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Does anyone have “tropical edema”, which occurs between 23.27 degrees N and S of the equator in the tropical region. I travel to C.R. once per month and stay 1-2 weeks at a time. Every time I arive, my feet, ankels and lower leg swell so bad I cant wear anything but large flip-flops! Researching on the net, I found tropical edema. In C.R. I reside at sea level, I have no known alergies,no known health issues and The swelling begins before I exit the airport. It only gets worse as the days pass and once I return back to Ca. it subsides and within 24 hours, Im back to normal. Can anyone offer any info on why this occurs, how to treat it and avoid it. I soak my feet , elevate them and I remain active not seditary. HELP… Id love to make the move, but not if I cant control this health issue
I read to limit salt intake and maybe exercise the legs on the airplane or those stocking to prevent blood clots.Since it happens right after arrival i suspect long sitting periods are your problem. I am not a doctor etc but i have watched a few doctor shows in the past,lol
This is a serious problem for you that obviously need fixing, unfortunately the ‘fix’ may not be what you want…
Since San Jose is at around 3,800 feet, I’m assuming you fly into Liberia and your home is on the Guanacaste coast somewhere so as a test, on one of your trips, instead of staying at sea level, why not stay in the Central Valley for a week and see if the problem is exactly the same.
As you probably know, there are many GORGEOUS areas in Costa Rica at 3,000 feet ++ where – I don’t know but I’m hoping – you may not have this problem…
At least if you know for sure that there are other places within Costa Rica where you do not suffer then you might have to think about selling and moving.
This may not be what you want to hear or do but you are the only one that can make that decision, surely?
Scott
You indicate you have “no known” health issues. Perhaps there is one, but until now it did not manifest. There are also many symptoms or ailments that are idiopathic; meaning the cause is unknown… and remain so even after workup. I had not heard of tropical edema until your query. I did however find an addendum to your research having to do with acclimation claiming that it should subside by 2 weeks. So, if correct, it would mean you are leaving at approximately the time it would correct. Might be worth checking into provided it was not too painful or otherwise contraindicated or detrimental to your health.
Good luck and good health!http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/summary/218/11/1705-b
maybe you need to be at a higher altitude where the weather is cooler.
When I eat shellfish I get gout.The Tico fix is 5 clean chayote leaves boiled in a liter of water.
It works.
It might help you too. Inflammation is inflammation.
There is a “Medicine Man’ in Guatuso that concocts some fantastic herbals if you ever get up that way. Just ask a local. They all know himIs it much warmer in CR than where you live the rest of the time?
Do you drink lots of water when you are in CR?
How is your alcohol intake?I used to have the same problem when I came to CR and in the hot summers in Virginia, so it was obvious for me that temperature had something to do with it.
My regular doctor gave me diuretics, told me to limit salt intake, put up my feet at every chance, elevate the foot end of my bed (a block of foam under the mattress will do the trick and will not even disturb anyody you are sharing the bed with) and to drink plenty of water. If you sweat and do not replenish, the body will hold on to what fluid it already has. This would help me some, but not enough.
When I started seeing a different doctor for a different problem, he told me to stay away from alcohol because my adrenal system, including liver and kidneys, was not doing too well at the time. I was already a “cheap date” and could not drink much, (1 gin & tonic and 1 – 1 1/2 glasses of wine would be my limit before it would cause me to wake up with a migraine), so limiting alcohol to just a little bit on very special occations was not hard at all.
(BTW, If your adrenals can not handle whatever alcohol you drink, then you do have an underlying health problem.)
As a very nice side effect on my road to getting healthy again, my edema of feet and lower legs basically disappeared, unless I have a day when it is very warm and I sit too much.
Hope this contains some clues, because I know how uncomfortable, worrisome and unsightly it is when you walk around on “elephant legs”.
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