Moving with CP... is it possible to keep from overdoing it?

So, what an exciting time... I may be buying my first home! I find out on Thursday if I'm approved. We are planning on moving everything with friends and I usually hired two men and a truck. Is it possible to move without overdoing it? Any tips?

And please keep us in your positive thoughts, prayers and rain dancing... Whatever you believe in. This house would be so wonderful for my family! :0) I'm so excited!

Linds_,
Congrats on the new home!

Ummm... not sure it's possible without overdoing, but you can limit how much you overdo. I would recommend asking your PM to either schedule an extra round of shots within a couple days after your move or getting an extra couple doses of your pain meds for the days following. DO NOT take extra pain meds the day of your move. It will only encourage you to overdo even more. Use ice or heat (whichever works for you) instead. ThermaCare makes heat wraps & cold wraps now. :)

Drink plenty of water the day before & the day of. Try to avoid caffeine unless you get migraines. If you are allowed to do any sort of aerobic exercise, wake up 10 minutes early the day of your move, do some light aerobics & then spend a good 10-15 minutes stretching. If you can't exercise, take a very warm shower/bath & stretch after that. Do everything possible to reduce stress.

Get a 2nd crew to come after all the heavy moving is done to help with setting up your new home. Get a small plastic tub (shoe box or whatever small-ish size works) & use that to pack all your medication, heating pad, ice packs, pain creams, OTC pain & allergy products, a reusable plastic cup, daily toiletries -- soap, shampoo/conditioner, razor, toothbrush/paste, floss, nail clippers, Emory board -- critical financial/identity documents & any comfort items).

Pick a medium sized cardboard box & label it "open FIRST". In that box pack a roll of toilet paper, a kitchen towel, bath towel/hand towel/washcloth, kleenex, a set of sheets/pillowcases and blanket or comforter, hand soap, basic tool kit (if you don't have one, you can pick one up at Sears for about $10), pjs, 2 pairs comfy socks & undergarments, 2 days of outfits and socks/stockings, 1 pair of shoes -- dress shoes if you'll wear them, otherwise any pair besides what you will wear to move, and some emergency food/snacks/herbal tea. If all your boxes don't get unpacked on Day 1 at least you'll have what you absolutely need to survive.

www.century21.com/myc21/checklists/movingchecklist.pdf
www.upack.com/moving-resources/checklist.asp

Oh - 3 more tips:
1. Invest in those "Dish Pack" boxes the storage/moving companies sell. Seriously, they are awesome & will make packing your kitchen up so, so much easier. Comes with divider tabs & foam wraps for dishes & glasses. Pack dishes 4-5 days early so you can do a good job and use plastic or paper dishes until you're in your new home.
2. Color or Number-Code your rooms & boxes. Tape up a few signs in each room (use painters tape so you can tape right to the walls). Then, label each side of the box with the same code or a large colored circle around the description of what's in it. Works way better than writing "kitchen", "bed1", "bed2", etc. because people can't always figure out what the room is.
3. If possible, schedule the closing of your new home a day or two before you have to be out of your current home. If you get one extra day, that lets you move out on Day 1 & clean your current place on Day 2. If you get two extra days, get a few sweet helpers to give you an extra hour or two to load up a car/SUV with anything precious, breakable, or perishable on Day 1 (antiques/collectibles, art, computers/printers, important records, refrigerator/freezer foods) and take care of any special cleaning/prep you want to do at your new home -- you can also have workers or deliverymen come that day to change locks, deliver new purchases, or hang window treatments if needed. On Day 2, move. On Day 3, clean current place & turn keys over to landlord/new owner/whomever.

Sorry for the long post. Wishing you joy & peace as you prepare for your move and blessings upon your new home.

Hi Lins,

I've never posted in this forum before, I guess I never noticed the chronic pain forum. I'm glad I did and that I came upon this thread. My husband and I will be moving from here in the cold wintry weather to sunny Florida sometime this summer. I've never even moved beyond my own home state. I appreciate all the advice given in this thread.

I belong in this forum because I get a day now and then that I'm in so much pain from my arthritis, fibromyalgia, and from my back and neck injuries due to a car accident that i feel as if I can't handle dealing with the pain.

What I have found that causes mine sometimes is eating a food that I'm sensitive to. This just happened to me a few days ago, I ate at a restaurant that had nothing on the menu but rich foods. The next day my chronic pain increased one hundred fold. I was on the sofa the entire day trying to massage away the pain.

I also have difficulty with lifting, I can't do more than 5 lbs. I'm lucky to have an understanding husband who can see it on my face when I'm overdoing and he won't let me lift much.

What I would suggest is to make sure you're eating healthy the days you're packing up and moving, drinking plenty of water, breathing deeply, and listening to your body. A massage afterwards would probably do you a lot of good too.

Good luck to you.

Linds_

I'll just throw in here that a good handtruck is very useful. They can be a bit pricey, but I recommend something like the "Magliner" brand. I recommend big inflatable tires and if you have any steps, stairs, any bumps that you need to go over "stair sliders" are a very nice option. It is a device that can help a lot over a lifetime.

Second are lifting straps. If you must do any lifting, There are straps that are basically big nylon belts. You use two, thrown them over your shoulders, under the object and your accomplice does the same. You both bend down together, tighten the belts, and lift with your legs, easily keeping your back straight. This are hard to find, I have only seen them at a few professional moving stores. I am not talking about the cheesy "forearm forklift" that they sell at Uhaul. . .those are junk and a rip off. These straps are good for moving any large appliance or box, even up or down stairs.

Now, I am in no position to use the stuff above anymore, but I once was. If you aren't as well, maybe your partner or friends would benefit from the information.

Best of luck

As far as the lifting straps are, they sure are elusive.

The only place I actually saw what I was looking for was Amazon and they were unavailable. They seem to have been called "Go Straps."

There are similar products called Team Straps and Shoulder Dollies. What I do not like about those systems is that they appear to use a single belt under the item being moved. A lot of times you need to tip and rotate the couch or whatever to get it through a door. I really dont see how that is possible with a single strap. They also do not appear to be adjustable in length. The whole concept is that you draw the belts tighter as you crouch and then lift with your legs. I really dont see how it works if the length is not adjustable.


I had an industrial refrigerator moved in by a couple very quickly up a flight of steps! My buddy and I were able to lift a 600lb wood stove onto the hearth with these. . .which in hindsight was probably stupid. Oh well.