ways to beat your body

[knot_sweet]

As I recently found out, much to my disgust and sadness, I've been given the unwelcome diagnoses of arthritis.

Left hip, both knees, lumbar sacral region and the L2/3 vertebrae.

And yeah, it bloody well hurts like a bitch. Even sitting here I can feel the dull ache down my left ass cheek. I know that when I go to stand up, it'll take me a couple of extra moments to figure out how to do it without that awful spasm. And the ungainly duck waddle until everything loosens up again and I can walk normally.

So help me out here...I don't want to give up play. And I know that there are just some things I flat out won't be able to do any more.

But for those of you with similar issues, are there ways I can prepare before play or recover faster and well after play?

I don't want to make this a central part of my life. I want to be able to normalise it, routine it, make it background noise so that my partner isn't thinking "need to be careful, need to be gentle" or second guess every move he makes.

I'm 33 dammit, not 100. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life saying "oh, sorry, can't, I have arthritis'.

Any and all advice, suggestions and experience gratefully appreciated.

 

[Sir_Winston54]

Osteo- or rheumatic?

Either way, for play, etc., beforehand, give the achey-breaky parts some rest and TLC. As aftercare, moist heat on/around the affected parts/areas will help.

For the rest of life, talk to your doctor(s). Explain that your normal life includes some physical stressors (if you're comfortable being a little blunt with your doc, say, "you know, kind of, um, energetic sex") and ask how to minimize and alleviate pain, etc. This line: "I'm 33 dammit, not 100. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life saying 'oh, sorry, can't, I have arthritis'" is one that any doc with any modicum of empathy in his/her soul will understand and do his/her best to help you keep your life as normalized as possible.

My neurologist, when asked how I could minimize the effects of the seizure disorder and the removal of part of the sensory region of my brain controlling sensory nerves and fine muscle control of my left hand to allow me to return from my current 17-22 wpm to somewhere near my normal 65-70 wpm, said, "Well, you can practice a lot, but don't expect to get over 30-35 wpm again, ever." (Incidentally, I counted the errors I made and had to correct in the three paragraphs before this one: 43 {not including errors made attempting to correct original errors} )

 

[Endless_Night]

Exercise should help, cardio and strength training in particular. Just start slow.

Increasing your vitamin C intake should also help. Arthritis is basically inflammation, the gateway to numerous diseases and bodily dysfunction. If you don't like pills, or can't eat adequate fruit, there are several "mix with water" C supplements. The latter generally have the added benefit of water soluble B vitamins, though typically an added "sweetening" component as well.

Do you have any food intolerances? Not necessarily full blown allergies, just foods that don't quite sit right. Dairy, gluten, corn, etc. are common offenders. Inflammation is a common symptom. Sometimes easing off a food/s that your body doesn't like will produce a significant drop in inflammation.

 

[the captians wench]

Exercise should help, cardio and strength training in particular. Just start slow.

Increasing your vitamin C intake should also help. Arthritis is basically inflammation, the gateway to numerous diseases and bodily dysfunction. If you don't like pills, or can't eat adequate fruit, there are several "mix with water" C supplements. The latter generally have the added benefit of water soluble B vitamins, though typically an added "sweetening" component as well.

Do you have any food intolerances? Not necessarily full blown allergies, just foods that don't quite sit right. Dairy, gluten, corn, etc. are common offenders. Inflammation is a common symptom. Sometimes easing off a food/s that your body doesn't like will produce a significant drop in inflammation.

This is something I'm playing with.

A little more than a year ago, I started having strange allergy attacks. I broke out in hives all of the time, and even went to ER a few times because I couldn't breath. We got it to the point where it was manageable, but I wasn't happy with it still.

Then I stopped drinking diet soda, or anything sweetened with aspartame, and the hives stopped. I went completely off of the clairitin (which I was taking 4 times a day and still red and puffy) and only took my night time super antihistamine.

That lasted about 3 weeks and life was great. Then I got uber stressed out and cracked and I'm fighting the soda addiction again.

One thing I noticed though, was that my normal achy tired feeling was gone as well. I just all over felt great.

So next appointment I'm going to talk to the allergist about aspartame poisoning.

