I'm truly not a hypochondriac...
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion Archive: Archive January 2006:
I'm truly not a hypochondriac...
...but I've been thinking about my various aches and pains that've developed since I've reached 40! For those *ahem* women of a certain age, do you just put up with them, or do you have things you do to help (diet, exercise, medication)? I really wonder how I'm going to feel in another 20 years, if this is any indication! I want to be one of those silver-haired women who frolick on the cruise deck or tramp through the Amazon rain forest!
I'm 59 this year, and walk 3 miles 3 times a week. I bowl, go to collage, volunteer and travel extensively. My hair isn't silver (thanks to Revlon) I have aches and pains, but I don't dwell on any negative aspect of my life. My kids are grown and gone. We have some discretionary income, and I'm having a ball.
Well C***!!! I just typed a whole long response to you and it was lost in the cyberworld abyss! GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!
As I was saying............*all of the above*.....
Diet definitely will affect you - sugar causes inflammation which causes pain. Salt causes fluid retention, which can contribute to migraines, and also causes pain. Excessive sugar can cause yeast overgrowth, which can make you very sick as well as cause pain.
Exercise - always a good thing, but there are those of us with medical conditions where traditional exercise isn't always an option. So at the very least, stretching and walking is good. There are options - yoga, pilates, etc.
Medications - Supplements, OTC meds and Rx meds can help, depending on your condition - and depending on whether your pain is short term/temporary, or long term/chronic. And sometimes a combination of all of them works best.
Arthritis is a tough one to deal with. Most of the anti-inflams have been taken off the market, in part due to side effects, in part due to the number of lawsuits. Advil works well for pain and inflammation, but like any medication, you have to be conscious of the effects on ALL of your body, and in this case, particularly your tummy.
Heat or cold packs, chiropractic and massage therapy help a lot!
Usually a combination of diet, exercise and meds will help most of us. But there *are* those of us with conditions that need to be monitored.
Also, if you are not getting good sleep, THAT will affect you as well. Your body heals while you are sleeping, and also, a growth hormone, IGF-1 is produced in small bursts by your pituitary gland when you are in deep sleep. That's the hormone necessary for cell repair, and if you aren't getting proper sleep, you have a low level of IGF-1, and you don't heal, and you have more pain.... and when you have more pain, you tend to have trouble sleeping - you get the gist - it's a vicious cycle. I saw an endocrinologist a few years ago, and my IGF-1 level is about half of what it should be for a female my age.
If you've started experiencing a whole bunch of pains suddenly, it's probably a good idea to see your PCP and have some blood work - just to be sure you don't have anything serious going on. Better to be sure........
I have health issues and have been tested repeatedly for certain things (lupus & RA) and I test negative, but my doc tells me I present as classic RA. But I've had the back surgery issue too and all that goes with.....I don't recall that you've had that kind of stuff, right?
The bottom line is, the better you take care of yourself, the longer you can do the things you want to do. Most of us will, at some point, have aches and pains, but as Bea said, don't dwell on it. I, for one, try to not let it affect me doing the things I want to do. Obviously, you get to a point where you can't do EVERYthing you used to do, but it's a matter of how you choose to live your life, in most cases.
OH - and laugh often! A good attitude helps! 
At 67, my reaction is that "putting up with" pain or discomfort is just plain silly. I know that we women are acculturated to not complain, to grin and bear it, etc., but if it hurts, it should be dealt with.
Yes, exercise. But first, talk to a good doctor - preferably an orthopedic doctor - to find out what exercises are best for you and which ones might not be good. (Aerobics are good for a lot of people, but they can be high impact and with my knees and arthritis, I can't do them.) Walking is generally a good all-round exercise, especially if you carry light weights in each hand and swing your arms to get upper body exercise. Jogging or running might not be good for your joints. And yes, diet can make a difference (especially keeping your weight down).
And, yes, medication. But again, talk to a doctor. For example, my orthopedic doc recommends glucosamine+chondroitin, and it definitely helps. (A different dosage also helps our Rottweiler, who has hip displasia and a lot of joint problems.) It seems to work for a lot of people. He also recommends an over-the-counter inflammatory when I am aching, which I take maybe a couple of times a week, and a stronger, codeine-based medication if I am really in pain (I think I use about 40-50 of these a year).
But first, to second what Karen says, see your family doc and get a complete - complete and thorough - physical, which should include various blood tests and a urine test. Then, when you have this information in hand and have gone over it with your family doc, ask about a referral to an orthopedic doc.
One of the sad things about aging is that parts of our bodies do wear out. The cushioning in our spines (disks) gets thinner. We get some inflammation in our joints (arthritis). The cartilage in our joints (oh, my poor knees) gets thinner. (See the post about If My Body Were a Car.) That is the price you pay for living.
But there are a lot of things you can do to prevent or control the aches and pains. And, as Karen says, you get to a point where you can't do EVERYthing you used to do, but it's a matter of how you choose to live your life, in most cases.
AND - when you can't laugh, come here and cry on our shoulders! 
I hand out milk to the first graders and kindergarteners at the school where I work. Probably about 150 kids, give or take a few. The last few weeks, I notice I'm having elbow pain. I guess overuse from handing out all those milks, since they are like little weights. Over the past few days, I have been taking some ibuprofen once or twice a day. My elbows feel much better. Who would think that it would be hard to handle 8oz milk cartons! It's only about 15 minutes out of my whole day!
It hurt bad enough that if I needed to bend my arm to itch my face, it hurt! It feels much better now!
With the kids that I have been blessed with, I have needed to do lots of lifting always. It used to be no problem at all, but it is now. My right shoulder feels like it's frozen, my upper back is very tight, I've had tendonitis in the last year, and my arms are sore half the time. I love my massage therapist, and I take Robax Platinum almost every night. I use 800mg of motrin during the day if I have to, but try to avoid it. And yes, I'm now a year past 40.
Dawn, sounds like tendonitis - caused from repetitive motion! My JOB gives me that! LOL I've gone through *quite* the assortment of painful treatments to cure it, while still working.
Yeah, Karen, that is what I think, too! I can show you exactly where that tendon is! LOL!
I do tend to dwell on what I can't do, as opposed to what I can--I need to work on that! Actually, I'm in pretty good health, I just get impatient with a knee that hurts and my back that seems to hurt all the time (and, of course, when the headaches hit). Last year (or has it been two?) I broke myself of an addiction to Excedrin, so I'm very nervous about my tendency to reach for the medication. I used to take Motrin only occasionally, but it's become more and more of a "fix" for me...which I know isn't a good thing. But I'm not a brave "tough it out" type of person. (Gee, it's embarassing to admit that here!) There's a pilates for beginners class starting in town in a few weeks, and I think I'll try it out. Thanks for the comments!
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