Frump to Fab 2024

thepurplepixie

Thanks for all the advice.  The update so far is I took 3 ibuprofen on Thursday which kept on top of the pain but didn't make me painfree.  Friday I again took 3 and it did seem like the pain was further reduced.  Today I've had 2 and still OK 8 hrs after the last one, going to put a heat pack on and see how it goes.

I've also had 30 min soak in an epsom salts bath and used the rub on gel someone recommended.  I think it is helping but of course I'm not sure how it will be when the pain killers are completely out of my system.  I might take 2 tomorrow and Monday and then review.  I'm using Flarin which is ibuprofen but in lipids rather than liquids and apparently gentler on the stomach.

I feel more positive so hope it continues to improve.  I have dropped the exercises the physio gave me as I am sure they were making it worse, I told my chiropractor I was stopping the physios exercises and going to do his and he told me to take a weeks break and then do his exercises every other day.  I have thought of a massage and there is one where I go to see the chiropractor so when I see him next I will ask what he thinks.  You can also get accupuncture at the same place so lots to consider. I'm not sure what Reiki is so I must look that up.

@Watty1 I will remember your warning, hopefully I won't be tempted to carry on with them as I don't like painkillers, generally they don't seem to help me much with pain but make me woozy.  Well done on coming off them, it must be tough.

I have looked at exercises on line and they are much more like what the chiropractor has suggested and not nearly as aggressive as the physio.

Floss

@thepurplepixie please read the direction given in both the oral & gel medication for specific limits on use.

helensbiggestfan

Happy Mother's Day 💐🥂

thepurplepixie

So Thursday and Friday I took 3 ibuprofen, Saturday and Sunday I took 2.  I haven't had any today but I might have one soon as we are going out to lunch and will probably have a walk along the beach and want to enjoy it.  Tomorrow I won't have any and then assess how things are.  My feelings at the moment are it has improved but if after a day without painkillers I'm back to square one I will see my GP and ask if I can have it investigated, it is over 3 months since my slip and I think it would be reasonable to look at what is going on.

thepurplepixie

So Thursday and Friday I took 3 ibuprofen, Saturday and Sunday I took 2.  I haven't had any today but I might have one soon as we are going out to lunch and will probably have a walk along the beach and want to enjoy it.  Tomorrow I won't have any and then assess how things are.  My feelings at the moment are it has improved but if after a day without painkillers I'm back to square one I will see my GP and ask if I can have it investigated, it is over 3 months since my slip and I think it would be reasonable to look at what is going on.

helensbiggestfan

Artist.......you are right.  You have to break the pain cycle to promote healing.  Otherwise your body can make its own postural adaptations  in an attempt to alleviate pain and this can lead to further complications further down the line. Ask me how I know.  Clue. The necessity of my chiro sessions....

Good Morning Lovely Ladies.  

What a week........

the good news......had a cortisol injection in my knee yesterday.  The sheer bliss of being pain free.  Got so fed up with being messed about by my local NHS GP practice I made a private GP appt.  £80 for 30 minute consultation.   You can pay that on a night out!!!  Plus £70 for the injection.  Worth every single penny.  

He also looked at my shoulder.  He says I don't need surgery Phew!!!  (which was the only thing my NHS GP could suggest). It's not arthritis its bicep tendonitis, caused by trauma. I had pretty much guessed as much having had two bad car crashes and a nasty fall during a storm at sea. Lol.  On each case it was my right hand side which took the full brunt of the impact.  

Anyway he reckons it's treatable through targeted exercise which he took me through. He said he had the same thing through playing cricket and that the exercises and stretches worked like a dream.  There's no bursitis so cortisone injections aren't necessary either at this stage, but it's an option if the exercise isnt sufficient.   He was impressed by my range of movement and flexibility (for my age!!!!, cheeky sod😂).  Just goes to show yoga/pilates does pay off.  

