Hi all, I've seen the doc (and plan to go back in a few days if my situation doesn't improve) and am now scouring the Internet for possibilities on what could be wrong with me or what could have caused my feet and hands to be swollen for over a week now. Also trying to find suggestions on how I can make it go away...Any ideas would be appreciated!
I'm 26, I get check-ups regularly and have not had any history of heart conditions or high blood pressure. A couple of weeks ago I had what seemed like mosquito bites on my feet (I'm a mosquito magnet), and they itched, but were no big deal. Then I took an 14 hour plane ride and when I got off, my feet were swollen. I'd heard that it's normal for that to happen after sitting in the same position for so many hours, but I've done that trip several times before and this never happened. The swelling went down within a day.
Then, last week on Monday, I boarded a plane and took another 14 hour ride. By then, what I thought were mosquito bites were still irritating me, but still not enough to alarm. When I stepped off the plane this time, though, my feet were swollen much worse than the first time. I propped them up for a day in hopes it would go away, but it didn't help--instead I got a rash around my ankles and my hands swelled up, too, with a rash around my wrist. Over the next day the rash got worse, usually at night, and even spread up my shin.
When I saw the doctor on the third day, he said it wasn't normal for the swelling to last so long after a flight, checked for blood clots (found none) and said I had no reason to be alarmed. He said my blood pressure was higher than usual (a first for me) but not high enough to lead him to believe anything was wrong with me, and prescribed cortisone cream for the rashes and an antihistamine in case it was an allergic reaction to something.
It's now been a week since I deplaned and the swelling hasn't gone down. I tried resting for several days, and when it didn't help I tried a foot massage to improve circulation which seemed to help but only for a couple of hours (the swelling went down a bit, then came back). When there still were no signs of improvement I also tried my regular swimming routine, which I'd stopped for over a week because of the travel and subsequent swelling, and it didn't help at all.
Has anyone else ever had these symptoms, or does anyone have any idea what could be going on? Thanks so much!
I'm 26, I get check-ups regularly and have not had any history of heart conditions or high blood pressure. A couple of weeks ago I had what seemed like mosquito bites on my feet (I'm a mosquito magnet), and they itched, but were no big deal. Then I took an 14 hour plane ride and when I got off, my feet were swollen. I'd heard that it's normal for that to happen after sitting in the same position for so many hours, but I've done that trip several times before and this never happened. The swelling went down within a day.
Then, last week on Monday, I boarded a plane and took another 14 hour ride. By then, what I thought were mosquito bites were still irritating me, but still not enough to alarm. When I stepped off the plane this time, though, my feet were swollen much worse than the first time. I propped them up for a day in hopes it would go away, but it didn't help--instead I got a rash around my ankles and my hands swelled up, too, with a rash around my wrist. Over the next day the rash got worse, usually at night, and even spread up my shin.
When I saw the doctor on the third day, he said it wasn't normal for the swelling to last so long after a flight, checked for blood clots (found none) and said I had no reason to be alarmed. He said my blood pressure was higher than usual (a first for me) but not high enough to lead him to believe anything was wrong with me, and prescribed cortisone cream for the rashes and an antihistamine in case it was an allergic reaction to something.
It's now been a week since I deplaned and the swelling hasn't gone down. I tried resting for several days, and when it didn't help I tried a foot massage to improve circulation which seemed to help but only for a couple of hours (the swelling went down a bit, then came back). When there still were no signs of improvement I also tried my regular swimming routine, which I'd stopped for over a week because of the travel and subsequent swelling, and it didn't help at all.
Has anyone else ever had these symptoms, or does anyone have any idea what could be going on? Thanks so much!
