Edema/Water Retention

[superhuman]

@beanie Thank you. I have tried both those and i did not notice anything from it. Its really strange

 

[beanie]

@superhuman I'm sorry none of my suggestions worked. I went back and looked through your history to see if there was anything else I could suggest.
The signs and symptoms that you are having sound like it might be an issue with your kidneys. That can be very serious so I recommend getting it checked out with your doctor. They can do a simple blood/urine test.

It sounded like you may have done some experimenting with steroids. I'm not sure. But if so, steroids can lead to kidney damage. I'm not certain, but I think this is often what bodybuilders who abuse steroids die of (kidney failure). I'm not trying to scare you. I just think that you have been struggling with this for a long time and kidney disease is not something to mess around with.

Doctors often dismiss water retention as a non-serious issue caused by too much sodium, etc. However, I think it may be a sign of something more serious, and it is unusual for a young healthy male to be experiencing this for such a long time period. I would have a very honest conversation with your doctor (ie. tell him if you've used steroids and how long you have been dealing with this). Definitely check your kidney function with blood work and a urine test.

Kidney/renal disease is not something to mess around with. I would definitely try to rule that out since it is a very serious medical condition.

Hope this is useful. After you have ruled that out, let me know if you are still having issues and I'll see what else I can suggest.

Best regards!

 

[superhuman]

@beanie I have never taken steroids or stuff like that, and bloodwork and stuff have never revealed any kidney issues. Neither has the doctor check ups, so it should not be the problem.

 

[whit]

[QUOTE="superhuman, post: 305993, member: 7USER=4605]@beanie[/USER] I have never taken steroids or stuff like that, and bloodwork and stuff have never revealed any kidney issues. Neither has the doctor check ups, so it should not be the problem.[/QUOTE]
Have you ever considered pregnenalone? Or thyroid?
I've had success with these as well as BCAAs. Asprin with a meal is effective too.

 

[beanie]

@superhuman I am glad you had it checked out by a doctor and that you have ruled out anything serious. I know how frustrating this can be. My only other idea is that maybe you have some kind of allergy or intolerance. Testing is sometimes useful, but insurance doesn't always cover it. You could try an elimination diet. I know you did that with the grains, but maybe something else is causing your edema. I will let you know if I come up with any other ideas. Eliminating grains and supplements seems to have really worked for me, but it took me a long time to really figure it out and everyone is different.

 

[beanie]

@superhuman This is a long shot, but I was wondering if you ever eat/drink anything that contains sucralose (Splenda). It is commonly found in protein bars, powders, etc. This substance causes immediate uncomfortable swelling and water retention for me. My feet swell up a few shoe sizes as soon as I ingest it. I have read that others have experienced this too. I even gargled once with a mouthwash sample, and I knew before I even looked at the ingredients that it contained sucralose because I had a reaction.

It's hard for me to know what your diet is and how diligent you are about reading labels, but I have gotten to the point where I check the ingredients on everything. Carageenan is another problem ingredient. It's found in dairy products (ie. ice cream, non-dairy milks, etc.). It might be helpful to keep a food journal to refer back to.

I'll keep racking my brain to see if I can come up with anything else.

 

[superhuman]

@superhuman This is a long shot, but I was wondering if you ever eat/drink anything that contains sucralose (Splenda). It is commonly found in protein bars, powders, etc. This substance causes immediate uncomfortable swelling and water retention for me. My feet swell up a few shoe sizes as soon as I ingest it. I have read that others have experienced this too. I even gargled once with a mouthwash sample, and I knew before I even looked at the ingredients that it contained sucralose because I had a reaction.

It's hard for me to know what your diet is and how diligent you are about reading labels, but I have gotten to the point where I check the ingredients on everything. Carageenan is another problem ingredient. It's found in dairy products (ie. ice cream, non-dairy milks, etc.). It might be helpful to keep a food journal to refer back to.

I'll keep racking my brain to see if I can come up with anything else.

No i dont. Im very strict peaty

 

[Ct23]

This is my experience, huge swollen ankles, muffin top above sock line no matter what I tried. I removed all carbs and grains from my diet and replaced with fats, within 2 days complete resolution, never seen my ankles look like this before! Now I plan to add back non grain carbs to determine whether this is caused by grains or by carbs in general. As to why I have this issue I have no idea. Hope this helps.

 

[Mossy]

This is my experience, huge swollen ankles, muffin top above sock line no matter what I tried. I removed all carbs and grains from my diet and replaced with fats, within 2 days complete resolution, never seen my ankles look like this before! Now I plan to add back non grain carbs to determine whether this is caused by grains or by carbs in general. As to why I have this issue I have no idea. Hope this helps.

It will be interesting to hear the results.