The not so good news.....more  delays with my implants, due to the lab making yet more mistakes.  Can only have one crown fitted today, the next two will be another couple of weeks.  Honestly you couldn't make it up.  

More less good news.  Caught a lurgy from my grandchildren who generously passed on their bugs. Bless their little cotton socks. Feeling better by the day.  

Other than that not much news......just so pleased I got my knee sorted out, means I can at least start walking more and exercising properly.. I will never run a marathon or climb K2 but it will be nice to not be hobbling around wincing in pain.  

Now just need to shift that blasted weight.....

Just this minute had a call to say my 96 year old aunt died last night,  my mums sister, not a bad innings as they say.  She's the last of that "great generation". My parents lived till they were just shy of 90, my maternal grandmother died at 90 and now my maternal aunt at 96 so I have a great genetic inheritance. The rest is up to me,  I shall be 73 this year and I would love to hit that 100 mark.  So this year I want to lose the fat and build up muscle.  I doubt I will ever be a gym bunny because gyms bore me to tears but I do intend to up my game with exercise.  

 And of course I want to look FAB-U-LOUS. 😁.

A wardrobe full of lovely clothes awaits, if only I could fit into them. I WILL do it, I have spoken!!!!  

This weeks fabbing purchase, treated myself to a nice pair of earrings,  only £10 so not exactly broken the bank.  I try not to spend too much on earrings because I have a nasty habit of losing them.  

Makingabobor2

Ooh @helensbiggestfan, so some good news and some not so good.  Pleased you managed to get some good advice from private Dr, I do think spending money on our health is worth every penny.  
Sorry to hear about your aunt, but as you say, she had a good innings.  My dad will be 92 in august and his brother is almost 94, so I'm hoping I inherited their genes. My mum was 86 when she passed, but she had a brain tumour and spent the last 10 years of her life in a nursing home, so think if she hadn't had that, she would have been ok as she was still very active right up until she had to go in the home. 
Can't believe you are 73. By reading your posts I would have put you more at my age....66. So you are doing well and definitely have the right mind set & outlook on life, which I think is the main thing.  My MIL, is 77 (Dh is 12 years younger than me, so that's why I have a young MIL...lol), FIL is 85, but they do nothing, go nowhere, have no friends, eat rubbish and are basically "waiting for God", DH & I have tried so hard to get them to come out with us, given them vouchers for afternoon teas, invited them on holidays with us, or even offered to drive them to a destination if they prefer to go alone. But they literally do nothing, except food shopping....very local, do a few bits in the garden, watch TV and MIL plays computer games!  DH and I have got to the stage now, where we've given up trying...what is they say "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink"!  MIL has even been diagnosed as pre diabetic ,but she wouldn't go to the free information course that the GP referred her to and had no interest in any of the exercises I showed her online....says her knees are too bad and she gets too out of breath!  Well, I wonder why?  'Cause she doesn't mover enough I would imagine!    Anyway, I'll get off my soap box now and just say you are doing amazingly well. If we lived close together we could become walking & exercise buddies....lol

FreetodoasIlike

@artistlifestyle Your post on pain killers was very thought provoking. I’m trying to come off codeine and caffeine tablets (SyndolVeganin) for my persistent tension headaches as I know the painkillers make the headaches worse! Paracetamol doesn’t seem to touch my headaches at all, so I think I’ve become a bit addicted to them and I need to break the cycle (I KNOW they can cause addiction - even warns you on the box!!). I’m doing Ok but still cave in (like yesterday) so I’m going to bite the bullet and go cold turkey. I imagine it will be a week or two (maybe months) and I know my headaches won’t stop immediately but it will be worth it in the end. I have been checked at the hospital so there is no underlying cause just that constant use makes the headaches worse. I’m also trying to drink more water as well. @helensbiggestfan - I know you have come off caffeine so I imagine it’s a similar thing i.e. that things get worse before they get better, so I will persevere!

