Doctor's appointment re swollen feet

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I had doctor’s appointment re swollen feet. My stepdaughter was with me. I’m not anaemic, my liver function is ok,kidney function is great. The doctor thinks it could be heart failure. She says it can happen as you get older. It’s usually treated by medication. I will have to have an echocardiogram(?) . My stepdaughter was trying to reassure me in the car that it’s not as bad as it seems, that lots of people get it as they get older, but if I’m honest I’m scared s**tless.

A person might experience swollen feet for a number of reasons. Some causes, such as minor injury, are apparent and easy to treat. Others, however, may be signs of a serious underlying health condition that needs prompt medical attention. The following article goes into causes and treatment. Why are my feet swollen?

Offhand my suggestion would be to get around 30 minutes of walking outside each day. It will do you a world of good. My mother became sedentary when she got old and was constantly plagued by swollen feet.

^ Thanks for that. I looked at the heart failure symptoms. The only one I've definitely got on that list is swollen feet . I've had some chest pain which is not mentioned ,but apparently is a symptom. I was asked if it was severe and spread to my arms and jaw. I said no. It's periodic rather than continuous.

I'm very sedentary. My stepdaughter has been pressing me to do more walking. I'm not averse to walking, but am limited as to how far I can walk. That's not for physical reasons, but due to my poor sense of direction and fear of getting lost. On my own I can make my way round a small area of town. Mostly if I go out it's to a cafe which is under 500 steps away. I usually have something to eat and drink in there , so that's more calories in than out through the walking.
It's not the most stimulating of walks,most of it is across a supermarket car park.

I thought of joining a local walking group. That's only once a week though ,and I felt insecure as to whether we'd go somewhere and then have to get back individually. So I didn't follow through with it.

We have a walking group around here... very easy walks. They do a circular walk, they don't walk you to the middle of nowhere and then leave you. The worst thing is that other members of the group will want to talk to you... a lot. It may not bother you but it would put me off.

Great news that you don't have anaemia, liver or kidney problems. You do need to let them check your heart, though, just in case. I suspect that the sedentary lifestyle is the problem.

You are very probably right about the sedentary lifestyle. A while ago I tried doing some indoor walking. The active 10 x3 . The problem was my watch pedometer was erratic in counting the steps. I had to get my arm movement just right for anything to register. I worked out when it did work that it was about 16 steps for one lap = approx 63 laps for one active 10. I gave up because it was boring. I guess I should have persevered.

It might be worth having a word with your local GP's surgery. Quite a few of them around here have walking groups as part of their general 'promoting good health' initiatives, and they're often tailored for people who have health or mobility problems.

^ Thanks,but I've checked the local groups.

The length of time makes me wary as to how far the walk would go. Not because my legs would give out , but because I'd be way out of the familiar area.





The 60 -90 minute walk would be healthier ,but going out of the familiar area and the variable terrain are an issue.

Being sedentary & sitting alot can cause swollen feet. My feet get swollen when I travel by Greyhound to visit my family twice a year. It's a two day trip each way if I don't miss a transfer. My feet are swollen for like a week after going each way. One of the most common meds to help with that kind of cause of swollen feet are diuretics. A better treatment for that is to be more active thou & that would help with your heart issues too if you do it while having routine supervision by a doc & start off taking things at a slow pace.

Going to do some gently paced walking round the flat and outside as this is better than going helter skelter if you've been very sedentary for a long time. Being less sedentary will be my aim rather than trying to do x steps in y minutes.

Seems like a good plan. I really should start walking more myself cuz I'm out of shape

I do hill walking. My driveway is rather steep, so I simple walk up and down my driveway ten times. That takes me 30 minutes and really tones my body up. You can achieve the same effect by walking up and down stairways. It uses two different sets of muscles. One on the way up and another on the way down.

Also I suspect that they make GPS watches that will direct your way home should you get lost in your adventures.

You would be surprised how little exercise you have to do to make a difference. Have a look at NHS leg exercises on the internet (sorry, I'm really bad at posting links). Stuff like standing up from a chair and standing calf raises. The point is that you do about half an hour most days... but you have to do it forever. You probably don't feel like it's making much difference and give up... but if you do it for a year, then look back at how you were a year ago...
You just have to keep doing it long enough for it to become a habit.

Thanks Trueno and the rest of you for your comments.

Good luck and best wishes.

I had chest pains today so stepdaughter took me to the small hospital to see the out of hours GP. I had an ECG there. We left just before 12 from the small hospital and I had to go to a bigger hospital for further tests. I had another ECG and 2 lots of blood tests. There was a lot of waiting for things to be done. Got to go back tomorrow for a 2 pm appointment.

They reckon it's angina. The blood tests and electrical heart tracing were normal. That means there is no sign of any damage to my heart. They've considered the various factors, and with what they know about me and my results there is less than 1 in 100 risk the pain was caused by my heart. We finally left there at about 7.50 pm.