Friday, July 1, 2011

Heat edema

A while back I wrote about heat rash. Now I have the option of swelling too.

I recently came on holiday to somewhere warm. In cold weather I stiffen up alarmingly so I've taken to fleeing the cold whenever possible. My warm refuge had a spot of warmer warm and I became a bit discombobulated with the heat. Yes, I get both heat and cold sensitivity symptoms - I'm just lucky that way, I guess.

Along with discombobulation, my legs and feet swelled up a bit. My ankles became 'tankles' and my thighs were oddly lumpy in sweat pants. Then we had a thunderstorm, and the heat broke, and within an hour I was headache free, clear-headed and… shrinking.

A bit random google research shows that heat odema is relatively common and usually benign. It is also quite prevalent among people with MS. (And people who are overweight. And women who are menopausal. I score 2.5 out of 3.)

Up till now I thought I was imaging things.

One website mentioned that some people with MS find that moving to a very stable, mild climate really helps their symptoms. Once I would have assumed that was a solution for 'rich' people. Now I'm beginning to understand you'll make a lot of sacrifices to feel well and move freely.

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