Leg Edema And Weight Loss Surgery

My legs have been swollen for about 2 years. I told my primary. I saw a vascular surgeon who is chief of surgery. They both basically told me, "Oh, it's nothing. Lose the weight and it will probably correct itself."

I said, "Probably?"

They said, "Probably."

Great. So, I could never even get them to say the word swollen or edema.

I got a copy of the letter my primary sent to my insurance company and what do you know, she coded it as EDEMA.

So, I did a little research and I saw where the WLS has helped and/or eliminated leg edema for some. Has anyone here experienced this first hand?

 

Google Lymphedema and see if any of those symptoms ring true to your situation. I will tell you so far your story is almost parrallel to mine except the vascular surgeon DID know what was going with me and got me some help. But my PCP at the time saw me for 2 years and just told me it was because of my weight, but then I started walking in a pool and could tell I was losing weight because my panties were getting big on me...but my legs, nope nada...still the same well actually a little worse. So then my OB/GYN asked me what my docs were doing for my lymphedema, I was like my what? So I asked her to send me to the major research hospital in my state...and I was there 2 weeks later!!! So I say get a new doc. I will also say it was the treatment for LE that helped getting the swelling down, but since losing weight it's easier to keep the swelling down.

Well I saw the first vascular guy in April of 05. He said it wasn't lymphedema but venous insufficiency caused by the abdominal weight. I wanted a second opinion so I switched hospitals--this one is a major teaching hospital in Boston. I went to the vascular guy there in November of 05 and he said he thought it was the weight blah blah balh, but come back in 6 months. I last saw him in May of 06 and he specifically said, "I had you come back because I was afraid it may be lymphedema and I wanted to see if it progressed but it isn't lymphedema. I'll agree with the first doctor who diagnosed venous insufficiency and I really believe if you get your weight down to something reasonable, it will rectify itself."

 SO---I am assuming edema and lymphedema are two different things???

I was told my legs didn't have lymphedema either for years.  I saw over the course of months many doctors who knew nothing about lymphedema.  You would be surprised at how many vascular surgeons/doctors are totally clueless about this condition.  I had to educate them about how to get treatments.  They laughed when I told them what I needed to do after researching it online.  If you do in fact have lymphedema, losing weight is not going to correct it.  It has to be combined with therapy, MLD and compression.  Edema is water in the tissue that causes swelling.  This can usually be helped with some type of water pill like lasix.  Lymphedema is swelling in the lymph system that is caused by proteins not being able to circulate correctly in your body.  The lymph system makes up 10% of the circulation in the body.  When these channels are blocked abnormal swelling can occur.  These proteins can turn into bacteria in the swollen limb that can cause re-occurance of infections if not properly treated.  Do yourself a favor, just so you know for a fact go see a LANA certified therapist.  They will know a lot more about this than probably any doctor you can find.  What city and state do you live in?  I'd be happy to direct you to someone that is educated about lymphedema. 

MA.

Is there any diagnostic test that tells them for certain that it is lymphedema over regular edema???

Thinking back to that initial appointment in 05, I think he ruled out lymphedema because it would have been "early stage" and there was no pitting.

Does that sound right?

I had swelling in my legs that was 3 to 4+ Pitting edema and it was always worse with standing or just being up on them..  I showed my hubby today how much less swelling I have in my legs now, and I"ve only lost close to 50 pds total........I had my surgery on 7-16.  (33 pds were after surgery, the rest before surgery).  I know that the edema in legs that is NOT lymphadema can greatly improve with the weight loss.  So, if your's is just simple edema, it should hopefully improve, as did mine! Good luck! Cheryl

Hi,

I have edema in my legs to I have no idea how I got it but my vascular surgeon said it's most likely due to my weight as well. He had told me to get bariatric surgery so I made an appointment to speak to a doctor about that surgery. Plus I'm also getting lumbar spine surgery and I gotta be fit for that too. And knee surgery all they said due to my weight as well as an injury I got in a slip and fall accident. I want to know if edema goes away it's so ugly haven't worn shorts in years and it's made me really depressed and unhappy.

let me know if u find out about that please. Good luck

I had just your run of the mill edema before WLS.  It did go away when I lost weight. Unfortunately, I had a thigh lift about 5 years ago, and since that time the swelling has returned.  I went to see a vascular specialist.  I was able to have a procedure done called "Closure." http://www.vnus.com/index.html  That procedure took care of my nasty, huge varicose veins in my thighs.  It was covered by my insurance as being medically necessary due to venus insuffiency. Unfortunately, that procedure didn't help with the swelling.  I have a prescription for Hydrochlorothiazide to help me lose the water.  I'll also wear support panty hose and lay off the salt in my diet.  That really helps with the swelling. It is more pronounced during the hot, summer months. My vascular doc thinks my swelling now is due to lymph damage which occurred when I had plastic surgery.  One leg swells more than the other one (which coincidently was the leg that I had to have an additional procedure done for complications from the PS.)