Thanks for the replies. Demi, I had never heard of cold water helping, maybe I'll try that next time. We have a detachable shower head, so I could just stand in the tub with cool water running on them.

Benay, I'll probably do that when my annual physical is due next month. I have no other apparent issues; no heart/lung/kidney disease, and no other discomfort other than mild leg cramps at night, and they were okay that night (just a bit of twitching and I went right back to sleep.) It tends to happen in the evening, so I feel like there's no point getting in touch with her because it's always gone by the time I'd be calling for an appointment. I can imagine I'll just be prescribed compression socks, and I won't be able to afford them. One of my coworkers said our insurance won't cover them because they were "cosmetic." ...but maybe we'll be discussing the worsening varicose veins, some of which have gotten really ropey. Maybe if edema is part of the diagnosis, they'd be paid for.