I am currently entering my 3rd trimenster and for the last 3 weeks I have had a very severe swelling in my legs, from knees down. My feet doubled in width, its so bad.
I have been to my doc, but the only thing he recommends is to keep my legs elevated. How am I supposed to do that? I am a full time student runnng around college campus all day and after that I run after my toddler. I sleep at night on my side, not my back, so cannot elevate feet either.
Anyhow, I was wondering, if there is any kind of herb or tea I can take now (being pregnant and everything) that might help with the swelling and water retantion. I still have 2.5 months left of school and I will be due just a two weeks after the end of the semester.
The pregnancy book I've got at home makes a big point of saying taking sufficient B6 will practically eliminate pregnancy edema, and that most pre-natal and pregnancy vitamins don't contain nearly enough.
Can't remember offhand the amounts she recommended -- I'll try to remember to check the book when I get home and let you know.
__________________ Aunt Lee
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I looked, and this author, quoting a doctor, recommends starting at 50 mg and going up to 300 mg. Some other sources say start at 20 mg. (I'm sorry - I was so sure I'd remember the name of the book I didn't write it down -- I'll post it this afternoon.)
This is a lot higher than the RDA, and it's not the traditional view of mainstream medicine. Mainstream medicine says that edema in pregnancy is normal and nothing can be done.
You can do research on your own and/or check with your doctor about this, but in general, you can't overdose yourself on B vitamins; they're water-soluble, and what you don't use gets flushed out. I found a couple of places on the web that said that toxicity hasn't been reported at larger doses than that for periods of a year or more.
I've been taking Optivite vitamins for months now and feel great, and they've got 300 mg of B6. I'm actually considering increasing it because of a study I read where a bunch of people got pregnant on slightly higher doses even than that.
__________________ Aunt Lee
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My book is called Fertility Cycles & Nutrition, by Marilyn M. Shannon, and she is quoting Dr. John Ellis, Vitamin B6: The Doctor's Report:
Numerous signs and symptoms appear during pregnancy that are responsive to B6. These include painful neuropathies in the fingers and hands, swelling (edema) in the hands and feet, leg cramsp, hand and arms "that go to sleep" and most of all, B6 is a factor in the prevention and treatment of toxemia of pregnancy and the convulsions o eclampsia...
Edema of pregnancy, long discussed in both medical and lay circles, has become so comon that many doctors have come to acccept it as being normal during pregnancy, and patients have grown resigned to suffering through it. It is not normal at all. It is not normal at any time. The patient feels bad. There is nothing healthy about being swollen with fluids.
Based on my investigtions with 225 pregnant women on B6 therapy, in most cases vitamin B6 will completely relieve and prevent edema of pregnancy as it has been known to the scientific community. This is a large statement, but it has been proved over and over. Because of the skepticism that some readers may entertain, it would be wise to repeat that in these 225 cases no diruretics were given to any patient, and there was no restriction on either salt or fluids.
All pregnant women should have at least 50 milligrams of B6 (daily) as a supplemet throughout their pregnancies, and many of them will require considerably more than that [he recommends up to 450 mg]. All pregnant women should also receive at least 500 miiliigrams of magnesium daily, and with the appearance of the signs of toxemia the magnesium should be increased to 1,000 millirams daily.
__________________ Aunt Lee
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Water retantion and pregnancy 
