Swelling (Oedema) of legs, ankles and feet

I have been a Type 2 for at least 8/10 years and, for the past 2/3 years, have had swelling occur in one leg which always used to go down during the night and return after a number of hours on my feet the next day. Now the swelling persists during the night as well with, what little reduction that did occur, returning within one hour of standing the next day. Now the problem is affecting the other leg although, as yet, not as seriously as the former. We are told that lower limb oedema is the product of poor circulation caused by the heart unable to pump (circulate) blood efficiently or that kidney damage is suspected. Now, I have perfect blood pressure and always have had that "Of a young horse" (drs' quotes) and recent tests show my liver, kidneys, bladder and pancreas to be perfectly normal. I discontinued using a stocking as that started to damage the leg creating enormous swelling both to the thigh and foot and was painful. The greatest swelling involves the ankles and feet. Any similar experiences, solutions/remedies or other palliative treatment would be most welcome.

I have asked for advice here because, to all intents and purposes, I am one of the lucky ones insofar as I am nearly 5'10' weighing 12 stone (75Kg) and in most respects have good readings. In particular my cholestoral is 6% and has always been good (I take Simvastatin). Thankyou Elc, you underline my worry in this respect because I do not have high bp nor am I obese.
so - what is going on? My friend (may I say that) who has been keeping an eye on me - Catherine - suggests that I should have an operation to remove the blood clot behind my left knee. I feel sure that she is right, i.e., no blood clot = no swelling but all of the respected online literature indicate that such operations are not always successful. Not having an NHS here in Indonesia means extremely high health costs - have already spent a fortune hence my reluctance to go under the knife - and, being alone here, makes aftercare a problem as well. Some folk have mentioned 'clotbusters' do they really exist - or are they thinking of Warfarin (an anti-coagulant)? My specialist knows that I had swelling in the right leg (not injured) BEFORE the accident which
subsided immediately the left leg was hurt in the accident and transferred it apparently to the left limb. Nobody has been able to answer this it is all very strange. So, is the swelling a symptom of Diabetes or is it because blood is bypassing the partially blocked vein causing external swelling trying to negotiate back to the heart?? Or, is the oedema a product of BOTH the Diabetes and the thrombosis? I will be seeing the specialist on the 27th., and in Catherine's words "I will not be fobbed off" but I am not very hopeful. I would still very much welcome more advice from members, especially those that have medical friends, because there is just a chance that a doctor 'out there' has met a similar problem before.

Dear Elc and Hamish,

I will focus of the cholesterol as you (Elc) has stated when I see the specialist in 4 days time - my levels have always been good and may be better than 6% the new conversion tables may be different (by interpretation) here so thankyou for the suggestion.
Hamish - you have had such a bad time I feel gulity mentioning my problem - I have had four doppler scans which found the original three clots (groin, knee and calf) the last of which showed the remaining clot behind the knee which is quite large. At GBP150 each time you will see why I need the NHS - let this be a lesson to would-be migrants ha ha ha. With regard to the stocking - the specialist wants me to wear the stocking to stop the clot breaking away and travelling to the heart/lungs but it causes so much extra swelling (cannot get a shoe on) and pain because of the constriction. A stocking of lesser strength would be useless in preventing a breakaway I would think. I practice leg elevation but now not very effective. Will let you know how I get on. I am grateful to all members who have shown such interest and care - great site!!

Dear All,

If you go to my posts (2) today you will see that my leg, foot and ankle swelling (oedema) is as a result
of faling kidneys caused by using Quinine Sulphate.

Please be warned.

Rob

my eyes are blurred - should read failing kidneys