HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Exercise- um ya.

Support Forums
>
Osteoarthritis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 9/8/2010 7:53 AM (GMT 0)
So about a year and a half ago I was dx'd with Fibromyalgia but I knew- I just knew- something else was wrong. Have you ever felt that way? So my back, legs,ankles and feet were getting worse no matter how much fibro treatment I went through. And I went through doctor after doctor- one even had the nerve to call me paranoid! But no one would listen until one night after a county fair I took my boots off my mom saw my feet how swollen and weird looking they were and we were off to my family doctor the next week and she made him listen (I'm 37 so that was a little weird but whatever works right!) He ordered an MRI and that's when they found out that I have arthritis in my back, legs, knees, ankles, feet etc! Ha! Sometimes not so good to be right though ya know? But he sent me a brochure of some exercises to do and I am having a REALLY hard time getting through them. It says it should take 15 minutes a day- and I realize that it will take as long as it takes. But my problem is that by the time I am done my pain level is so bad that my pain medications no longer give me relief and my feet and legs start to swell again. Kind of defeats the purpose. And I am really limited in the amount of pain reliever that I am allowed (1,000mg Vicodin twice a day). Which I know sounds like a lot but I also work 12-14 hours in a warehouse 4 days a week so I kind of am in a lot of pain and on my feet a lot as is. I am in so much pain and have never told my doctor that I wouldn't try something that any of them have asked but this is REALLY hard for me and not to whine- but my life is already pretty hard and I am not in a rush to make it harder. I had been trying to do similar exercises since I was dx'd with fibromyalgia with not much better success since last year when I found a yoga for fibro dvd. Does it get any easier? Is there anything else I can try? Or am I destined for a life of listening to "eat right, exercise, meditate, push through the pain..." Because right now all I want is a nice big pain pill. I am 37 and I want my life back. I want to go out with my friends. I want to get out of bed and be able to get out of bed. I want to be able to move and I so far the eat right blah blah blah hasn't worked in the last year. I am sooo sorry- I swear I am not this whiney I am just so frustrated. The antidepressants they put me on for the fibro helped me to gain 90 lbs (that and the Lyrica which is a terrible drug). The topamax helped me to take off 25lbs. so I am so screwed up. One made me crave carbs the other made me so nauseous that I hated food. Now I am just happy to liek the limited foods that I like. I don't know what to do or where to start- I just know that only eating right and only exercising isn't coming close to getting it done and I am the most desperate 37 year old that you will ever meet. Any help and advice that you can give me I would love at this point. I feel all alone and really hopeless. I don't even know what to try now.

Trish

.
Posted 9/8/2010 4:46 PM (GMT 0)
Trish,

I am so sorry to hear you are having so much pain and that you are in a bad place.  Are you seeing a Rheumatologist and was your dx Osteoarthritis ? 

My mother-in-law has severe RA and is on a medication called Arava which has helped her pain very much.  Arava is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Arava decreases the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and slows damage to joints caused by the disease.

Stick to gentle exercises, such as walking, biking or swimming. Exercise can increase your endurance and strengthen the muscles around your joint, making your joint more stable. Avoid exercising tender, injured or swollen joints. If you feel new joint pain, stop. New pain that lasts more than two hours after you exercise probably means you've overdone it.

You might also check into physical therapy where they can teach you special exercises designed just for you.

Kindly,

Kitt

Posted 9/9/2010 9:22 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks Kitt! I know its not RA- just from past blood tests when I was going through my fibro dx. I am limited to walking as my only exercise because I work from 3pm to around 3am and I am so exhausted that by the time I get home (around 3:30am) I shower and crash. I unwind and finally fall asleep around 5:30 am and get up around 1:30 get up and do it all over again. That happens 4 sometimes 5 days a week. The gym isn't really an option because if I go before work I am tired and sore before I even get there and that is a disaster. After work the gym where I live is closed (small town America) at 3:30 am. So walking is available. Biking is too hard on my back and knees (I've tried). I guess I am just frustrated from hearing eat right and exercise because if that had worked I wouldn't have gone to the doctor in the first place. I mean they act like I just want a miracle pill- I would love nothing better than to not go back to a doctor again! And if it was something as easy as eat a salad and work out I would have done that by now. Obviously I need more than that or I would not have seen so many doctors because as you know its not a fun day at the doctor! Are there any meds out there for osteoarthritis?
Posted 9/15/2010 3:47 PM (GMT 0)
Sad -
Sometimes less is more. I've got horrible arthritis in my spine, and spots at every joint - nothing like what you have - but I found that tramadol works best for me. It helps with my muscle pain (as in fibromyalgia), where lots of other pain relievers don't.

