Are there individuals who have a chronic pain condition?

Perplexingminds · April 2014

Hi I'm Aeri,

I am wondering if there are other individuals on here who have a chronic disability that can hinder their success regarding exercise, because of pain.

I have Ankylosing Spondylitis and I worked very hard to get from a wheelchair to forearm crutches. My doctors need me to get into the 150lbs range for my medications to work properly. I'm on Remicade, Methotrexate, multivitamins, and Predisone for flares.

I lately have been feeling very discouraged, because I seem to be stuck in the 170-175lbs range, and it took me 2.5 yrs to lose 27lbs doing diet alone. Starting weight was 210lbs.

I'm curious if there are other individuals who have broke through the pain, and managed to get their life back on track with exercise?

If so any tips tricks, diet changes that could help. I rather hear this from individuals who have succeeded than try and find posts on the internet of falsified claims, and I know the MFP community is wicked at this support thing

I am currently going to the community centre to swim, but I only can handle about 20 minutes and as of lately since my balance is a bit better and I can hold myself up., I've been using my elliptical for 5 minutes max. As for my diet I've cut out a lot of crap. I eat mostly fish, rice, salad, chicken, light cheese, and veggies (fruit and milk tends to not settle) Average cal intake 1300. (also this is my first post ever! LoL)

ltatum77 · April 2014

Hi, I'm Laura.

It sounds like you have done awesome already, especially considering you are on meds like Prednisone!

I have RA and a congenital SI joint abnormality, both of which make it difficult to exercise. I "broke through the pain" a couple of years ago and started lifting weights in addition to cardio. I did lose a good deal of weight fairly quickly, but for me it wasn't worth it. It greatly exacerbated my existing problems, and I had to have surgery last summer. It has taken me a while to bounce back from that. That's not meant to be a discouragement - just a caution to go slowly and LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.

I pretty much have to walk 2-3 miles every day or my leg will randomly collapse - so I use that for my exercise and try not to eat back the calories. On good days I go faster or longer or uphill. On bad days I just force myself to get through it or break it up into 10-15 min. sessions. It doesn't help me lose weight, but I have more stamina, better muscle tone and much less pain! I have also been able to go off all meds except for the occasional Advil.

I'm basically just relying on diet changes for weight loss. It has been extremely slow going and very discouraging. But I keep telling myself I am in it for the long haul and that it's good to be able to function without additional pain or meds.

Regarding diet, I have had the most success with the following:

1. At least 50% of everything I eat is a whole vegetable, primarily salad greens, baked potatoes, broccoli, peas, green beans, mushrooms and carrots. I eat lots vegetable soup in a V8 base - extremely filling for very few calories.
2. Except for pasta all my "refined carbs" are whole grain (whole wheat breads, brown rice). I also severely limit these because even though I love them they don't really fill me up as much as they should for the calories.
3. I hardly eat any added sugars.
4. I drink only water, coffee, and lots of hot, plain green tea (sencha) - not sure about the magical health benefits, but it fills me up and I find the chlorophyll taste oddly satisfying.

I think you have done great already and you should give yourself a treat for making it this far. Just keep plugging away at lifestyle changes and improvements and you'll get there! :happy:

Perplexingminds · April 2014

Hi Laura,

Thank you so much for the response!I appreciate it soooo much. It helps knowing that going as slow as I have is actually helping my situation instead of hindering. I thought losing weight quickly would be better for the joints, but based on your experience it could actually make things worse. Not seeing numbers barely move is hard though I won't lie.

As for having the courage to continue through pain days is absolutely motivating! I felt very alone trying to move through the pain and my family wasn't understanding the fact despite the yelling and the tears I had to move. Their logic was if you're in pain don't move it goes against what your body is telling you. However, in arthritis diseases it's crucial to move otherwise the stiffness just gets worse. If I kept to their logic I would not have ever left a wheelchair.

Also, I think it's amazing that you were able to control your symptoms with diet and exercise. Unfortunately I will be on 4-6 week transfusions of Remicade for the rest of my life

That stuff is brutal! I also hate the Methotrexate too because my liver doesn't like it either so I don't drink or do drugs at all. (I use to be a social drinker 1-2 glasses a month kinda gal). I'm hoping as I build more strength I can do at least 2kms a day and I own an elliptical and I"m hoping I can do 20 min of that. I Have 2lbs ankle weights and 2lbs dumbbells but they feel like 10lbs lmao. I'm very weak but I try to do 5 reps per arm and leg.

As for diet I'm gonna try to add more green tea, but cutting sugar is very difficult to do. I drink watered down juice to try to cut it completely. I just stopped my pop addiction about 2 months ago. As for soups I think they are a great idea, I never considered them for a meal LoL. I know it sounds silly but I always associate soup with being sick LoL. I appreciate the diet info so much.

Keep up the awesome work and thank you again for the encouragement Laura :happy:

Lizzinc · April 2014

I have just come off of a 8 month stint of 80mg of prednisone a day. I have my third loading dose of remicade next week and I am feeling quite hopefull that I can get my weight under control. I have not been exercising much as all the medications and problems had me sedentary for the last 6 months and I gained about 80 pounds! In the last two weeks with a better diet and coming off the prednisone I've lost 7 pounds so I'm hoping to continue at a rapid pace for a while. I have a hard time exercising because I'm busy with 5 kids, running a business, doctors appointments, and I'm just in pain and exhausted most of the time. I'm hopeful I can get back on track though. :-)

Perplexingminds · April 2014

Hi BusySpaMommy,

I just wanted to say WoW! I commend you in being able to do everything you are doing! 7lbs lost is still 7lbs. I look at those photos of a pound of fat to help me realize that it's a lot more than what I think. The prednisone is a very awful drug indeed and I gained rapid too. Although I can't just blame the drug. I did eat a lot when I was in pain as it was one of the last few things I could enjoy, but then realized I was making myself more miserable and in pain by over eating. I hear ya on being tired. I find spinach in the morning curbs it a bit. I'm sure that things will settle and you'll get into a groove of healthy eating too. I just find with the bad pain days I just want to stay still and I find it hard to be motivated and that's why I started this thread. I feel alone in this as I see a lot of people with weight issues, but not with added complications of a chronic disease on top, so it's nice to know there are others, and they do struggle like I do but managed a way to be positive and forge through and succeed

As for the Remicade I'm on my second loading dose as of the 17th of April, haha on my birthday too. I had some complications with it, but my joints are starting to not be so swollen so we will see how this expensive drug fairs.

Thanks again for your words BusySpaMommy and I'm sure we both can get to where we want to be

Are there individuals who have a chronic pain condition?

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