advancing backwards

I’m primarily a pump user. I’ve been running sessions of 30 minutes at 4” Hg., 10 minutes of edging, and another 30 minutes in the tube, with no edema. I’ve been on that particular routine for four or five months now.

In the last few days I’ve been getting a noticeable amount of edema. Up until now (a couple of years pumping) progress has always been forward; extending session time, increasing vacuum. This is the first time I’ve ever lost ground.

Has this happened to anyone else? Was it a temporary thing, or did you have to back off and work your way back up?

The blister you mention in the other thread. Was it from the pump?

No, from the ADS.

We may need more information.

Could it be that you have gone past the “sweet spot”? You mentioned that you are continually increasing time and vacuum. Maybe you should just keep it at a certain level.

I’ll extend the time five or ten minutes, repeat it a couple of times, back off if it feels puffy; just iterating around the known-good time/vacuum value. When I don’t see any change for a while, that becomes the new standard. In this case, I haven’t changed the standard in four or five months.

It has a head of its own, I guess it has a mind of its own too.

Okay, the edema issue went away. Still no change in the routine.

I have no idea why it started, and no idea why it quit.

I’m firmly convinced my unit does whateverthehell it wants.

Yes, sometimes they do things that are unexplainable. This is why consistency is so important.