Diazepam (Valium) in small doses helps with muscle spasms, especially in my back.

After knee surgery I am temporatily on Vicodin (stopping the tramadol because they can interract), and feel better having cut down to 1/2 ES pill (@4mg) twice a day, but the side effects are bad - headache, dizziness, and nausea for which I need Zofran. Tramadol alone just doesn't cut the surgery/bone pain.

I agree that some exercises hurt more than they help. Walking pounds the joints! Docs send you to PT first. It seems to be something insurance demands. Then when it doesn't work they can prescribe something else. Swimming is my choice, but if it isn't available, ask for a Rx for some machine (it might be allowed under insurance) that doesn't pound your knees. Maybe someone else will have a suggestion. I also sit in my little triangle/fits in a closet space hot tub morning and night for 10 - 15 minutes, waiting for my pain med du jour to work and doing some of the prescribed exercises. I can do some underwater flutter kicking and side-to-side motions with water resistance.

Talk to your doc about trying other meds.
Posted 9/16/2010 12:42 PM (GMT 0)
I know of which you speak. I have had knee and back pain for over a year. I went through all of the weeks of PT, to no avail. I actually think the PT did more damage than good. I noticed my left knee starting to hurt while doing the PT for the right. Now, they both hurt like hell. My first Ortho Dr told me I need to do more PT and exercise. (I am not overweight) I was diagnosed with muscle strain, Tendonitis, Bursitis, and every other thing they could think of before doing an MRI. As soon as I got the MRI (and found OA) they started me on the Cortisone, which didn't work, and then on the Euflexxa injections. (which didn't work either) I get to speak with a surgeon next! oh joy!

I get the same BS from my primary Dr "maybe you should exercise more". Like my working 50-60hrs a week isn't enough exercise???? Now, after being on my feet for 12hrs they expect me to do some squats and stairs????

Though, I am lucky to have a compassionate PCP who is also my pain mgmt Dr. She can see I am in pain and treats me accordingly.

 It does sound like you need some time release meds to treat your pain. It works so much better than waiting until it hurts so bad you can't stand up without leaning on something.

Good Luck

Posted 9/19/2010 1:10 AM (GMT 0)
 

 

Sad, 

 

  My goodness, I wonder how or why you would need to exercise with all you do at your job.   I too deal with Osteoarthritis, it's in my hips, knees, back, and I suspect my fingers too cause they are starting to get stiff and achy alot. 

 

Also if you are hurting like that after exercise it sounds like your body it trying to tell you no, stop, this is not helping!

 

I have fibro too, and every antidepressant I have tried makes me really sick.  And you know what?  For me personally I think it would not help much to take something for depression that will put alot of weight on me. That would make me more depressed! 

 

I hope you you are able to find a way of getting some kind of relief. You may need something else for break thru pain.  Maybe you can talk to your doctor about it.

 

You may even want to consider a less strenuous job. That could probably help alot, if your able to that is.

 

Let us know how things are going.

 

Blessings

 

Debbie

Posted 9/30/2010 12:15 PM (GMT 0)
have you heard...no pain...no gain...no brain! in other words it is just not a good idea to hurt yourself in order to become better.

secondly, docs and therapists are basically people working in the health care field to make money. many of them sort of throw ideas out there and if they work, they work if they do not work...well bad for you but not so bad for them. if they don't work, you have to go back and see them again and pay them more money.

i definitely would not continue these exercises if they are hurting you. may just do one minute a day and build up over time to doing the full ten minutes. when i say over time...i am saying very long time.

swimming is good or a short walk or bike riding if you can.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply