I can NOT figure this out my feet and ankles have been swelling. This really sounds like a dumb question, but, I usually don't drink alot of water to start off with. Does it have to do with me not drinking enough water? I don't add extra salt to my food.. I just all of a sudden had my feet and ankles blow up the skin is so tight it hurts.. any suggestions would be helpful.... Should I take water pills to help take some of the swelling down? I feel so helpless...
Oregon girl

Hello Oregongirl-

Water might have a definite play on your situation. I am very big on drinking lots of water every day. Also, you might go out for a walk before this develops later in the day. Maybe excercise will get the blood pumping. Good Luck!

You might want to examine some of the food you're eating also. Sometimes bloat is the sign of an allergic reaction. You might want to think back and see if you've added a new food to your diet lately.

Drinking more water would also help flush the allergen out.

Hi,

This type of swelling is probably just diet related but it can also be caused by other health issues and should not be taken lightly. It would be a good idea to check with your doctor if it continues.
Wishing you the best,
T.

I battle with water retention and swollen ankles all the time, but mine is related to high blood pressure and heart disease. Yours probably isn't if you've never had it before.

Dr. Atkins recommends L-Taurine. Look in his chapter on Metabolic Resistance about diuretics for the amount he reccommends. Green tea extract also has a diuretic effect. There are also herbs that help - check with you health food store.

Exercise does help because it increases circulation. I'm worse on days that I spend a lot of time in my office sitting at my desk.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

DRINK WATER. hehe As has been said already, do what the Doc suggests, the taurine pills. Personally, I take a regular water pill (3 actually) those seem to help. BUT DRINK WATER.

Firstly check with your Doctor to make sure there are no underlying medical problems. Try increasing your water intake and make sure that you're not taking in too much salt from pre-packaged or processed foods.

Good luck

Taurine: I threw away TWO bottles of it last week. Atkins formula has , I believe, 500mg per day taurine in it. After EXTENSIVE research on taurine, I found that clinical studies indicate anywhere from 2000mg day to 12000mg day to be effective depending on just too many factors...

I am with T on this;(ALWAYS the voice of reason!) SEE YOUR DOCTOR.

It could be your sodium is way too high and you have water retention. It could be you have high blood pressure and are retaining water...it could be MANY things. Before you go off and start an herbal remedy, it would be WISE to have your Doc check you out. Once you know what it is, THAN you could decide if natural remedy could be of help to you or not.

But...
SEE THE DOCTOR FIRST!
Best wishes;
Jake

Oregongirl,
Boy, do I know where you're coming from! I occasionally have water retention/swollen ankles and feet problems. They'd get so puffy, I could press on them and it would leave an indentation.

I also do not salt my food routinely. I do not have high blood pressure or any other medical problems (been tested). So, my solution has been to eliminate all packaged meat which includes a high amount of sodium....bacon, lunch meat, my beloved pepperoni slices, macadamia nuts, etc.

I also have been watching my sodium intake on Fitday.com. If you don't have an account yet, set one up...it's free. Go to "goals" and put in a custom goal for sodium. Mine is 2000 max per day (which I read is normal).

I also have been taking a water pill made by Sundown which is only required once per day (got it at Meijer). I hate the ones where you have to take umpteen times per day...I can't remember to do that.

Hopefully, these suggestions will help you as they've helped me. If this has only started since you began the diet, it's most likely food/water-related and you need to flush your body with LOTS of water. If this is not something that just started, I agree with everyone else...see your doctor.

Good luck!

Some drugs can cause water retention as a side effect. NSAID's are notrorious for this, so if you've been taking ibuprofen or Aleve for headaches or body aches .. that may be a cause right there. The problem goes away when you stop taking the drug.

Some health reasons to cause swollen hands and feet include poor circulation (especially varicose veins), kidney problems, low thyroid or heart problems .. although you'd have other symptoms to go along with those, most notably high blood pressure. A trip to the dr. is definitely in order to rule out anything serious .. and then you could try the suggestions offered by everybody here

Good luck to you, and keep us posted how you're doing


Doreen

Oregongirl - another factor in your swelling may be the HEAT! We Northwesterners are not accostomed to 90-100 degree weather. DO DRINK LOTS of WATER! And try to spend a little time with your feet elevated.

Hi everyone Oregon Girl here,
Thank you so much for your advice.. I do believe that it is related to the heat.. as Tracy 916 said. We have had some real drastic temps. I will start drinking more water today I drank more water then usual and it actually tasted good... I bought a big bottle of h20 this evening at the store... Thank you again.. I will keep you posted! Oregon girl

Hi everyone, this is my first post. Getting discouraged- my husband and I started Atkins on May 24. He has lost THIRTY pounds- eats what I make him, and I have lost 9. Well, one day it was 10, now it is back to 9. I started walking every day for 2 miles last week, and yesteday my ankles swelled. I am on blood press meds for 3 weeks- I am hoping that by losing 40 of the 80 I need, i will no longer have to take the BP meds. Good news is I have not taken VIOXX since I started this diet, and my knees feel better (a bit stiff after the walking, but I can deal with that). I just want this ankle and feet swelling to go away, and I want to lose more weight! 9 pounds in 5 weeks- that is not so much, is it?

I used to have trouble with swelling around the tummy and feet and ankles, but when I started regularly drinking orange juice each morning, the swelling completely stopped. Haven't had any orange juice in the 3 weeks since I started LC'g, so I expect the swelling is related. Maybe more potassium pills? I'd welcome any advice, too.