 

[Ahlam]

I've succeeded in reducing inflammation of joints by taking a lot of grape seed extract. I used to not be able to remove my rings, and now I can.

 

[bhndblueyes88]

Not helpful for advice for play, but Fish Oil is a great supplement to take as well. There are a lot of studies showing it helps RA, and most doctors feel comfortable recommending it with at least "it definitely can't hurt"

Just make sure you take enough. There's a lot of different numbers out there in the literature, but most of them conclude that "it helps if you take enough".

 

[knot_sweet]

Osteo- or rheumatic?

Either way, for play, etc., beforehand, give the achey-breaky parts some rest and TLC. As aftercare, moist heat on/around the affected parts/areas will help.

For the rest of life, talk to your doctor(s). Explain that your normal life includes some physical stressors (if you're comfortable being a little blunt with your doc, say, "you know, kind of, um, energetic sex") and ask how to minimize and alleviate pain, etc. This line: "I'm 33 dammit, not 100. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life saying 'oh, sorry, can't, I have arthritis'" is one that any doc with any modicum of empathy in his/her soul will understand and do his/her best to help you keep your life as normalized as possible.

My neurologist, when asked how I could minimize the effects of the seizure disorder and the removal of part of the sensory region of my brain controlling sensory nerves and fine muscle control of my left hand to allow me to return from my current 17-22 wpm to somewhere near my normal 65-70 wpm, said, "Well, you can practice a lot, but don't expect to get over 30-35 wpm again, ever." (Incidentally, I counted the errors I made and had to correct in the three paragraphs before this one: 43 {not including errors made attempting to correct original errors} )

Thanks Sir W - It's the Osteo kind as opposed to rheumatic. When you say moist heat, do you mean a hot damp towel or ?? There must be a better option...

And I'd take your slow but grammatically perfect masterpieces of type of slipshod quickie tweet style blah any day.

The best things always take time

 

[knot_sweet]

Not helpful for advice for play, but Fish Oil is a great supplement to take as well. There are a lot of studies showing it helps RA, and most doctors feel comfortable recommending it with at least "it definitely can't hurt"

Just make sure you take enough. There's a lot of different numbers out there in the literature, but most of them conclude that "it helps if you take enough".

I can't take fish oil cos it makes me nauseous, but I am taking a chondroitin / glucosamine supplement. Any advice about those?

 

[Sir_Winston54]

Thanks Sir W - It's the Osteo kind as opposed to rheumatic. When you say moist heat, do you mean a hot damp towel or ?? There must be a better option...

And I'd take your slow but grammatically perfect masterpieces of type of slipshod quickie tweet style blah any day.

The best things always take time

If you Google "moist heat," it comes up with hundreds of moist heat pads and moist heat packs, some of which are microwave-able, and just about all of which are reusable multiple times. Strangely enough, for something that is nearly a necessity for many, many people, most of them are resonably priced, too!

Thank you. It is a bit frustrating to, after spending most of my adult life on a keyboard 40% or more of the day, take four to five times as long to type whatever it is I want to say. I've actually descended to using a telephone for communicating some things, because the typing issue is so frustrating to me some days.

 

[DVS]

Thanks Sir W - It's the Osteo kind as opposed to rheumatic. When you say moist heat, do you mean a hot damp towel or ?? There must be a better option...

And I'd take your slow but grammatically perfect masterpieces of type of slipshod quickie tweet style blah any day.

The best things always take time

Moist heat is just like it says. It's considered much better for the body than a basic heating pad, which is dry. The cheapest method for moist heat is a basic heating pad with a damp cloth between it and you. But, like Sir_Winston said, there are quite a few products on the market that you can get, pop it in the microwave for a short bit, and you have a moist heating pad. I've usually found mine at Walmart. Not that I need more than one...I tend to misplace them.

 

[bhndblueyes88]

I can't take fish oil cos it makes me nauseous, but I am taking a chondroitin / glucosamine supplement. Any advice about those?

