Mine started fairly recently, and it’s not just the feet/ankles – it’s the entire body. Mine is a combination of side effect from a med I’ve recently started taking and my body not being able to regulate itself temperature-wise, thanks to a thyroidectomy.
I’m not saying "don’t go to the ER or “you don’t need to see your doctor”, but I thought I’d throw this out there.
Wow, such a range of possibilities! I have called the doctor and described the situation in detail to the person who screens things and sets up appointments. (I was going to say “nurse,” but of course she may not really be a nurse.) Anyway, I have an appointment to see the doctor in about 10 days with instructions to call right away if I have a change in symptoms. I also asked that she run this by the doctor herself, and to call me if she (the doctor) thought it was more urgent. Since she has my complete medical history, I take some comfort that she has not as of yet called.
Someone asked about whether thrombosis ran in the family – decidedly not, to my joy. The only person on either side going back several generations who died before the age of 90 was my mom, who suffered from a congenital heart defect (which I do not have). My dad did have circulatory problems during his final years. But mostly everyone dies of old age. I had a great-grandfather who lived to be significantly over 100. All of this is no guarantee, of course.
I did have high blood pressure & cholesterol a few years ago but it is well controlled with medicine. My last checkup everything was perfectly in the normal to better than average range.
I’ve been making sure to get plenty of liquids (couldn’t hurt, right?) and elevating feet when at all possible, and I took some aspirin last night & this morning.
Thanks for the info, I find these things fascinating even if most of them probably won’t apply to my specific situation.
Oh, and no, I consume no alcohol. I wish I did, I do miss my single-malt scotch, but it interferes with another medicine I’m taking, so I haven’t had more than an occasional tiny sip for years. Well, I did drink an entire glass of champagne at my daughter’s wedding 3 years ago, but that’s about it.
You might want to consider switching to Ibuprofen which is an anti-inflammatory, versus the aspirin which is a simple analgesic to reduce pain.
Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory as well, and can reduce clotting.
I’ve got a weird one.
When I was a kid, I broke the pinky toe on my right foot.
A couple of times in the last fifteen years or so, I got an infected right foot by breaking the skin between the pinky toe and the next one (which I didn’t know about until the foot was inflamed and swollen).
The last time it happened, the doctor gave me an antibiotic for the swelling, noting that there was an infection. Apparently, the antibiotic wasn’t a strong enough dosage, because a couple of weeks after finishing off the prescription, an abscess developed between the toes. It looked like a big black zit.
I went back to the doctor, he took one look at the abscess, and determined right there that he would have to remove it. With a scalpel. Without any kind of anaethetic. Right now.
Ouch. Yes, it hurt, but I gritted my teeth and made sure I didn’t move my foot.
Anyway, since then there are days my foor is swollen, and other days when it is not. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for this, such as atmospheric pressure, temperature, etc., it just happens sometimes, and sometimes it doesn’t.
Go figure. The better to keep me guessing, I guess.
I had swollen feet for a little while because of my being homebound. It went away when I did a lot more moving around. But it may have damaged a nerve in my toe. So I’m glad you are getting this checked out.
An update – I saw my doctor yesterday. And of course, the swelling decreased markedly the day before I saw her. Nothing (new) is wrong with me that I need to worry about. I do not have a blood clot, kidney disease, heart failure, etc. She says if it had been a blood clot I would have had pain in my legs, especially after several days had elapsed. Kidney or heart problems would also have caused very noticeable additional symptoms, none of which are – or were – present to any degree.
Here’s her estimate of the likely train of events: While on vacation I was a lot more active than usual, climbing about on the boat, swimming almost every day, etc. This was definitely not a bad thing, but it gave some additional work to the circulatory system. Then I was on an airplane for an 8-hour and a 5-hour flight. The valves in my veins are not as strong as they used to be after working steadily for over 60 years, and they were no longer as efficient at keeping fluids from succumbing to gravity. The result was the edema.
The remedy is, as someone suggested at the very beginning, aerobic activity. And to elevate my feet when not active, if possible.
I was glad I saw her anyway, as it adds to my layperson’s knowledge of things not to worry about and things that require immediate attention.
Maybe you’re pregnant.
You may have noticed I am over 60 years old. Also I have no uterus and no ovaries any more. Maybe it will happen and there will be a new star in the east.