Swollen ankles and feet on a cruise?

[ladycaveat]

I was having this problem and we looked into the amount of salt that remains in the ships water after it is desalinated....and it is quite high....I had been drinking large quantities of ships water thinking it would keep me from getting swollen feet and ankles...wrong...so now all I drink is bottled water...remember the ice and the iced tea is also made from the ships desalinated water as well. I have to take a diuretic every other day when I cruise just to eliminate the problem if I have drinks with ice or drink the iced tea...Sissy

 

Oh my goodness . . . I'll bet that's it! I drank sooooo much iced tea on my cruise. On my other cruises, I always got the soda card and drank diet cola. This time, I thought I'd forgo that and drink lots of water. I really don't like water (with the exception of Propel) . . . soooooo, I just about OD'd on iced tea.

 

I wonder how long it will take for the swelling to go down. I got off the ship on Saturday and my feet and ankles are still so darn swollen. Someone mentioned their swollen feet and/or ankles being so swollen that they were shiny. Mine are too! It's so sad . . . :(

[mafig]

This used to happen to me on my first two cruises. I read these tips on another message board --

 

I don't drink the ship's water -- bottled water only.

 

Lots of fruit for breakfast, especially cantelope.

 

If I go on an excursion that entails alot of walking, I wear sneakers, with socks, and tie the sneaks as tightly as is comfortable.

 

If I notice swelling starting, I take an over the counter diuretic. However, on my last couple of cruises, I didn't need to take it.....

 

 

We live in Florida, so flying is not the culplrit.

 

 

The above tips seem to work for me..;)

[jnc411]

Wow this thread is full of a lot of good information. We did not know about the parsley , lemon, or cantalope, I am writing all this down for our next cruise. And we did not know that the salt content of the ships water would be high, so that explains a lot. Next time we are taking along a case of our own water, I bet it makes all the difference. We usually get a soda card , so we won't need to drink the ice tea. I think this will help my husband a great deal on our next cruise. The CC boards are so great , we are always learning something from you guys. Thanks again everyone.

Cori

[98Charlie]

Note to all coffeeholics, chocoholics and ``pop''aholics - caffeine promotes water retention as well, so beware of drinking too much caffeinated coffee and tea - change to caffeine free pop and munch from the chocolate buffet only if you must! :(

 

Dianne

[TootyJane]

I've never experienced this when cruising. However, I'm flying to Europe in August and know that flying can create havoc with your feet and ankles. I don't want to arrive in Venice with "cankles" so I'll wear comfortable shoes for flying (and won't remove them), drink plenty of water, and will be sure to get up and walk around as much as I am able on that loooonnnngggg flight over.

 

Lisa :)

[cmitch9999]

I have experienced this on several of my cruises. One thing that helps a lot is when you go to sleep, take one of the life jackets and prop it under the mattress to raise the part underneath your ankles. It's a bit difficult to get used to at first but does help the swelling go down.

[STLStrawberryBlonde]

Wow, this is ver-r-r-y interesting indeed.

 

Hubby & I both take meds to control high blood pressure (including diuretics), and we try to watch our diet re: salt, etc. But reading some of the posts here has made me wonder if we'll have some of the same problems on our cruise in Sept. to Alaska.

 

I was going to drink a lot of iced tea rather than spring for a soda card, but now I'm starting to wonder if we should just stock up on bottled water instead ...

[lkb]

wow, that was great info. i am going out to buy some parsely now. i leave in 12 days and i drink a lot of water. guess i will buy bottled water when we arrive and take it on board. i can't believe the "plethera" of information that one can contain on these threads!:D

[Starspangle1]

On a few vacations and cruises I had this happen to me and I never knew that it was from salt, very interesting. Will I be able to bring a case of water on the ship or have they stopped this too? I was wondering why my legs weren't as jiggley looking when on vacation, maybe this is a good thing :).