 

[Ct23]

Interesting results I have found. By keeping carbs super low my ankles have remained completely thin with zero swelling. I tried various high carb meals, both grain based and non grain, eg bowl of oats or beans/rice, bowl of root veg, etc, if I eat the meal together with lots of fat, eg 50+ ml olive oil and or added coconut oil I get a tiny bit of swelling but nothing like the previous muffin top ankles. Alternatively if I reduce my carbs to nil or even up to say 20g along with the high fat I get zero swelling. So perhaps my blood sugar was too high, or perhaps the added fats are slowing digestion and prevent blood sugar spike. Or maybe it was just too many carbs for me to tolerate, not sure but I feel much better without the swelling, not puffing when walking around or exercise, etc. The reason I was eating low fat is because my digestion struggles but seeing all swelling vanish is enough evidence for me to keep this change. Will now try enzymes to hopefully improve digestion.

 

[Mossy]

Interesting results I have found. By keeping carbs super low my ankles have remained completely thin with zero swelling. I tried various high carb meals, both grain based and non grain, eg bowl of oats or beans/rice, bowl of root veg, etc, if I eat the meal together with lots of fat, eg 50+ ml olive oil and or added coconut oil I get a tiny bit of swelling but nothing like the previous muffin top ankles. Alternatively if I reduce my carbs to nil or even up to say 20g along with the high fat I get zero swelling. So perhaps my blood sugar was too high, or perhaps the added fats are slowing digestion and prevent blood sugar spike. Or maybe it was just too many carbs for me to tolerate, not sure but I feel much better without the swelling, not puffing when walking around or exercise, etc. The reason I was eating low fat is because my digestion struggles but seeing all swelling vanish is enough evidence for me to keep this change. Will now try enzymes to hopefully improve digestion.

Thanks for sharing.

Have you noticed anything with carbs from sugar—fruits, honey, syrup, white sugar, or similar?

Should you establish any nuances, like specific grains that you do better on, say masa versus regular corn flour, etc., please pass that along.

I'm attempting to help my dad who's had varying degrees of edema, chronically. Do you mind sharing how long your edema issue has been, or if it is related to any other health issues?

 

[Ct23]

Well I've had the ankle swelling for at least a few yrs and that whole time ate fairly low fat diet and high carbs for most part, eg breakfast wld be bowl of porridge with honey, lunch may have been beans and rice with perhaps drizzle of olive oil, snack would be muesli bar and fruit, etc. I've been fairly heavy feeling and short of breath on mild exertion that whole time too.

I have histamine issues, food allergies/sensitivities and have had dvt, I had assumed it was inflammation from eating foods that don't agree with me. Always lean and fairly active with sport.

Anyway so removing all the carbs was my attempt to improve this problem, I have been surprised that it doesn't seem to matter which carbs I eat, if I have too many and/or without lots of fat the swelling seems like it wants to return. Mind you because my ankles are now normal the swelling is very minimal but I can tell from the sock line that it becomes a touch greater if I indulge in a few too many grams carbs per meal.

Having office job ppl would say it was due to inactivity but now that I'm eating differently even during a work shift last week I got zero swelling. I wish I had before/after pics, the change is incredible and was simply achieved by very low carbs and high fat/oil replacement.

I did read something online about fatty acids being required to absorb or maybe transport blood sugar but not sure. I don't digest fats well so perhaps I was extremely deficient.

 

[Mossy]

Well I've had the ankle swelling for at least a few yrs and that whole time ate fairly low fat diet and high carbs for most part, eg breakfast wld be bowl of porridge with honey, lunch may have been beans and rice with perhaps drizzle of olive oil, snack would be muesli bar and fruit, etc. I've been fairly heavy feeling and short of breath on mild exertion that whole time too.

I have histamine issues, food allergies/sensitivities and have had dvt, I had assumed it was inflammation from eating foods that don't agree with me. Always lean and fairly active with sport.

Anyway so removing all the carbs was my attempt to improve this problem, I have been surprised that it doesn't seem to matter which carbs I eat, if I have too many and/or without lots of fat the swelling seems like it wants to return. Mind you because my ankles are now normal the swelling is very minimal but I can tell from the sock line that it becomes a touch greater if I indulge in a few too many grams carbs per meal.

Having office job ppl would say it was due to inactivity but now that I'm eating differently even during a work shift last week I got zero swelling. I wish I had before/after pics, the change is incredible and was simply achieved by very low carbs and high fat/oil replacement.

I did read something online about fatty acids being required to absorb or maybe transport blood sugar but not sure. I don't digest fats well so perhaps I was extremely deficient.

Thank you for the detail. I know everyone's situation can have its own unique factors, but I'll see if I can make use of what has been successful for you with my dad. That's if he's willing.