What can I do to help my ankles/joints?

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  • My ankles have been aching every night for the past week or so and off n on before that....It might be the colder weather or dryer weather...I'm staying low on sugar and carbs, much lower than in the past...It might be pushing heavy weights on the leg press machine...But it's not a muscle/tendon etc hurt...It's like my BONES hurt...I sometimes get this in my knees and wrists too.

    Has anyone else felt this? What helps? I'm cold ALL the time too but that's typical.
  • Wondering about your thyroid....
  • I get a similar thing from time to time. My ankles feel like they're tight enough to almost break.
  • ive had a standard thyroid test a few times and nothing abnormal...however I haven't had one of those in-depth thyroid tests

    it feels like the bone attached to my ankle and my ankle joints itself are going to shatter...it's weird!....and only at the end of the day...although sometimes my knees and wrist bones ache too
  • I don't know if this would help you, but my friend takes glucosamine and chondroitin for joint pain, and she swears that it took away the pain. It's a supplement. She can walk up and down stairs now.
  • alaskanlaughter -- what you are describing is how I would describe my arthritis pain when it flares up. So could you maybe have some arthritis there? I started having symptoms of arthritis in various places in my early 30s (lucky me).
  • Quote: alaskanlaughter -- what you are describing is how I would describe my arthritis pain when it flares up. So could you maybe have some arthritis there? I started having symptoms of arthritis in various places in my early 30s (lucky me).
    it wouldn't surprise me but i hadn't thought of that....i have a family history of arthritis and my uncle had rheumatoid(?) kind where his hands and knuckles became very swollen and misshapen when I was a young child...his hands always fascinated me when I was little, it didn't scare me or bother me like some kids might react...and I was so interested in watching him to daily functions like driving with that kind of limitation

    it wouldn't surprise me that i could have arthritis forming...i've sprained both my ankles very badly several times throughout my life and have also taken alot of direct impact to my kneecaps (think volleyball without kneepads lol) and my wrists had the beginnings of carpal tunnel at a younger age but subsided when i changed careers

    what do you do for a flare up like that?
  • I use a heating pad generally, and take hot showers or bath.

    My mother also has arthritis and she responds better to cold therapy.
  • If you have rheumatoid arthritis, they can see a marker in your blood tests. Ask your doctor. I have the antibodies for RA, but it rarely flares up, now. I think my weight loss has helped. Mine would strike a particular area (joint) and stay painful for about 36 hours, then go away as suddenly as it came. However, it was very painful while it was "on." Doctor explained to me that it is an autoimmune disease, and your body chooses a place and attacks itself. No getting rid of it, but it can go into remission... not sure if that's the word, but it can become less active. There were pills she prescribed, but I never noticed any difference, so quit taking them - there were possible side effects with my eyesight.
  • Quote: If you have rheumatoid arthritis, they can see a marker in your blood tests. Ask your doctor. I have the antibodies for RA, but it rarely flares up, now. I think my weight loss has helped. Mine would strike a particular area (joint) and stay painful for about 36 hours, then go away as suddenly as it came. However, it was very painful while it was "on." Doctor explained to me that it is an autoimmune disease, and your body chooses a place and attacks itself. No getting rid of it, but it can go into remission... not sure if that's the word, but it can become less active. There were pills she prescribed, but I never noticed any difference, so quit taking them - there were possible side effects with my eyesight.
    that's really interesting!! I didn't know about the blood test...I have a lot of immune system issues anyhow, with unknown allergies, asthma and now I carry an epipen for allergic reactions so severe but even doctors can't figure out what i'm reacting to

    I had those pinprick tests done where they place allergens on your arms...tested for about 60 allergens and reacted mildly to almost all of them so it's like i'm sensitive to nearly everything(??) ...

    I don't know if this fits with "autoimmune" but I definitely understand my own body reacting to things pretty severely
  • Quote: that's really interesting!! I didn't know about the blood test...I have a lot of immune system issues anyhow, with unknown allergies, asthma and now I carry an epipen for allergic reactions so severe but even doctors can't figure out what i'm reacting to

    I had those pinprick tests done where they place allergens on your arms...tested for about 60 allergens and reacted mildly to almost all of them so it's like i'm sensitive to nearly everything(??) ...

