Yesterday my feet swelled up pretty bad. I went to the doc this morning and he thinks it's from the mirapex I'm taking, because it's the last drug I added and edema is one of the rare side effects. Checked my vitals and they were all perfect (because something has to be working right). My feet are always cold, so I was worried about the swelling and my circulation.

Doc admitted so much of medicine is a guess (which we know, but it's nice he acknowledges it). I'm going off the Mirapex for two weeks to see if it gets better. If not, then I let him know. He's only a GP, but my neuro is retiring in a few days so I felt it was useless to call him. I'm trying to find a new one.

Anything that I should know about edema and neuropathy? I don't even remember getting such huge feet when I was pregnant. So this is really odd for me. Pain doc is worried I might have MS (good MRI but still too many symptoms). I just keep adding things to my list of problems.

Are both feet equally swollen?

Try the Magnesium lotion on them... that takes down my left foot with a couple of hours!

Keep elevated too when at home.

Yep, both feet equally. I think my legs as a whole have been swollen, but I can only tell in my feet (my knees have been hurting the past couple days and my pants are a bit tighter than they normally are). I did an epsom salt soak last night and have been taking my magnesium, so I'm not sure that'll help it. It was the first thing my DH thought of though.

When both legs and feet are equally swollen that suggests a systemic problem, either with the kidneys or heart.

But then it is difficult to say what is really going on with you.
Hypothyroid is also a possibility.

This doesn't sound like PN ... there is something else going on, I suspect.

All my vitals at the doc were good. BP 114/82 (usually 110/70).

I have PN with edema in both feet & lower legs. Eliminating carbs and walking have the most effect on reducing it. Just something to consider if it turns out not to be the mirapex.

Doc

Have been away for a while went to florida for a while to soak up the sun.well this happened to me on day 5 of 12 got edema so bad I couldn't walk feet swelled up and legs probably gained 10 lbs in 2 or 3 days. Has never been so bad and fast. I did drink several beers maybe 10 each day for the first 4 days. Then it hit. My PN was on fire and I was out in the salt water don't know if it made it worse or not. My wife is an RN and she said the same thing heart or kidneys. I have dropped 50 lbs and feel better but it seems carbs and alcohol is my problem that triggers a flare up as I did eat carbs more than usual. I still have not recovered but did lose 10 lbs in 3 days by drinking over 1 gallon of water each day. I feel like my time on this earth is running out and I really have no choice to find a hospital that can treat me as an inpatient. I am out of options as my pain meds are not effective anymore. Edema is no joke something is very wrong with me I am thinking liver most likely.

A few months ago, I did a water fasting for 3 days. Well, needless to say, it only lasted 2. lol I lost 6 lbs in water weight and I really felt good. I didn't have to take my Lasix for almost 2 weeks. I could only imagine how well I'd be doing if I had gone the whole 3 days or even a week. Our body stores so much junk. I'm not a huge health nut or anything like that, so I'm not suggesting everyone go out and do what I did. I just know it did help me and i wish I had the will power to do it again and stick with it. I love my carbs. I'm not a huge drinker as I only do it socially, and since I don't get out much anymore, that's really rare these days.

Greetings from a new member. I haven't made it all the way through this thread, but I wanted to note that my PN (currently "idiopathic" and probably sensorimotor) STARTED with edema (bad swelling and redness in feet and lower legs). At least, that was the first symptom I noticed. I hadn't seen much mention of that as a symptom or predecessor of peripheral neuropathy. So I'm glad (though also sorry!) that others have had this problem too. Maybe it just confirms the sad fact that this disease of ours has lots of faces.....

Welcome to NeuroTalk:

First thing... what drugs do you take? Blood pressure? Statins?
Alcohol? ACE inhibitor like Lisinopril, Vasotec, or Altace?

Some blood pressure drugs cause dependent edema as a side effect.

Everyone with suspected PN should get tested for B12 and test at 400pg/ml at least (this is a new low, and replaces the old ranges which doctors still call normal as low as 200.) Get your results therefore.

Vit D also should be tested for at the same time. Up to 70% of adults in US are below normal with this also.

Do you eat whole foods like beans, nuts, yogurt etc? If not, you may be low in magnesium. Testing for this is not very useful because people may show serum levels in midrange but still may not have enough to do the biochemical work it needs to do in the body. Up to 70% of adults in the US are below the RDA for this.
Diabetics especially or those borderline lose magnesium in the urine.

These are the big three most common problems. But for leg swelling you need to see if something in your life (drugs or alcohol) are depleting thiamine for you. Low thiamine can also be hereditary... and causes a condition called wet beri beri...which is edema.

There are antibiotics that can cause PN, and some other drugs.
You can find a thread about this in our SubForum above. Those drugs typically damage DNA in the cells and there are some supplements to help with that, but the Big Three need to be evaluated first, since fixing those really helps many people.

There is alot of reading for you to do... so do it in parcels so you won't tire out too quickly.

Here is a new video on low B12 that is sobering to get you started:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvEiz...ature=youtu.be

And this is my B12 thread:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread85103.html