fluid

[gorbybelle]

Hi 'all' I think I have asked this before - I was wondering how many of 'you' notice 'fluid retention' - atleast feeling like your body has inflated !?

also have any of 'you' had any sort of an answer from doc. about it ?

thanks

[JackieCalifornia]

I have Lyme and had babesiosis -- before I started treatment, I was getting painfully puffy feet, ankles and knees, as well as being a 'dead head', feeling stupid because my brain was waterlogged too, which says the edema was widespread in me.  Now I get puffy knees after I've had a 'flare' from Lyme; it's some sort of side effect from a hatching of the little beggars.  I put my feet up and stroke the swollen knees back toward my heart to help it drain.  Walking also helps, but when my feet were so puffy I could hardly walk.

After treatment, it gets a lot better, and I now actually have visible knees again instead of stumpy legs.

[wonko]

Lyme is notorious for causing inflammation.  I cannot explain the underlying biological mechanism, but I can relate to suffering from this aspect.

Think of the conditions that Lyme can mimic, such as RA, lupus, ... Many are also associated with inflammation.  

I somtimes have visible signs of swelling, such as fluid trapped around my leg joints.  I've also expreienced significant weight fluctuations over short periods of time (like 10 lbs in a day).  Othertimes, it is low-level enough to be less outwardly apparent, but still enough to cause symptoms/discomfort.

Morning stiffness and the tendancy to seize or "gel" up when at rest are hallmarks of inflammation.

I think the posture dependence my symptoms have (I am always worse lying down) is related to inflammation as well, but that's just my conjecture.

I occasionally use NSAIDs, but typically need a pretty high dose (~600 mg) to get notable relief.  Since I'm already on a lot of antibiotics, I hesitate to do this because I don't want to strain my liver/body with too much medication.  

I try to drink lots of filtered plain water and eat a diet low in processed foods.  There are some diets geared at reducing inflammation, just do an internet search on something like "anti-inflammatory diet" to get started.  I know turmeric (a spice, common in Indian food) is supposed to be a good natural anti-inflammatory.  

I've read others here post about epsom salt baths, which I should really try.  My only hesitation is my heat intolerance and previous experience of trouble getting out of the tub!  Perhaps I should try foot bath, for starters :)

mrs_k75, Lyme arthritis can also cause significant, even massive effusion (build up of abnormal joint fluid), most famously in the knees.  Thankfully, it less commonly causes erosion than RA, though my rheum did notice some damage in my hands.  In the "classic" picture, Lyme arthtirits usually comes on in attacks, affecting one or two large joints at a time, and moves around between attacks.  

I'm not classic.  I have a very symmetirc pattern, and though there has been some variation in severity, it has been active in the same pattern since the fall.  (An "attack" would be limited to several weeks, not many months and counting.)

While I've had visible effusions, they have never been hot and red, features more common in RA, but again, probably not impossible in Lyme, either.
    
I'm still waiting to further address my joint problems with my doctor.  I suspect that as usual, co-infections (other diseases carried by ticks) are complicating my presentation and treatment.

[Dont_tick_me_off]

A great way to get rid of some of that water retention is to do a carb cleanse. Works everytime for me. I basically follow a low carb diet.. which intake is only 20-30g of carbs a day.. the first 3 days of weight loss is mainly water. You honestly feel like a million bucks after a week of doing it. If you can keep up with a low carb diet for awhile, its a great way to loss some extra pounds, feel great and help with fatigue.

P.S do you research first and you will feel like brutal for the first week

Best website is atkins. There induction phase is fantastic.

[mrs_k75]

Yes I have the intermitent fluid or swelling in my joint wrists, finders, and ankles. This is why my Rheum is very certain I have RA. This is her only answer about my swelling so I wouldn't be surprised if most docs don't have good answers for you.

[skarey]

Gorbybelle,
   My feet seem to retain a lot of water.  I just recently had a bunch of blood drawn for vit def, auto immune, and the Western Blot.  I called the clinic today and only the vit def lab is back.  Anyways the girl told me there were some abnomal results in the labs and that the dr would call me.  I asked her what was abnomal... and she said she didn't understand the results or couldn't read them.  The only one that she could figure out was the sodium was high.  
  I'm curious what this could mean?   I eat healty and don't eat much salts so I'm thinking it is high for another reason.  
   Maybe this is causing the fluid retention?