Expert: Pat G - 9/25/2011

Question
QUESTION: Dear Doctor.
I am Vicky,37 and 9 weeks pregnant in my second pregnancy.Everything went well until I had a pain in my right calf(lower calf ) all evening.The pain seems to variate according to when I stand rest or walk.There is no swelling redness or heat but I am extremely worried that it might be DVT.
Since I am currently living in Belgium Europe I do not know a lot about hospitals and how they work and would appreciate some advice.
I must say that for another reason I had 5 years ago had a complete thrombofilia screening which was totally normal.(it turned out there was not even need for it...they thought I had a hole in my heart which was not the case after all).
I noticed that the pain does not worsen with my toes stretched inwards but seems to be really intense for a while then go again.

Also I have not had exercise as I am suffering from intense nausea and fatigue but try to move around and go for a 5-10 minute walk a day.

thanks so much for your reply!!!
Should I run to ER? Wait and see?I am extremely worried.

ANSWER: Hello, vicky,

Corrected.

First, please know that I am not a doctor. I am a medical researcher. I can't tell you about hospitals in Belgium, either. But I can express some thoughts and opinions.

Pregnancy stresses the body in the sense that the body will need more nutrients than it would otherwise need. I can think of a number of possibilities, and this may simply mean you will have to experiment. The first thing that comes to my mind is that you may be suffering from a mineral deficiency. I don't know what your diet may be like, but there are too many people who are eating so poorly, they will develop these kinds of symptoms. In particular, I recommend you check out the possibility that you may have a potassium deficiency. If you eat a lot of salt or a lot of food with sodium in it, this could be the problem, or you simply may not be getting enough anyway. If you have no swelling, redness, or heat, then DVT would seem unlikely. Did you feel like some muscle had knotted up? Are you taking prenatal vitamins? Some of these preparations really have very low doses of individual nutrients, however. The electrolytes in your blood may be unbalanced.

So I recommend you take a look at your diet. Make sure you are not eating or drinking anything artificial. Soft carbonated drinks can be particularly bad, so I recommend you not drink them. Don't drink or eat anything with artificial sweeteners or monosodium glutimate. If it doesn't recur, you may have a tough time chasing down the problem. So you will need to try different things and experiment.

For nausea, I recommend ginger tea or ginger ale. Sip on these. If you try ginger ale, get some with real sugar. But given what I have suggested about not drinking carbonated drinks, I would strongly urge you to sip ginger tea instead. You can sweeten it with a little honey, which may help. Make sure when you can eat, you get plenty of protein. Animal sources are superior. In particular eggs may work well, if you can eat them, and be sure to eat the yolk, which is by far the most nutritious part.

Try some of these things, and let me know what you figure out. Please keep in touch. You're welcome, and I hope this helps.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I canīt thank you enough for your precise and helpful response.Doctor or not you took the time and I appreciated it beyond words.
I am taking a prenatal vitamin called Ogestan with B6 omega 3 iodium A3 and E as the doctor prescribed.My leg is better and I will certainly try out the remedies you mentioned.
I am most grateful because I overused carbonated soft drinks like carbonated Ice tea and sprite as I read online it helps...
I am definitely changing that.I hope more women will benefit by reading your instructions for a better diet.
I am curently fighting nausea and extreme fatigue and want to stay without medicine.My doctor prescribed medicine for the nausea but I will try to go without.

Answer
Hello, vicky,

Thank you for the kind rating, and you are welcome.

Let me know what the dose is for minerals in your prenatal vitamin. Do you have a store near you that sells herbs? If not, you may be able to order things over the internet. People who are knowledgeable about herbs will usually take the time to talk to you and help you, so if you can find a practitioner near you, you might want to go see him. Do this in addition to seeing your doctor.

For the nausea, try ginger tea. Use ginger root, and brew a little, and sip on it. It should help. Let me know if you need any further information about that. Ginger is a root, so try it with recently boiled water first, but if you don't get a good brew, boil it a little with the root in it. (You should slice or shred the root first, unless you can get it already in powdered or shredded form.)

If you cannot get ginger, then sipping ginger ale with real sugar may help. Although in general you should stay away from carbonated soft drinks, if it's the only way you can get ginger, do it. Once you have this under control and are getting a reasonable amount of protein, you should be better. It also helps some people to eat a cracker or two in the morning before getting out of bed. Some women report watermelon helps. For most women, nausea ends by the 12th or 13th week.

I hope all this helps. Take care.