I hit 40 not too long ago and I’m feeling it too. Arthritis in hips and hands flares up occasionally and makes life unpleasant. The only thing I’ve found that relaxing helps is managing inflammation through (a) reducing sugar intake, and (b) consuming spicy foods and healthy doses of cinnamon.
I put red pepper flakes or sriracha or sweet Thai chili sauce in anything that can bear it. Oddly enough, just eating cinnamon toast crunch cereal (store brand even) every morning has also helped immensely. When I run out and have to eat something else, I notice a definite uptick in arthritis symptoms.
I am so white I sunburn at night. The idea of spicy foods genuinely scares me. I avoid most BBQ chips or flavored stuff because that’s too spicy. I cannot tell you how utterly bland of a human being I am when it comes to food. That being said I’d pound it back right now. I’m having a gout flare-up at the moment. Couldn’t sleep because the pain was too severe. I would eat a mountain of jalapeno to be able to stand up right without being in agony.
Arthritis fucking sucks. My family is a cluster of autoimmune issues and the most common one seems to be an early-onset form of rheumatoid arthritis and it’s already fucking awful just in my mid-20s.
I know how that feels. The 2 only cats that i have contact atm, are from a friend. I have known those cats since they were born, for 16 years now. They don’t cuddle, not even with their owner.
They come to greet you, walk in front of every step for a few minutes. Some quick touches are allowed, but no cuddling. Sometimes they sit by my side for hours, but when i try cuddling, they relocate quickly.
They are like a touch repelling entity, one that you try to get hold on, but it automatically tries to evade you the whole time. One of them (Gonzo) even uses the noodlebones tactic, he almost becomes liquid, while getting away from any kind of holding.
It was so frustrating when i got to know them, but i quickly realized that’s just the way they are, no cuddles.
When they see you leaving, they repeat the greeting ritual and stand by the stairs watching until you are out of sight.
I know how to eliminate every inflammatory and autoimmune issue I have and it’s going back on keto… but my SO makes amazing pizza and nothing can replace it. So I’m dying slowly. Migraines, lack of energy, back and neck pain, joint pain and heart problems… diarrhea here I come!
TBH that would explain a lot, given I also have eosinophilic esophagitis. That's where you have an allergic/inflamatory reaction to stuff which results trouble swallowing it. Apparently most people don't have trouble swallowing pizza. Who knew?
Fathead dough shells. My wife makes them for me and pre-bakes them for a few minutes. They go in the freezer then I throw on some tomato paste, meats and cheese. It’s as good as any carb-heavy shells I’ve had, but YMMV.
Diagnosed at 25, Tis hella lame. There are days that I genuinely wanna cut my right big toe off because it hurts so much.
It’s not hopeless though. I started eating healthy, taking glucosamine and cod liver oil, vitamin supplements, drinking plenty of water and the pain has decreased a LOT. Inflammation is a removed and avoiding foods and drinks that aggravate it seems to help a lot, at least for me. It’s not an overnight thing but a couple months down the road, you might go “Huh, I’ve not been as shitty and depressed lately. Oh, I’ve not been in agony as much!”.
Just my experience, may be worth a go, can’t hurt! Not more than it currently does anyway, haha. Oh, get comfy-ass shoes too. Got me some Nike airs for going out and I would die without them! OH, and check out a 5 minute morning stretch routine. I thought yoga was bull until I was in so much pain I’d try anything and it really did help, just in general with back pain and stuff.
Good luck, try to stay positive and manage the pain the best you can. Find what works for you and things will get better :)
I’m sorta similar to you, but it’s OA (from movement disorder) in my left toe and had it since elementary. It’s progressed so much after 20+ years that the knuckle doubled in size and the joint dislocated itself.
For me unfortunately, it’s too far gone for stretches, diet or any other home-based remedy to work. The options on the table now would be regular cortisone shots (helps, but only temporary), joint replacement (issue prone w/ short lifespan), and a complete fusion of the joint. Right now I’m decided on fusion, I just need to work out the logistics and schedule it.
For anyone else in a similar boat, don’t ignore/put it off and please try to get help for it before you get stuck with surgery as the only option.
Once you hit a certain age it really is astonishing how impactful a simple dietary change can be.
Make a mental note of what you’ve been eating and your mood and physical state, or take it a step further and keep a food journal, and you’d quickly notice things like how reducing alcohol intake just a little bit improves your sleep, cutting out some sugar reduces headaches, eating cinnamon reduces general joint pain, etc.
I find myself craving salads and fresh vegetables almost as much as I crave sweets these days. And I love a good IPA, but goddamn do the hops give me some serious acid reflux at night. I’ve yet to eliminate anything completely from my diet, but some things like that have become a rare indulgence only.
Fuck the cure for the common cold, a non-addictive, general purpose, sure fire cure for chronic pain would probably be the medical breakthrough of the century.
It’s also anti inflammatory and will make you feel less depressed about the ailments it can’t take care of! It can have some negative side effects if you overdo it of course, and you can become too impaired to operate vehicles while using it, so I wouldn’t quite call it a miracle drug, but it’s still an extremely useful drug with minimal health risks. Not to mention it’s a good time, I don’t feel the need to use any other drugs recreationally since weed works so well and has so much less side effects (when used in moderation).
A lot of people struggle with moderation and withdrawals, so I wouldn’t go as far as to say it is non addictive unfortunately, but it is a lot less addictive than pain killers that’s for sure
Didn’t work for me. Getting rid of carbs in sugar did it but it’s hard to avoid something as tasty as my boyfriend’s bacon mushroom pizza… tried using alternatives to wheat flour and they are just as problematic or disgusting.
You know, it's not even that my arthritis is particularly painful. You get used to that.
It's that when I have a flare up, it's this thing that is always there. Like someone constantly distracting you by poking you with a pencil.
Why am I sad/angry today? Oh, that's right my knees are hurting and/or didn't sleep again due to nagging pain.
It's 7pm on a friday, I need to go sleep immediatley because I suddenly feel very very tired. Arthritis flare-up incoming. Go to bed within half an hour or else.
It's 4am. Why can't I sleep? Oh, it's my small toe which hurts for no reason.
It's 5am. Why am I awake? My toe doesn't hurt that bad. Oh, it's indigestion from the ibuprofen.
I have pain in my shoulders. I must have exercised too heavily. Best take a break. Oh wait, I didn't lift weights last week. I could have ignored that.
My shoulders hurt, it must be arthritis. Oh wait, nope. It was the weights, you shouldn't have ignored that, now you've injured yourself even more because you didn't take a break.
You know what fucks with my head is having to explain to people why I can do something today that I couldn’t do yesterday. So sometimes I just don’t do things I know I can’t always do, because I don’t feel like having conversations about my medical history. Or maybe I could help you carry that furniture today, but because one time six months ago I was using a cane, you’re going to insist that I don’t have to help.
I hadn’t ever really considered traveling with disabilities but I’m super glad that you had a good experience. Too often we hear horror stories. I’m glad you had a good one <3
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