Perfect solution while cruising, find a real cute waiter while out by the pool and get him to apply moisturizer to your legs and feet but remember to tip well.

[Jane110]

Lady Caveat,

 

I'm sorry about your condition and I'm sure you'll be fine soon. But I have to thank you for posting. Your post has opened up the floodgates of information about this topic, so Thanks!

 

I was not aware of the parsley or cantelope tips, though I always try to drink bottled water on ships rather than their iced tea. Those of you with soda cards, be careful too, because cola's often have high sodium contents. Club soda has tons of salt so be careful with that too. Probably the least salt would be in something like a 7-Up.

 

I'm not an advocate of taking a diuretic, however, if you have bad swelling and do take one, make sure you take a few extra vitamins, as the diuretics will deplete your body of much needed minerals.

 

Yes, caffeine does make one retain water too. Though tea is a natural diuretic. So perhaps making yourself some iced tea using bottled water and decaffeinated tea could be a big problem solver?

 

Thanks for all the tips everyone.

 

Jane

[ladycaveat]

Well, I give up . . . it's been three days since I returned from my cruise and my feet still look like balloons and my swollen ankles still make my legs look like telephone poles. I just called and made an apppointment with my doctor for 2:30 p.m. tomorrow. Wish me luck :(

[mafig]

Let us know what he says. Good luck.

[Lois R]

Hi Lady, yes, please let us know what the Dr says.......and I do hope you will feel all better soon:)

[LJR213]

On my cruise last year my feet swelled up so bad. This also has never happened to me before. I had to wear my flip flops through most of the cruise and also about 1 1/2 wks after I got home. It became comfort before fashion just as Esther said. I at least made it through the first formal night but after that forget it. We were on the cruise for a wedding (5th day) and I was in a pretty peach pantsuit with these awful black flip flops. Couldn't even get the good shoes on. Of course after getting home I waited about a week to go to the doctors (after everyone was yelling at me) I was just waiting for it to go down. The doctor told me it was just fluid. No rhyme or reason. It could have been an allergic reaction to something I ate or drank on the cruise. Of course we all know that could have been anything. He didn't feel that I was in danger for any reason so he just let it take its course. Most likely he would give you a fluid pill to take but because I take blood pressure med the ingredient needed for the fluid was already in the pills I took. I hope everyone feels better soon. Don't worry it will go away, try to keep your feet up when your sitting if you can it will help with the pressure feeling.

 

L J

[Nanatravel]

This happens to me on every cruise. I have tried just drinking water or iced tea, I am very careful of eating sauces or highly salted items and I have even bought a remedy from Steiners Spa that is supposed to reduce the water retention. The best advise is wear sneakers with cotton socks and keep them on as much as possible. The compression socks is a very good recommendation. When I did that, the swelling was much less. It should go away in about 3 days after you return home. Eat lots of fruits and salads plus drink water to detoxify your body. I do believe that it does have something to do with sea level. A co-worker who is about a size 2 returned from a week in Bermuda. She actually went to the hospital because her legs swelled up so much and this happened when she returned home. All tests were fine.

Bon Voyage

[carol louise]

Ladycaveat, I hope the doctor can provide reassurance and relief from the discomfort. Good luck.

[bobby'sgirl]

Have a friend who returned from Mexico with swelling that continued for a week after trip. She was in kidney failure. Therefore, it is a good idea to get this checked out. This gal had previous problems with pre failure. One never knows.

[K8sMom]

This has happened to me also about the third day into a cruise - every cruise I have ever taken. Had no idea what caused it or what to do about it. Even my "big" shoes did not fit after a few days. When I get home, however, the swelling goes does very quickly. I never thought about extra salt being in the water and I always drink a lot of water. Maybe that is what does it.

[esther e]

Something else I discovered, at home as well as on a cruise, is not to cross my ankles behind me while sitting at a table. I did this last night at a friend's house, and when I got up from the chair I could feel my ankles felt "funny." Not swollen, but "fuller." This also happens in restaurants. Do men suffer from this also?

