Dealing With Osteoarthritis

PreciousC8

I am 33 years old and have been overweight since the age of 19. Carrying this weight has taken a toll on my body. I found out I had osteoarthritis in both hips and knees most likely due to trauma (had a bad fall when I was pregnant) and being overweight. I have lost about 40lbs since finding out and it has definitely helped but I still get occasional flare ups and the pain can be unbearable at times. I'm not big on pain medicine and I am trying to combat this naturally. It can be really discouraging at times when you are trying so hard to reach your goal but are limited on what you can do physically. Just looking for anyone who can relate and what you do to cope. Any suggestions or encouragement would be helpful as well.

Thanks!

cnavarro002

Hello, I'm pretty much in the same boat - only I am having knee replacement surgery this summer. I find that I love to go to the pool. I can walk like a normal person (without limping), and swimming is very gentle on my joints.

brookielaw

Ugh, I live with severe OA also, that started after a bike accident and broken patella. Becoming super morbidly obese made it much worse. I was diagnosed at 18 or 19 and am 42 now. I have lost over 200 lbs from my highest but it doesn't make the OA go away but it does lighten the pain some. I still don't have a full range of motion in my legs (a 90 degree bend is the best I can get) and as I'm sure you know, any injury is a huge setback. I have taken glucosamine in various forms (Joint Juice, sublingual, pills) and totally echo how great Biofreeze is. In the past I took Meloxicam and even had Euflexxa synthetic cartilage injections, which stopped when I got pregnant a couple of years ago. The Euflexxa seemed to help. As far as exercise goes, the best exercise, especially at my maximum weight, was/is swimming because there's no impact on the joints. I now swim about 4.5 miles a week. Yoga can be helpful, although if you have a limited range of motion like mine, there are certain poses that just don't work. Biking may be helpful, although again, depends on how severe your OA is and your range of motion. Maybe try a recumbent bike?

The good news is that you CAN live with it (obviously) and you CAN exercise and lose weight/get healthy. I enjoy strength training and boxing, which don't bother my legs. I bike and walk, but swimming is my first love. Figure out what you enjoy and listen to your body. Congrats on your 40 lbs!!!! Good luck

PreciousC8

I truly appreciate your posts ladies! I am going to definitely look into the biofreeze and glucosamine.

gilesjenniferlynn

Hey girls. So, I am 34. I weigh about 300 lbs. I had lost between 50-60 lbs until this past October. I think I may have a pinched nerve. I find it hard to walk and even standing is extremely painful. I even sit in a chair to cook. It's depressing to go from over 260lbs, which is the biggest I had ever been until now, down to around 200lbs, and up to 300lbs in only 5 months. I have been trying really hard to be more aware of my eating habits, but I know I need to do something active to burn calories. Do you girls have any suggestions? I'd like to have some friends also who can somewhat relate.

Fit4LifeAR

I am 36 years old and had acute osteoarthritis in my left knee due to an undiagnosed injury. I had a total knee replacement last summer, after the first surgery failed and the doctor said my knee was too damaged to fix. I am 9 months out from surgery and I really began to struggle with emotional eating. Working out was always my stress reliever, and losing that for so long after my surgery, really sent me on an emotional roller coaster. I am 9 months out and working out pretty hard again, so I am starting to feel better. Now it's time to get my diet in check, as I feel I lost all control over it. It's a scary feeling...

PreciousC8

gilesjenniferlynn wrote: »

Hey girls. So, I am 34. I weigh about 300 lbs. I had lost between 50-60 lbs until this past October. I think I may have a pinched nerve. I find it hard to walk and even standing is extremely painful. I even sit in a chair to cook. It's depressing to go from over 260lbs, which is the biggest I had ever been until now, down to around 200lbs, and up to 300lbs in only 5 months. I have been trying really hard to be more aware of my eating habits, but I know I need to do something active to burn calories. Do you girls have any suggestions? I'd like to have some friends also who can somewhat relate.

I feel your pain. Try water aerobics. I'm not sure what city you are in but some gyms have under water cycling now too. On some of my worst days I have searched you tube to find sit down chair and exercise ball workouts. And I can't do any standing workouts without knee supports. It does help with pain a lot. Good luck!

manderson27

gilesjenniferlynn wrote: »

Hey girls. So, I am 34. I weigh about 300 lbs. I had lost between 50-60 lbs until this past October. I think I may have a pinched nerve. I find it hard to walk and even standing is extremely painful. I even sit in a chair to cook. It's depressing to go from over 260lbs, which is the biggest I had ever been until now, down to around 200lbs, and up to 300lbs in only 5 months. I have been trying really hard to be more aware of my eating habits, but I know I need to do something active to burn calories. Do you girls have any suggestions? I'd like to have some friends also who can somewhat relate.

Hey there. Where is the pain. If it is in you back you need to get it diagnosed professionally. There are many different type of back injuries out there with very different treatments.

I have dysfunctional sacroiliac joints which is often mistaken by the person suffering as, slipped discs, pinched nerves, sciatica etc. So proper diagnoses is crucial.

I also have Osteoarthritis in hips and knees. It only started up fairly recently and was excruciating when I tried to get up off chairs or walk upstairs or just walk and stand. However it has receded now through judicial use of anti-inflamatories, pain killers and mostly through exercise.

Walking is good as is any water aerobics. I have stretching exercise given to me by my physio who also encourages me to lift weights. I can't do go as high as I used to but I am building up again. Of course losing weight is always going to help so that is priority number one for me.

I honestly thought my active life was finished but with good medication and support I won through. I still have some pain but it is bearable and I have good days and bad days.

Keep moving, keep losing and take meds when you need to is my mantra these days.

manderson27

Also just to add Osteoarthritis is know as the good Arthritis because it can be managed and even improved on. The worst thing you can do is give up and stop trying to move.

Jruzer

I've got osteoarthritis in my knees which can get pretty painful. It sounds like the evidence is against glucosamine and chondroitin:

The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons published guidelines for knee OA treatment 2013 based on a review of the literature and concluded:

We cannot recommend using glucosamine and chondroitin for patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee.
Strength of Recommendation: Strong

Their strongest positive recommendations were for strengthening exercises and losing weight.

The full guideline is here: http://www.aaos.org/cc_files/aaosorg/research/guidelines/treatmentofosteoarthritisofthekneeguideline.pdf

A good summary is here:
http://www.aaos.org/cc_files/aaosorg/research/guidelines/oaksummaryofrecommendations.pdf

LAT1963

Water exercise will strengthen your tendons and muscles around the joints and help insulate them from further damage.

Aspirin, ibuprofen--the 'nsaid' category (non sterioidal anti inflammatories) will help by reducing inflammation at the joint location itself. But like any effective drug, they have side effects that you can look up before deciding your personal threshold for using them. Tylenol reduces perception of pain but doesn't have any action at the joint itself. Same with opiods (which have terrible side effect profiles, risk of addiction, etc).

I find heat and cold therapy to be very useful. Thermacare FTW! (that category of product, if not that brand). Use heat or cold depending on what makes your joint feel better at the time.

Consider taping joints or wearing a brace to help your muscles and tendons give your joints a little more support.

There's really no convincing evidence that glucosamine, chondroitan, hyaluronic acid, or any of those things help. There's no evidence that they make things worse, either. Try them if you want. Or not.

This is one of those 'try stuff until you find what works for you' situations, you just have to look at the potential negative effects and make sure they are acceptable before you try something new.

bmcasula

I read Pilates and yoga are good excersices for osteoarthritis