Swelling Feet

[nurseratchett]

Wow I had no idea the thread was Old .....I Googled Swelling Feet on Cruises and up popped this thread ....Then I looked at MSG and related problems and got huge amounts of issues !

I think MSG is very much part of my issues and Why ?? I did not think of it until this Cruise is a mystery to me ?? I just always thought Age,WT, Booze .....to much of everything I love, was the culprit but this time I ate less and drank much less and was determined not to have swollen feet but to no avail !!

I have been sensitive to it since I was in College and the NEW cheap thing on the market was TOP RAMIN. My feet ,hands and Face were very swollen within hours of my eating it and as a nursing student I went straight to my instructor and she said... Don't eat the Stuff , sooo that was my first introduction to MSG !

I know that in any large food Sevice Kitchen, it is used as an additive for Flavor and honestly If their foods on Cruises were MSG free, I am pretty sure it would say so just as some of the food chains advertise. Panda Express comes to mind !

It is also Good to know that men are bothered by this whole issue too Welcome to the club ! I refuse to give up cruising because of this :-(

[wieslaw]

Hi again,

thanks for welcoming me to the club,....... what an honor and a pain you know where.

I do know that some people got this problem a lot worse than others, ..... just search in cruise critic and you will find a whole bunch of ex, or honorary members. There is a bunch of us in both genders.

You are probably right about MSG - not good for most of us.

They do all sorts of 'magic tricks' to make the food taste good - there is not that much money provided for each of us per day to be fed ( someplace around maybe 13 to 15 dol) so the chemicals and maybe spices do help.

I also wear the compression stockings (20/30 mm/HG) that seems to help a little. People use all sorts of remedies with different rates of success. Creams, ice,cold water socking - you probably know a lot more than I do.

All that I know, that I got it, same as you, .... the same pain and discomfort.... and really I could not put them shoes on.

Wes

[STARFISH*4]

for me it starts with the flight and gets worse as i get into humidty...sometimes more swelling then others that is why i always have plenty of flip/flop thong type sandals with me as i never know what is gonna fit my feet and always have my airwalk imitation crocs cos they fit my feet no matter what.

 

i was reading in one of the mags the other day about your salt intake too which can cause the swelling and i am thinking pretzels and peanuts and such on a flight well that just might be the start of it.

also sitting to long on a flight and not moving around which i hate to get up as i am in the middle seat but do try to on longer flights.

[jnc411]

My DH is a member of the swollen feet and ankles club, plus he also gets a nasty looking red rash on his ankles and up his legs, first time this happened it scared to crap out of us, as soon as we got home he went right to the internist , well the internist did not have an answer for him either, tried a couple different prescriptions and did some tests , no answers. So the next cruises we were sure he wore the compression hose for the flights and also at bedtime to keep the swelling down. It helped some, another thing we found out from a pharmacist I asked in Fort Lauderdale was to try the maximum strength Hydrocortizone (over the counter) cream or lotion for the rash, it really did help that part, he used it every evening and it helped the rash alot. We got the cream at a

Walgreens near our hotel, and when we got back home , I went right to our nearest Walgreens and picked up some more to keep on hand. Don"t know if it will help anyone else but I thought I would share this information with everyone , just in case. I read any thread I see on this subject , just to see if there are any answers, we will try the lemon wedge in the drinking water and the parsley . Thanks for the tips

Cori

[NCteacherlovescruising]

I swelled really bad on our cruise. It started in my feet and ankles. I couldn't wear a couple of the shoes I brought because they went around my ankles and they were too tight. By the last couple of days i was swollen all over, waist face, neck, and hands. We drove from Miami to Tampa to my parents house after the cruise and by the time we got there my legs felt like stumps and it hurt to stand. I also had a rash on my left leg. I was miserable! I have never experienced anything like this before. My mom has to take water pills every day and she insisted I take one and elevate my legs the rest of the night. When I got up in the morning I was much better. The same shorts that were too tight the previous day were about two inches too big in the waist. I have no idea what caused it. I drank almost all diet coke, just like at home. Of course I also had about 3 cocktails a day, which is very unusual for me. No sunburn, but that's because I had a good base before we came. I did spend a lot of time in the sun. I always do when we go to the beach though and again, this was a first for me. I don't use much salt at home so maybe it was that was part of it. I would like to avoid this problem on our next cruise. I will probably talk to my doctor about it and see if she will give me water pills just in case.

[samiam0403]

Oh, swelling feet...I'm in my 30's and have had this problem on every single cruise since I started cruising in my 20's. I honestly don't know what the cause is - I've heard everything. I drink at home probably more than I should, use too much salt (I know, I know) at home, and live in a hot climate. But when I get on a ship, even eating off the spa menu and drinking a LOT more water on doesn't stop the swelling. My only solution (and I'll throw the 'please check with your doctor' caveat in here...) has been to take a Midol every morning. It works as a diuretic and also helps with the occasional pesky hangover. :o Not what the drug company had in mind, I'm sure, but it works for me. :)

[Lois R]

Midol works as a diruetic? Never heard that one before! I am guessing

you are talking about the cramp medicine? That is the only Midol I know;)

although, thankfully I have not used them in quite a few years now.:D

[Langley Cruisers]

Wow nice thread bump.