I'd just make sure you're getting a quality product, which is hard to verify. If your doctor recommended a specific supplement, I'd take that one even if it's more expensive. Otherwise, I'd say look for products that have some quality control certification AND look up that quality control certification to see how legit it is. I wish I could help you more with this, but I can't remember any of the ones to look for off the top of my head

They do have straight Omega-3 supplements, if you'd still be interested in pursuing that. I don't know how use of those compares to Fish Oil, or if they'd upset your stomach as well. They're probably also more $$$ >_<

Some more ideas. Ginger and Turmeric are both popular supplements for OA, and there's good research behind them. Turmeric is actually being realized as a powerhouse for many inflammatory and cancerous diseases. "Curcumin" is the active ingredient and some supplements say this instead of turmeric. Green tea is also generally anti-inflammatory and may help. I do have a bias that tea will help everything, if only by soothing your soul. <3 tea

I haven't heard about this being done in humans, but in cats and dogs we have a supplement (Duralactin) that is a specific milk protein from hyperimmunized cows. It works GREAT, particularly for cats! Like I said, I have NO IDEA if this is used in human medicine or if it would work for humans. It may be something to ask about, though!

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-s...ives-and-supplements-for-arthritis-joint-pain


One concept I've heard discussed is eating "low inflammation" diets. These sorts of diets are usually used by people with RA or other chronic primary inflammation diseases. If it's something that sounds interesting to you, though, I doubt it can hurt. The diets are usually pretty much just "eat less starch. eat more greens"

 

[Ahlam]

In the US, there is no real regulation or quality control for supplements. Most supplements (fish oils included) are processed like food and have little or no true guarantee of potency. They're handled in factories in a manner that might be similar to the production of a box of macaroni and cheese. For this reason, it's important to seek out supplements that are "pharmaceutical grade" if you're going to bother.

bhndblueyes88 mentioned an anti-inflammation diet. My doctor put me on something like that, and it has yielded some good results. Basically, you avoid processed starches, sugars, and processed meats. It's something most people could likely benefit from, arthritic or otherwise.

I'm 29 and was diagnosed with rheumatoid Arthritis five years ago. I'm active (work out almost daily), and I have so far been able to handle anything people have wanted to dish out during play. My symptoms are well-managed with the aid of quality supplements, good habits, and assistance from a natorapathic physician. It definitely sucks to be young and arthritic (delusion of invincibility, where art thou?), but I sort of feel like it was a stroke of good luck because it has forced me to adopt a lifestyle that is vastly more healthy than what I might have otherwise chosen. If you can successfully manage your symptoms, you'll find there's little to physically prevent you from having a good time.

 

[bhndblueyes88]

I'm 29 and was diagnosed with rheumatoid Arthritis five years ago. I'm active (work out almost daily), and I have so far been able to handle anything people have wanted to dish out during play. My symptoms are well-managed with the aid of quality supplements, good habits, and assistance from a natorapathic physician. It definitely sucks to be young and arthritic (delusion of invincibility, where art thou?), but I sort of feel like it was a stroke of good luck because it has forced me to adopt a lifestyle that is vastly more healthy than what I might have otherwise chosen. If you can successfully manage your symptoms, you'll find there's little to physically prevent you from having a good time.

Ahlam mentions a naturopathic physician here. It didn't occur to me to bring it up, but it could definitely help to seek one out. I think of them as being "whole body health" experts. They're REALLY good at finding your body's imbalances and leveling them out. It requires a little bit of faith on your part to trust something that's "different" from conventional westernized medicine, but my mom and I had great experiences after being treated like shit and ignored by "normal doctors". They'll also have the best resources on supplements

 

[WhipLuvr]

If you Google "moist heat," it comes up with hundreds of moist heat pads and moist heat packs, some of which are microwave-able, and just about all of which are reusable multiple times. Strangely enough, for something that is nearly a necessity for many, many people, most of them are resonably priced, too!

Thank you. It is a bit frustrating to, after spending most of my adult life on a keyboard 40% or more of the day, take four to five times as long to type whatever it is I want to say. I've actually descended to using a telephone for communicating some things, because the typing issue is so frustrating to me some days.

If you have trouble typing, there are a few free speech-to-text engines you might like to try. On Google plus, for example, there's one called Dictanote. You can always try around and find one that suits you. Once you get it calibrated it might be easier for you, as well as freeing up your hands for other activities