21st April 2006
i'm not sure the first one got posted...so i'm writing another post.
I have inadvertantly abused laxatives for 2 years due to having IBS. I do not have an eating disorder although i did not eat very healthy due to the ibs. I ate a lot of carbohydrates. Several months ago, my IBS began to improve so I discontinued the laxatives. Around that same time, I noticed pretty severe edema in my lower legs,feet (pitting) and edema all the way up into my hips/buttocks. I could no longer fit in my clothes. After discontinuing the laxatives...it worsened to the point that at times I've been about 15 lbs. over my normal weight. it's been very depressing, my muscles have ached horribly.
I made the assumption that it was due to laxative abuse, my low blood pressure (107/60ish), my over-eating of carbs, my chronic dehydration (i just don't drink enough)...and remedied these (except for the low blood pressure which obviously i've always had). (My hr is low 58...and always is. I'm athletic.) But there was no improvement.
I went to my Doctor. She was completely stumped. My chemistry panel was normal except for showing that I was a tad dehydrated which she misinterpreted as possible kidney problems so she wanted to run a 24 hour ua to check for proteinuria (this seemed unnecessary being that my creatinine was only a speck high, my BUN normal, and my albumin normal). My thyroid was normal BACK in NOV. of 2005. She wanted to repeat this. This seemed reasonable. She wanted to do chest radiographs even though my my heart sounds normal and I don't have any real signs of heart disease. Just the way things worked out at the lab..i got the chest xrays done (i assume normal as it's been a month and i've not heard back) but i did not get the thyroid test done (unfortunately). And I think the urine test is stupid -- protein loss does not seem to be the cause of my edema or my albumin wouldn't be normal. Money is somewhat of an issue for me...so I need her to be somewhat judicial in her testing. She wanted to take me off my antidepressant ... she seemed to be grasping at straws (i'm on wellbutrin, topamax, and then bactrim for acne).
I started taking diurex (on my own ...) 1 gram q 12 hrs for the first day and then i immediately wean down...but as soon as i wean down...i get the edema back. And NOTE: i NEVER get rid of the edema ... a few lbs at most. But at least it's such that my muscles no longer hurt ... and i can see the bones in my feet again.
I have cut down my carbs, lowered my salt to less than 2000mg/day, drink 12 glasses/day water, trying hard not to become reliant on these diuretics (because I know I'll end up in the same boat), I exercise, I sleep with my legs elevated above my heart. What more can i possibly do. This has been going on since early February. Help me please....i want to cry when i see i look like a baloon animal and I can't fit into any of my clothes. And while I don't have an eating disorder...it's very hard to eat healthy when you feel like a fat cow.
Could this really be due to low thyroid when i was normal back in NOV? I'll get it checked but could there be other causes? Is this laxative withdrawal a real thing? Can it take this long for my body to go back to normal? Is my low blood pressure a problem? I feel like I'm fighting two problems ...using the diuretics to get rid of the fluid but then it lowers my blood pressure so that just tells my kidneys to hold on to the water. But without the diuretics...NOTHING was budging. At least now I pee.
Thanks...
I have inadvertantly abused laxatives for 2 years due to having IBS. I do not have an eating disorder although i did not eat very healthy due to the ibs. I ate a lot of carbohydrates. Several months ago, my IBS began to improve so I discontinued the laxatives. Around that same time, I noticed pretty severe edema in my lower legs,feet (pitting) and edema all the way up into my hips/buttocks. I could no longer fit in my clothes. After discontinuing the laxatives...it worsened to the point that at times I've been about 15 lbs. over my normal weight. it's been very depressing, my muscles have ached horribly.
I made the assumption that it was due to laxative abuse, my low blood pressure (107/60ish), my over-eating of carbs, my chronic dehydration (i just don't drink enough)...and remedied these (except for the low blood pressure which obviously i've always had). (My hr is low 58...and always is. I'm athletic.) But there was no improvement.
I went to my Doctor. She was completely stumped. My chemistry panel was normal except for showing that I was a tad dehydrated which she misinterpreted as possible kidney problems so she wanted to run a 24 hour ua to check for proteinuria (this seemed unnecessary being that my creatinine was only a speck high, my BUN normal, and my albumin normal). My thyroid was normal BACK in NOV. of 2005. She wanted to repeat this. This seemed reasonable. She wanted to do chest radiographs even though my my heart sounds normal and I don't have any real signs of heart disease. Just the way things worked out at the lab..i got the chest xrays done (i assume normal as it's been a month and i've not heard back) but i did not get the thyroid test done (unfortunately). And I think the urine test is stupid -- protein loss does not seem to be the cause of my edema or my albumin wouldn't be normal. Money is somewhat of an issue for me...so I need her to be somewhat judicial in her testing. She wanted to take me off my antidepressant ... she seemed to be grasping at straws (i'm on wellbutrin, topamax, and then bactrim for acne).
I started taking diurex (on my own ...) 1 gram q 12 hrs for the first day and then i immediately wean down...but as soon as i wean down...i get the edema back. And NOTE: i NEVER get rid of the edema ... a few lbs at most. But at least it's such that my muscles no longer hurt ... and i can see the bones in my feet again.
I have cut down my carbs, lowered my salt to less than 2000mg/day, drink 12 glasses/day water, trying hard not to become reliant on these diuretics (because I know I'll end up in the same boat), I exercise, I sleep with my legs elevated above my heart. What more can i possibly do. This has been going on since early February. Help me please....i want to cry when i see i look like a baloon animal and I can't fit into any of my clothes. And while I don't have an eating disorder...it's very hard to eat healthy when you feel like a fat cow.
Could this really be due to low thyroid when i was normal back in NOV? I'll get it checked but could there be other causes? Is this laxative withdrawal a real thing? Can it take this long for my body to go back to normal? Is my low blood pressure a problem? I feel like I'm fighting two problems ...using the diuretics to get rid of the fluid but then it lowers my blood pressure so that just tells my kidneys to hold on to the water. But without the diuretics...NOTHING was budging. At least now I pee.
Thanks...