I would call your primary back and be seen. A DVT has been ruled out and that is good so it may be time for them to prescribe a diuretic to help.

DH had it happen after lots of travel and rich, salty food. I think it took a week or more to resolve. A friend's mother also had it happen after an overseas trip and her swelling lasted longer.

Did they check your potassium levels when they did the bloodwork? If not, don't increase your potassium intake.

If they didn't check your P. levels and the doctor to you to up your P. intake anyway, do not do it.

For some unknown reason, and it wasn't too much salt either, I found out through bloodwork last Sept. my P. level is too high. So now we're treating it with meds for the kidneys and low potassium intake.

My favorite fruits and veggies are all high in potassium. :(

Good luck!

It happened to me after a flight to Italy. I had two friends with me who were nurses and they wanted to go straight to a hospital but I declined and wwnr to my room, laid with my but up near the head of the bed so I could put my legs straight up on the wall. I drank water for hours and got rid of all the fluid in six hours. Now I eat very very little salt as I found I have stage 3 kidney disease (moderate) and stick to the kidney diet. I feel the swelling was an early signal and, when I got home, my dr. ran extensive tests. Keep on top of it please. It may be an early signal for you too.

Did your doc give you any meds to try to reduce the swelling? Sometimes I've had good luck using a couple of high doses of vitamin C.

I'm glad you called your doctor and sorry things aren't resolved. I hope all your symptoms resolve soon.

You might want to see if you have a magnesium deficiency.

You should be following an elevation protocol for your leg swelling, lying down and raising your feet higher than your heart for 45 min to an hour several times a day. Most people think "putting their feet up" is sufficient, but it is not; and it takes about three pillows under your feet to get them high enough to do any good.

Ask your doctor for a referral to a vascular surgeon and have a venous Doppler ultrasound of your legs. You may have venous reflux. You can google it for more information than I can post here. If that is what you have there is a relatively simple office procedure called radio frequency ablation that will collapse the incompetent vein. Usually it is worse on one side than the other, but many people end up having RFA procedures on both legs.

Obviously I am not saying this is what you have, but if your symptoms have no other confirmed diagnosis it is a logical place to look.

So sorry you're dealing with this, and I hope it improves soon! I'm very glad you're seeing your doctor.

I think kswl's advice is excellent.

I realize it's a completely different situation, but fwiw, I had high BP and severe edema, and went on bed rest at the end of my pregnancy. After delivery, it didn't go away, and the doctor just said it would take time to resolve.

A nurse told me to try drinking 100 oz of water daily, a glass of cranberry juice daily, and alternate walking around with lying down on my side for 15 minutes each hour, with my feet raised above the level of my heart (it's quite a contortion). After two days of this routine, it was almost completely gone. The frequent urination and sweating (sorry) was unpleasant, but it was such a tremendous relief to get rid of all that retained water.

Wishing you the best, let us know how you're doing.

or it even might be worth your while to make an appt with a cardiologist for a checkup... even though nothing has been found at this point, something clearly is not right and edema can be a symptom of different heart issues... did your doc give you an ekg/ecg?

Thank you for all the responses. I've been so fit & healthy all my life this is new and scary territory for me. Symptoms continued to worsen and I'm scheduled for an echocardiogram tomorrow.

I'd trade the lottery jackpot to feel like my old self again ;)

I hope you find the cause and things improve soon!

Fingers crossed it will go away and you'll be fine.

Good to hear that your getting a complete work-up. I've been thinking about you - best wishes to get to the bottom of this & get you back to feeling like your old self.

That's good to hear on the echo. I can get bad swelling with travel. Eating restaurant foods high in sodium doesn't help either. I always use compression stockings on plane flights. I try to drink as much water and eat fruits and vegetables as much as I can.

I also had a full cardiac workup including an echo and a nuclear stress test which were all negative. I monitor my BP at home.

Bless your heart! I hope they get to the bottom of this soon.

I have permanent disfiguration, hardening of tissues and extreme swelling due to lymphedema. For years I was treated for edema-which is not at all my condition, but I do have some tips for reducing swelling.

You must up your intake of water. Do not consume caffiene or products containing caffiene. Eat a lot of fiber, also-fresh fruit is good.

Get some OTC compression stockings and put them on first thing in the morning and wear all day. At night, sleep with your feet elevated above your heart.

You can also perform gentle massage-start at the toes and gently brush upward, pushing the fluid up toward your abdomen.

Movement is essential-walking is good, swimming is better. You need to get your blood pumping as that will help to circulate the fluid that is collecting at your ankles and feet.

And follow up with your doctor if you don't start seeing improvements in a few days.

I didn't post this immediately because with the calf and thigh involved it didn't sound like a workable solution. But, FWIW, for ankle swelling I like alternating hot and cold packs (a suggestion from a physical therapist for increasing circulation--it acts like a pump). I use a sock full of uncooked rice for a hot pack (put it in the microwave for a couple minutes), alternating with a gel cold pack, at bed time. I've found it to be enormously helpful.

Apparently, my heart is fine. So it's not the pump.

By the time I saw my primary physician I had ballooned over 10 lbs. (130 has been my high weight in the past 30 yrs., so 10 is substantial) in less than a week of eating a Spartan low-sodium diet. He started me on a low dose of Lasix & I've dropped 7 lbs. in 3 days. A welcome relief.

The swelling in my legs and feet is almost gone - I elevate as often as possible - but I still have abdominal swelling that feels like being 9 mths. pregnant before the baby drops. Cannot zip and button any of my pants so have been wearing pj bottoms at home & loose black yoga pants all week.

I have more follow up blood work (doc wanted to let the Lasix work before I went to get more drawn) & a follow up w/ my doc to see where we look next now that heart issues don't seem to be the problem.

Today marks 2 wks. since my return flight so I'm doubting the current swelling is directly related. Before this began I was a really healthy person. Never took meds aside from eye drops and fish oil. Maintained a healthy weight, ate healthfully, never smoked, rarely drink alcohol. Mystery...

Oh wow, amck2, healing thoughts to you. I hope you get some answers soon.

I'm glad you have some relief from the swelling. I'm glad that you are being diligent and following through with your doctor.

Strange things can happen out of nowhere.

((((HUGS))))

I've been wondering how you've been, as you hadn't posted here for several days. Sending positive thoughts from down the road.

Glad the swelling is going down. I hope you get to the bottom of this soon!

Hello any update on this??

This hap to me in 2016 when i went to italy . My feet were severely swollen for five days after landing. i figured it was from eating and drinking like Benjamin Franklin. i vowed to wear compression socks and rrfrain from gluttony if i ever traveled oversees again. flash forward to 2023. im 49. . i arrived in Isreal four days ago and i didnt drink any alcohol on my flight, nor after. have been drinking lots of water and not much salt. feet and snkles STILL swollen!!! what in the hell is going on?!?! i did forget tonwear compression socks