    I don't know if this fits with "autoimmune" but I definitely understand my own body reacting to things pretty severely
    RA can come on for women in middle age (sorry if you are insulted - you look pretty young, and I didn't see an age or BD on your profile) even if they haven't had it when younger. I also have arthritis (just osteo though as far as I know) in my ankle due to a work injury - broken and has a plate & screws still in it. Arthritis as well in my neck (car accident) and low back (overuse as an exercise instructor for many years) so it's quite possible that it is arthritis for you too. Your body's hightened sensitivity and feeling cold all the time sounds like part of fibromyalgia syndrome (I was diagnosed by a rheumatologist and my MD almost 4 years ago). Something you might check into.

    Hope things work out for you... keep us posted.
    Liana
  • i'm not offended i'm 36 right now....I've been dealing with feeling cold all the time every since maybe mid-20s but only within the last few years have I dealt with aching bones/joints and only recently has it been hurting bad enough to make me even sit up n take notice...like posting here...
  • I know this aching bone problem and my being cold all the time is the reason I've dove headfirst into carbs tonight I normally do much much better at making low carb choices....I even ate RICE and I hate rice

    my shoulder has been aching all the way down to my wrist...my hip area hurts and my ankle hurts too...in fact my ankle feels like, if I walk on it, it will shatter but when I DO walk on it, of course it's just fine

    it's been colder than normal outside and, of course, colder in the house as well...but even on a regular basis i'm always cold I put my clothes in the dryer in the morning before I get dressed to warm them up....I drive often because the heater in the truck makes me warmer than being at home or at work....I wear layers daily at work even when everyone else is in t-shirts...I just figured it's the price you pay for getting skinnier LOL

    once I get cold it takes forever to warm up....if i'm even chilled, i'll be cold all day I sat today in front of our fireplace heater blower for at least an hour and never felt warm all the way to my bones

    but i'm rambling away from the subject of my bones....i'm just sooo frustrated with this endless discomfort of being forever achy and cold even in the summer i'm cold although not achy like this....it was 80 degrees out last summer before I even took off my hoodie
  • Quote: even on a regular basis i'm always cold I put my clothes in the dryer in the morning before I get dressed to warm them up....I drive often because the heater in the truck makes me warmer than being at home or at work....I wear layers daily at work even when everyone else is in t-shirts...I just figured it's the price you pay for getting skinnier LOL

    once I get cold it takes forever to warm up....if i'm even chilled, i'll be cold all day I sat today in front of our fireplace heater blower for at least an hour and never felt warm all the way to my bones
    Just a question... Do you feel even colder once you have completed your exercise? People with fibromyalgia have a problem with the energy systems in the mitochondria and their core body temperature actually DROPS instead of raising after exercise as normal. That's what I hate the most I think, usually if you are chilly you just jump around a bit and get moving more and you warm up, but not me... I have to plan out my extra clothing and hot drinks available for after I work out especially if it's skiing or snowshoeing. Hope you can figure it all out. If you do get your thyroid tested... remember that a low normal is still considered 'normal' but may be too low for your 'normal.' (Hope that made sense )
  • You should get your bones pain properly diagnosed. X-rays usually are good enough for that. And then you can start getting proper treatment.

    I remember long ago learning about a couple of things that were said to help people with arthritis. Lemon juice and Vitamin D. And also give up meat and alcohol. I don't know how credible this is, but its something i would try myself.

    You may know that gout, a form of arthritis, is aggravated by high protein and alcohol. You are not doing the IP diet are you? If so, you better get of it straight away.

    As to the cold, it sure does sound like hypothyroid but if you've had the test, both tsp and t3 and t4, then you must be fine.

    It could also be psychological, your experience of cold. This means that your experience is real but you interpretation of the facts is wrong. For many people with psychological issues with their health, its impossible to change it.

    But if i were you and there was no actual physiological explanation for your experience, then i would take up with mindfulness meditation and practice. Although you can do this in a secular non=religious and medical way, there is a lot of extra insight and practical benefit to be gained from learning about the rest of the mindfulness meditation practice as taught in buddhism, particularly of the kind that comes from south east asia, called Theravada. I'm not kidding. I spent a few years focussed on this stuff and now i have learnt so many new ways of seeing the world and my experiences in it. I don't go for all the claptrap about rebirth. I just focus on what pertains to this world, now.