It's a whole new ball game for me. I gained back weight following a kidney surgery (and subsequent depression) and I was later dx'd with osteo-arthritis. I can't find a groove yet with movement. I was doing great with spin class, until my neck started acting up. I was even doing ok with that until I fell in May and screwed up my ankle. I'm still not 100% there, but the neck has gone nuclear since then, and even water aerobics are making it torque up and hurt for days, even WITH the treatment I get from a chiro/PT doc....
ANYWAY - just wondering if anyone had any advice, since I'm finally serious about this, as I'm sick of hurting from the weight making every health issue just THAT much worse!
So, I joined this site just to answer you. I have severe osteo-arthritis and basically have no right hip joint. When I was twelve a staph infection destroy the ball of the ball and socket joint of my hip. And then of course I broke my ankle on the same leg and have some awesome hardware in it now.
What I'm doing might be seen as extreme to some people, but I've been heavy all my life and I'm only 20. My Gastroenterologist asked me to do the Optifast program.
I've tried to lose weight before, but no matter how little I ate I never could lose the weight because I could not exercise. I don't know if this is an option for you...I just don't have any options left.
Also, for your pain have you tried seeing a pain management specialist? I'm starting to see one next week as well as starting the Optifast thing.
I can let you know how it goes if you'd like. I just know how much it stinks to have pain that nobody can seem to alleviate..and that just causes a ton of other problems to compound.
Thank you for answering!! Sorry it took so long to reply (been in a funk about getting old )
I want to try a pain management doc - I needed to get "a certain length of time" before my insurance will allow it....they're a pain....
I'm so sorry about your hip. My dad had a hip replacement a year and a half ago....the pain prior was so much worse than his shoulders. I can't imagine...
Please keep me posted on your results - it would be good to hear about options, ya know?
And yeah, that pain is so hard to get around, especially when it's every step you take. I hope that this helps you to lose weight, and find a way to better health! It's such a cycle - joint hurts, so you move less, so you gain more, so the joint hurts even more....
Your battle with arthritis & getting older are things I can relate to, unfortunately. I gained alot of weight after I stopped smoking 14 years ago & then a couple of years after that was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. In addition to the joint issues, this is a systemic illness, & I ended up with rheumatoid nodules & inflamation in my lungs & elsewhere. Taking prednisone made me ravenously hungry, and that along with enforced inactivity brought on more weight gain.
I am no longer on prednisone, but have some damage to joints that creates functional & balance problems. Exercising for me means maintaining range of motion and retaining the functioning I now have.
Despite getting older & a sedentary lifestyle, it is possible to lose weight & you will definitely feel better & probably have less pain & better functioning. It took me 3 years, but with the help of God, the weight has come off, and I feel much better. I am so grateful. Hopefully, you'll find a WOE that works for you. Good Luck!
Thanks, joyful! I'm so glad you've been successful, and that it's helped. I can't imagine rheumatoid - I have a friend with it, she had JRA and was in remission, no one told her pregnancy might bring her back out of remission.
I'm trying to focus my head around improving my health and lowering my pain as my end result. It's a good goal, and like you said - it can only improve quality of life.
Hi Buttons,
I have osteo in both knees- I am in a wheel chair.I am on the optifast 900 diet.This is the only thing I can think of doing-having less weight on whats left of my knees.I have had no luck with dr's.My family is sure I've only got a few years left cause my health has deteriorated and for a while I started to think that way too-but I'm not finished yet!I know that I can be better than I am right now-happier and healthier.
You can too.Just don't give up.
Blessings!
This is a really old thread but I'll respond anyway!
I don't have osteo-arthritis but I do have femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) in my right hip, a hip malformation which causes all sorts of problems with the piriformis and gluteal muscles, IT band, knees, etc. It's also thought to be a precursor to arthritis and many with FAI require total hip replacements.
Right now I have a lot of pain in my right piriformis (one of the muscles in the butt). It gets worse with exercise, especially running. It's chronic, and the nagging ache has been lately waking me up at night. I know I could ease the symptoms by stopping all physical activity but I really can't/don't want to do that.
Chronic pain is the worst, and you can't understand it (I certainly didn't) until you've experienced it.
i certainly understand about the chronic pain....i have had back problems since i was a teenager, and several ruptured discs in my lower back (same disc ruptured several times)...by the time i saw a chiropractor, a year after i ruptured a disc, my hips were off by 3 inches, one lower than the other....another year of chiro and PT were able to correct it, realign some my vertebraes that had been improperly aligned since i fell as a teenager, push my hips level again, and help heal the ruptured disc...i still have vertebraes that are twisted sideways and tilted inward as well as an extra vertebrae that i was born with, and the chiro said one vertebrae is completely twisted to face the opposite direction but i'm not sure i believe him....the PT doc said that wasn't possible...i used a cane for about a year, to take pressure off the hip that the chiro was slowly knocking back into place (omg that hurt!) and eventually i healed up so that i don't hurt anymore
but i had chronic pain for over two years with nothing to manage it with beyond Aleve (which i ate like candy - yes, i know i shouldn't have) and vicodin for the worst pain...i worked fulltime and raised our kids with DH...the docs around here are VERY leery about handing out any long-term pain medication because there is a HUGE issue in town with abusing/selling painkillers...i would have pushed my docs harder for it but it never got to the point where nothing else would help
Last edited by alaskanlaughter; 06-23-2011 at 01:26 AM.
I have metatisized breast cancer and I also have osteo-arthritis and I have to honestly say the arthritis is much more painful. I am under treatment for the cancer and take extra strength Tylenol for the arthritis. Losing weight has helped in both conditions.
Osteo-arthritis/Joint issues?
)
I'm so glad you've been successful, and that it's helped. I can't imagine rheumatoid - I have a friend with it, she had JRA and was in remission, no one told her pregnancy might bring her back out of remission. 
