nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

MyFitnessPal Community

Dealing with pain

electa1957

I have been suffering with back and hip pain for over a year. Seeing doctor’s but so far no real relief. I am frustrated and depressed as I am m on my own and need to be able to take care of myself. So I am eating for comfort and gaining weight. Which totally adds to the problem. Carrying an extra 50 pounds is contributing.

How to find comfort without the food binging

Replies

californiagirl1969

So sorry your going through this, my daughter is going through chronic body pain. She was referred to pain management specialist their trying to manage her pain with everything but any codone or oxycodone because they think everyone is drug seeking, so most of the time only relief she gets is when she goes to the ER, the California healthcare system is broken. They don't seem to care much for their patients, this is based on she has been in and out of specialty doctors and surgery and no complete diagnosis and no complete relief from pain. She's had physical therapy, acupuncture, Botox shots for nerve block pain in the head, which messed with her eye nerve, lots of the wrong pills like gabapentin and other nerve or depression meds for pain It's outrageous, I hope wherever you are it's better and you get what you need. Sorry about the rant.

claireychn074

Can I ask whether you have been given a diagnosis for your pain? It might not be the entire solution, but I wonder whether it would help you to find a combination of therapies which might start to help.
Carrying excess weight can definitely make many conditions worse, and so I wonder also whether you could arrange to see a dietician? Are there any hobbies you have which could be the focus instead of eating? Especially those where you could be in a group to get emotional support?
Complex pain is horrible and I hope you get the help you need.

Strudders67

I feel for you and hope you're able to get answers soon.

Assuming you're logging everything you eat and drink, could you look at your more calorie dense foods and make small tweaks to lower the numbers? That could be from slightly reducing your portion sizes (so you still get to enjoy the meals you like) or from finding lower calorie alternatives where possible, be that for main meals to allow for snacks or for absolutely everything.

Some breads are lower calories per slice than others simply because the slices are thinner. Some packets of crisps (I don't know where you are, but I think that's what Americans call chips) and chocolate bars are smaller than others so, whilst the value per 100g may be the same, you consume fewer calories. Ditch bread and have a big salad (with no or minimal dressing) with protein for lunch instead of a sandwich? Ditch (or significantly reduce) pasta, potatoes & rice and replace them with a bigger pile of veg? Some veg are higher in calories than others, so concentrate on the ones you like that are lower in calories. Look at which snacks are lower in calories and only buy those instead of the higher value ones? These suggestions may not stop you comfort eating, but may mean that it has less impact on your weight.

Feeling fuller (perhaps by ensuring you eat sufficient protein or fibre) may stop the bingeing, so perhaps play around with what helps. Finding something else to do, so that you're pre-occupied, may also stop any mindless bingeing.

Debbi_Again

I was having the same issues! My hip was hurting so bad I couldn't walk, couldn't find a comfortable position to sleep, couldn't even get off the toilet! I went to 3 different doctors and all they could find was a little arthritis and some inflammation. However, I am carrying 80 lbs of extra weight! So that's when I decided it was time to get it off. I went to a weight loss clinic and they are giving me supplements and peptides to decrease the inflammation. I'm down 25 lbs so far and I'm feeling soooo much better! I also started taking Provitalize - which is a probiotic but also says it perfect for joint pain and for women in menopause. It's a miracle drug! And I don't say that lightly! There's a little bit of hip and knee pain but the searing stabbing pain has stopped. I know I sound like a commercial but my sister told me about this and I thought it might help you.

AnnPT77

I didn't have severe and constant pain, but did have routine discomfort most of the time, and pain that disrupted activity sometimes, from arthritis, torn meniscus, upper left chest scar tissue pulling on stuff, periodic shoulder nerve impingement, and some other more minor things.

Simply losing weight made a huge improvement for me: I still have some discomfort moderately often, but mostly at a level I can ignore. Real pain is very rare. Overall, much less pain or discomfort, much less often. It took a little time (healing?) for the full improvement to settle in, but it's been a major quality of life improvement.

In my case, weight loss happened entirely on the food/eating side of the equation. I did the kind of thing that @Strudders67 describes above, basically remodeling my routine eating habits in a more positive direction to reduce calories to the right level - not some wild, difficult "official diet".

Admittedly, I was already pretty active at the start of weight loss, something that I'd gradually worked on over the previous decade while staying obese. My orthopedic doctor told me I wasn't burning any bridges by working through discomfort/pain to my level of pain tolerance, i.e., he thought I'd need surgery eventually but deferring that was OK as long as I was able to get on with life. (It's been around 20 years; I haven't needed that surgery yet. I'm 70 now, so - who knows - maybe I can do OK without it forever?)

It took some experimenting to figure out what activities I could do with only tolerable discomfort or pain. I rejected things I tried that made pain persistently worse, but was OK with some things that hurt a little while doing them, or that caused sore muscles afterward for a day or few. It as a gradual process, for sure.

I didn't increase exercise significantly to lose weight, just continued things I'd been doing and balanced my eating better to create a sensibly moderate calorie deficit.

The reason I'm saying all of that about activities: Even before weight loss, over time (months/years), I gradually got stronger and fitter, and that, too, caused some reduction in pain frequency/severity. Also, it made me able to do daily life things that were previously difficult or impossible for me. Becoming more active was an investment, a thing that took time and patient perseverance, but it paid off for me in the long run. I'm not saying that's a universal guarantee, but I know others who've had a similar experience.

Things that have helped me along the way include limited courses of medication (pain meds, muscle relaxants as required); osteopathic manipulation at a university clinic regularly; professional therapeutic massage for some periods of time; acupuncture (once); multiple rounds of physical therapy for various issues; periods of consistently stretching, doing mild yoga, balance or mobility exercises at home (from free videos in some cases).

I think there is not a quick fix, and I know that's hard, but I think improvement is possible. Personally, I think one key is not to use tactics so extreme that it's hard to keep going, but rather to find things that are doable and a mild, manageable challenge.

I hope you're able to find a successful path, because if your experience is like mine, the payoff can be truly major. At first, it's tempting to see it as a giant mountain it will be impossible to climb. But committing to a patient one step at a time consistently over a longer time period - that can work.

Wishing you success!

BarbLoki

Ask your doctor to put you on Zepbound shots. It reduces inflammation and joint pain and removes food noise so you can lose the weight. I've been on it 10 months and I feel great! I've also lost 35 of the 50 lbs I need to lose.

elisa123gal

Look up El Paso Manual Physical Therapy on YouTube.

.I got some great help/cure for knee pain/ . He also talks a lot about hip pain. Can't hurt to try what he advises. it works pretty fast .