@helensbiggestfan A big BOO to the delay on your implants, particularly with the mess up with the lab. I go next week to see the dental surgeon (he is affiliated to the practice but isn’t there on a daily basis) who will tell me if the implants have knitted with the bone and hopefully I will then be able to have the implant crowns. I know the drill, as I have 6 implants already, so I know that it’s a long process. Good news on your cortisol injection for your knee and that you’re pain free. Like you say, it was worth every penny. As you say, 96 was a good innings for your aunt. My mum is 102 so I would like to live to a good age (68 now) provided that I have my health of course (both physically and mentally). 

I also need to get this pesky stone and a bit off before summer. I too have some lovely clothes that I can’t really fit into. It’s so frustrating! It’s not just that I want to look better (well, obviously I DO want to look fab!) but I want to FEEL better as well. I have some really nice summer dresses that are really too tight for me. I tend to be top heavy with a bit of a tummy, so that’s where the weight gain is noticeable (my hips are probably the same size when I was smaller) so it’s dresses and tops that are straining and it’s so uncomfortable. I will be cheering you on, on your weight loss journey and will join you, so we will crack this!! I think I mentioned in a previous post is that the trick is to catch the weight gain in the bud (i.e. when you gain just a little, like 5lbs) take it off straightaway, rather than it creeping up to a stone or more, so once the weight is finally off, I won’t let it creep back on (

@artistlifestyle How is your decluttering going on? Are you there now?

thepurplepixie

@artistlifestyle Thanks for the advice, that is pretty much what I've been doing and it has helped.  Some days are better than others, not sure why, yesterday I was virtually painfree but today it is nagging a bit.  I have the chiropractor on Monday.  I spoke to doctor on Tuesday when I was having a particularly bad day, his advice?  He issued a prescription for paracetamol.  I pushed and got referred for an xray so I am waiting for that.  My chiropractor and the physio I saw are pretty sure it is soft tissue damage but I would feel happy to rule anything else out.

@helensbiggestfan £70 for the injection is a bargain.  I enquired about it at our local private hospital and was quoted £2,000 for a guided injection in my hip!  Not sure why that is so much.  I had long covid which was causing joint pain which was particularly bad in my right hand and had a cortisol injection, again guided, and it was brilliant and I've had no problems with it for 18 months so I was interested in if it would help my hip but £2k seems a lot.

I am sleeping better as the pain is much less and I feel better in myself.

artistlifestyle

@FreetodoasIlike Headaches as you’ve found out can be slightly different re pain meds. Can I suggest you try a cranial sacral practitioner while you’re stopping the pain meds. Also have you tried progressive muscle relaxation? It’s really effective. 

Thanks for asking about my progress. My decluttering of the studio and house has gone well but is not finished. (Is it ever?). Extra shifts at work and then an unexpected health blip has slowed the progress. Family coming tomorrow and then Granny (me) is being left in charge from mon to Weds. More house sorting will carry on after this and fitted around work.  The filing is almost done and the new coloured files from WHSmith helped. I’m pleased with how everything looks, and I’ve already donated surplus furniture to the local community store, and also put some surplus shelves and plastic drawers out for free in the lane saying please take me, and they vanished while I was at work. A good result. Several trips to the charity shops too with smaller donations. Will need one more small ikea trofast storage unit to finish the studio but then it’ll be wonderful. The studio sorting has been five years in the waiting, always previously made do, and now I have more time to sort it, and I’m excited to soon let more creativity flow freely. I’ve made enough of a difference so far to make me want to get it done. The change in the space and light is exciting. Can’t believe I’ve been here almost 5 years. 

Keep us posted @thepurplepixie and hope you feel better soon

you’re an inspiration @helensbiggestfan and I’m sorry to hear about your Aunt, what a generation. Lots of my family got to their 90’s too.
 Genetics are 20% of life expectancy, the rest is down to lifestyle choices and a bit of luck. 

@Makingabobor2 love the idea of walking buddies and accountability, sorry about your Mum, that was hard. 

Will hopefully catch up next week when Granny’s off duty 😂😂😂