Exercise with joint pain ideas??

jpe71

I was wondering about fibromyalgia myself. I have it, and am just starting to work on management. See a rheumatologist if you can. They can rule in or out various joint conditions. Proper care may make the work easier. I do swim, because my doctors encouraged it strongly, and as a waterbug, that was all the encouragement I needed to upgrade my gym membership! However, since you do not have access to a pool, the ideas of recumbent bike and elliptical are both good. I use those, too.

Ddmck1

I get some serious knee pain (I am hoping that the weight loss will help alleviate) I like swimming laps when my knees hurt. it gives them a break and I am still getting a killer workout.

lilawolf

I've known two people who dealt with joint pain that several doctors could not find a cause for. The first was prescribed a low carb diet. He said that his pain was gone within a week and he also lost 20lbs in a couple of months.

The second person was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. He cut out wheat (though not other carbs) which also made his pain go away and caused him to lose weight.

I have also read several times on the internet about it helping. A two minute search gave me this:
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/Lifestyle/Nutrition/39/The_Advantages_and_Disadvantages_of_Low_Carb_Nutrition.aspx

Maybe you could try if for a week and see how you feel?

LinaBo

Without a pool (which is really your best option for both building strength and burning calories, with the least impact), elliptical is your best bet for cardio. For strength training, while I don't use them much myself, I would look into isometric exercises, which use static positions during muscle contraction, rather than a wide range of motion (basically, you are clenching and unclenching a lot).

As for what you might have, I agree that it could potentially be Fibromyalgia. I was diagnosed with it nearly 5 years ago. It is classed as a syndrome, with a sort of "cluster" of symptoms; most people get the central symptoms, while there are some on the periphery that are not universally experience by all sufferers. The thing about it, though, is that it's shaping up to be a condition of the nervous system; basically, the brain chemistry is different. The parts of the nervous system that regulate pain signals are having their own, hypochondriac freakout, either exaggerating the pain you feel from a minor injury, or completely making *kitten* up. I experience pain that feels like the muscle tissue throughout my body is simultaneously being scalded, frozen, and having an electrical current run through it; I have pressure points all over that, especially when I'm flared up, feel like someone's is jamming an elbow into a nasty, existing bruise, whenever I sit or lean against something or am otherwise touched with some degree of pressure; I get allodynia that leaves me irritated by the textures of certain clothes, blankets, my watch, jewellery, the edge of my desk on my forearm as I type, the slightest variation in temperature, you name it; my bones, including my fingers and toes, ache. My joints also ache. Certain muscles tend to feel tight, especially near their insertion points/close to joints; I'm chronically tired, and often need upwards of 14 hours of sleep to feel half-rested. OTC pain killers do absolutely nothing for me, because they treat pain from physical damage at the site.

Every day is like spinning the wheel of fortune a few times, giving each of these symptoms it's own rating of 1-10 on how much they're going to act up. Temperature (hot AND cold), stress (mental and physical), diet, rest, barometric pressure, you name it... they all aggravate these symptoms. I bust my *kitten* in the weight room in spite of it all, because I know that NONE of these symptoms show up in an x-ray or MRI, from the neck down (it literally is in my head. A real-time MRI study actually showed abnormal brain activity in people with Fibromyalgia, although this sort of testing isn't available to the public). I have to use mind over matter, ignoring my brain that is screaming at me that my body is suffering gross physical harm, when it's not. The payoff is that, when I work out hard enough, I get that rush of endorphins that is a natural, effective painkiller for a few hours. Afterwards, I pay for it with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness on top of ridiculous fatigue (the good news is that I sleep a lot of the painful downtime off)... but right now I live back with my parents, and my life is about gruelling workouts to lose weight and gain muscle, along with lots of sleep and eating accordingly, in the hopes that becoming more fit ultimately reduces my symptoms (being fat seems to exacerbate pretty much any illness, in my opinion, right down to the common cold and flu), and becoming more independent. It's still early, but I'm making progress.

Anyway, I wanted to give you a picture of what that's like, in case you recognize more of yourself in those symptoms. The joint pains, right down to fingers and toes, are what caught my eye on this one. I would definitely try a couple more doctors for another opinion, and see about getting a referral to a Rheumatologist (even though I believe, based on the research, that Fibromyalgia is becoming less of a rheumatologist's area, it is sort of where it's been lumped for now. A good one will know the signs). There are still some GPs that are jaded, diehard, anti-Fibro, "it's all in your head" types. Usually the stubborn old *kitten* who need to retire. So, whether you have it or whether you have something else, I would keep trying until you find an open-minded doctor who is willing to get to the bottom of it, instead of processing their patients like livestock.

katiejarr

Have you tried Yoga? Have you also tried Glucoseamine with Condroitant? Not sure if I have the spelling correct but I get it at Costco and it takes about 3 weeks to work. I have joint pain and arthritis, I had it so severe in my hand that I had a bone removed to relive the pain.

I do yoga and the elliptical and take the above and they all have worked a lot to help me.

blueeylb

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