 

I'm convinced it's the sodium in the food. DH eats bacon every day on our cruise. I always bet him on which day he will hit his "bacon wall". This last cruise, it was Day 6 of 12 - his ankles were so swollen, I cut him off. No more bacon for you! Well, his ankles did improve and he went back to his precious pork product. Yuk. :p

[luvscruising2007]

I have read on here that drinking a lot of water helps On the last cruise I took I didn't have a problem. I just drank the water and kept my feet elevated as much as possible.

I didnot have to fly so that seems to help.

[samiam0403]

Midol works as a diruetic? Never heard that one before! I am guessing

you are talking about the cramp medicine? That is the only Midol I know;)

although, thankfully I have not used them in quite a few years now.:D

 

LOL - yep, the cramp medicine. It's supposed to take care of pain, bloating, and fatigue - and it definitely does that. I only discovered it after cruising during 'that time of month' and realizing, hey - my feet and ankles aren't puffy! :D And like I said, it's a really, really great hangover cure. Learned that on the same cruise. :D

[Chigirlcruzin]

I have this problem on cruises, in Hong Kong, in Vegas...in short, when I travel. I think it's a combination of water and the sodium in food. I don't drink nearly as much water as I normally do because I don't want to be continually running to the bathroom. I don't cook with a lot of salt, so I know I'm consuming way more sodium than normal when I am eating in restaurants all the time. I don't think it has anything to do with sunburn (other than sunburn can cause dehydration) as I'm not in the sun in Asia, and I still have the problem. On my last trip home from Hong Kong, I wore compression socks for the 16 hour flight. For some reason, I had to go to the bathroom a lot on that flight, and my legs were back to normal when I landed. My last cruise, I forced myself to drink lots of water (both ship and bottled). I had a little swelling, but not nearly as bad as normal.

 

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[jnc411]

LOL - yep, the cramp medicine. It's supposed to take care of pain, bloating, and fatigue - and it definitely does that. I only discovered it after cruising during 'that time of month' and realizing, hey - my feet and ankles aren't puffy! :D And like I said, it's a really, really great hangover cure. Learned that on the same cruise. :D

 

SOOOO , how exactly do I tell my husband he has to take Midol , hmmmm.

Cori

[samiam0403]

SOOOO , how exactly do I tell my husband he has to take Midol , hmmmm.

Cori

 

LOL - ummm...just give it to him and don't tell him what it is? :eek: :D

[Lois R]

SOOOO , how exactly do I tell my husband he has to take Midol , hmmmm.

Cori

 

Hi Cori,:) it is 2011 and as such, tell him what it is and it will help prevent

swelling.:). Does it really matter if it is Midol or Advil?

[jnc411]

Hi Cori,:) it is 2011 and as such, tell him what it is and it will help prevent

swelling.:). Does it really matter if it is Midol or Advil?

 

Oh he knows what Midol is :) Yes I plan and just telling him, I can hear it now, WHAT Midol , who me ?? are you kidding ?? Then I will tell him yes YOU who cares as long as it works, :)

Cori

[jnc411]

Oh he knows what Midol is :) Yes I plan and just telling him, I can hear it now, WHAT Midol , who me ?? are you kidding ?? Then I will tell him yes YOU who cares as long as it works, :)

Cori

 

Well I may not have to tell my husband he has to take Midol after all. He is allergic to any asprin type product, or naproxim sodium type product, he has serious allergic reaction to that and from what I can tell Midol , has that in it . Going to check further if there is one that has tyelonol in it , he could take that. But first have to check with his Dr. to make sure it does not interact with any of his other meds. I just knew it couldn't be that easy, Getting old ain't easy. Darn.

Cori

[Lois R]

Well I may not have to tell my husband he has to take Midol after all. He is allergic to any asprin type product, or naproxim sodium type product, he has serious allergic reaction to that and from what I can tell Midol , has that in it . Going to check further if there is one that has tyelonol in it , he could take that. But first have to check with his Dr. to make sure it does not interact with any of his other meds. I just knew it couldn't be that easy, Getting old ain't easy. Darn.

Cori

 

Ohhhh.......:eek: glad you checked on what it contains. You definitely

don't want to give him something he is allergic to:eek:And yes, getting

old can be a b---h:rolleyes:

[klauer]

Pamabrom is the diuretic in Midol, Aqua-ban, Diurex and other OTC meds.

[jnc411]

Pamabrom is the diuretic in Midol, Aqua-ban, Diurex and other OTC meds.

 

Thanks for the info. :)

Cori