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What Causes Sudden Weight Gain And Edema On Legs?

Posted on Mon, 14 Apr 2014

Question: My husband has sudden weight gain of 13 pounds in the last 3 days and now has pitting edema in his lower legs and ankles. What could be the cause of this?

Answered by Dr. Lohit K (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: heart, kidney or liver problem. investigations req Detailed Answer: Hi, thanks for using HCM. I went through the query and understood your concern. Sudden onset of weight gain needs to be evaluated. The most common causes are congestive heart failure where in heart capacity of pumping blood will reduce, acute renal failure where in the kidney reduce its function and liver problem. Also some of the endocrine causes like hypothyroidism and raised cortisol level can cause weight gain but take its own longer time. So get evaluated for the above said causes with blood tests like LFT, RFT, Complete haemogram and echocardiography. Hope this information helps you. Feel free to ask if any further queries and I will be glad to answer them. Wish you and your family a very happy life and good health. Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Lohit K (17 minutes later)

He decided to go running for the first time in years and was very weak afterwards with mucsel fatigue and tremors this was 3 days ago. He has been complaining of fatigue and extreme tiredness since. Yesterday an onset of severe headache that requied him to take Ibuprofen (which he never does). Today he is still suffering from headache but his legs are nowswollen with pitting when you apply pressure. He drinks about 1.5 gallons of water a day and has a recent history of kidney stones. (Last month they also found large amount of bilirubin in his urine at the ER) is this something i should make him go to the ER for or something to follow up with primary care.

Answered by Dr. Lohit K (21 hours later)

Brief Answer: LFT AND RFT.NEEDS URGENT MANAGEMENT Detailed Answer: Hi , thanks for writing back. . With the sudden onset of all his symptoms along with previous history of bilirubin in urine and kidney stones, you need to visit ER and get done LFT and RFT. This may tell us the cause and need to take next steps according to the diagnosis. Hope this information helps you. Wish you and your family a very good health. Regards

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar