble and it has zero impact on my digestion. 😕
I have no clue if there’s any connection to blood pressure, but your question actually reminded me of something. This past summer while I was on vacation, I was drinking filtered water and ended up dealing with constant diarrhea. The second I switched back to regular tap water, everything went back to normal.
Now, I am genuinely curious—has anyone else here dealt with something similar? 😕
As far as I am aware, olive oil infused with St. John's Wort—which sits in the sun for about 40 days until it turns a reddish hue—is a common folk remedy for joint and muscle aches. For instance, people might rub it onto the skin over a strained muscle... or apply it to the shoulder area to deal with a painful glenohumeral joint (what we call "frozen shoulder").
This oil possesses mild analgesic properties, though they are somewhat less potent than something like Voltaren gel.
That being said, St. John's Wort isn't entirely harmless. It accelerates the metabolism of various medications in the liver, which can effectively drop their concentration below therapeutic levels. It is unknown whether topical application produces this same effect, but one should still avoid experimenting with it if you are currently taking other medications, such as anticoagulants.
There was recently a lecture held in Washington, D.C. regarding so-called mitochondrial medicine (the speaker was Enzman, who specializes specifically in this field), and the primary focus was on Coenzyme Q10. Essentially, he is researching its impact on degenerative diseases—specifically Parkinson and Alzheimer—but currently, the sample sizes are far too small to draw any definitive conclusions. I have always been a skeptic when people attempt to explain complex degenerative processes (not to mention the aging process itself) through a single, narrow lens. By the way, word is that the Pope is apparently using Q10 for treatment... though it's hard to say how much of an effect it actually has. My father-in-law is battling cancer, so we picked up a pack of Q10 just to see if it would help... he stopped taking it after two days because it made him feel ill.
In any case, I don't believe it is wise to take this as a supplement or a preventative measure. Random vitamins, minerals, and similar things in pill form aren't always harmless. Every tablet contains a significant amount of "excipients"—binders, talc, you name it—and sometimes the body reacts to those additives in unexpected ways. Then again, when we get our vitamins from fruit, we are likely consuming pesticides as well... so we are essentially in the same boat. 🙄
Furthermore, this obsession with antioxidants is getting out of hand. Antioxidants aren't going to guarantee us longevity; that comes down to good genetics and moderation.
I am not sure if darkbison81 has more information on this, but isn't cyanide the most potent antioxidant known to man? 🙂