[MamaParrotHead]

Fellow sufferer here! It has happened to me on each cruise now and seems to be worse when it is a warm climate and if I fly a long distance to get there and home. I now pack a 24 pack of bottled water that has NO added minerals...I found that Avian water is the worst for me!!! I still had the problem after our Century cruise 2 weeks ago. Hormones seem to play a part in this for me (I'm pushing 50) and once I took an over the counter water/pms pill, I was perfect the next day! I am planning to take one a day on our upcoming cruise and see if that makes a difference! Sauces and soups are probably part of the problem...but it's a tough one to say "no" to them!!! :eek:

 

could you possibly tell me which brand/generic ingredient to look for at the drug store? there are so many PMS pills out there that I wouldn't know where to start. doesn't sound like a bad thing to pick up and just have with me, if I don't need it this time, I'm sure there will be a time sooner than later I will! thanks.

[madelinerose]

ladycaveat...Good luck at the doc. Please, let us know about the diagnosis.

 

Wow, this swelling thing has never happened to me, however, I will only drink bottled water on my next cruise. Thanks for all the great info.

[EmJakeBubbie]

never knew about the high salt content! that sure explains the swollen ankles, etc.:mad: ok, so bottled H20 it'll have to be. short story: had a rather large friend cruising w/us for a week - just enjoying all that ship offered:D Experienced the fluid retention problem...twas baaaaad! A month after returning home she had a massive stroke - 6 yrs later she still can't talk or walk. In my mind that cruise played a significant role in her health challenge; however, I readily admit her overweight problem to start with didn't help anything. The point is: don't fool w/fluid retention as it can be a hint of something worse....heart, kidneys, stroke, etc.etc. Thank you for this thread!! I just never knew about the shipboard water being high sodium...how'd you find out? It does taste good & I've never gotten sick from it....no more for me:mad:

[BlueHerons]

Shipboard water is also used to make sodas. The water is infused with CO2 (air) and mixed with syrup to make any fountain drinks so avoid those also if you experience swelling.

[ladycaveat]

Just got home from my doctor's visit and the diagnosis was . . . "Wow Tammy, you really had a good time on that cruise, didn't you? You look like you swallowed a ballon." Thanks Doc . . . I really needed that! :mad: Have to first say that my doctor and I are on a first name basis (I helped her with her divorce several years ago and aside from her being a fantastic doctor . . . she's also a friend). She said that salt hidden in the water and food onboard was the reason for my swollen feet and ankles. So why have I never had this problem on any of my cruises before? She didn't have a clue. But, she said I was healthy as a horse and perscribed some pills to take for a week . . . Maxide (Triamterene/hctz tabs 37.5 MG/25 MG). She said I would be going potty a lot but that the swelling will go down within the week. She also told me to drink lots of bottled water, eat more fruits and vegetables, drink less cola, keep my feet elevated and to buy some support knee highs. When I asked her what kind of support knee highs, she told me to just go to one of our favorite stores (Norstroms and Saks) and ask the lady in the hose department. I wear Leggs Sheer Energy knee highs and she said they weren't good enough. Thanks Pam . . . just what I don't want to do after a cruise . . . spend money . . . especially on ugly knee highs! :(

[Lois R]

Hi Lady, at least the Dr told you it is not anything really serious:) ~better to wear those knee highs...than God Forbid get really sick. I am so glad you are going to be ok!!!!

 

I keep thinking about my last cruise (actually all of them). I am NOT a water drinker....I know, I know, h20 is supposed to be good for you (at home) but I am just not a water drinker.....and I don't drink it on the ship. (Unless the ICE in my booze counts).

I will watch what I eat though much more closely in October (next cruise:D ).

 

My ankles got quite swollen in March too.....lets see what happens on 10-10.

Hopefully they will not swell up too much!

 

Again, I am really glad you are going to be A-OK:)