Staying the Course -- 05/07/18

[Superbob]

Well, my old-age-sucks news is that for the first time since rehabbing from my knee replacement five years ago, I am having twinges of pain in my replaced knee. I did manage a dawgwalk, but I may have to re-evaluate exercise classes. One thought is that during cardio warmup maybe I should just pump my arms as though running and only tippy-toe otherwise. Really aren't supposed to jog with a replaced knee (I just remembered that). Hope to heck it doesn't get bad enough that I have to see orthopedist.

Taking DEW on a day-log 50-mile outing to NC with her ladies club tomorrow. Since it's the left knee, it's not the driving knee. Hope it stays pain-free as much as possible.

Lot to do this MOnday so will leave it there for now, and look forward to hearing about your courses being stayed.

Cheerio,

Superbob

 

[Superman]

All these little joints and such we take for granted until they don’t work right. Then comes the realization that, hey! I use this for a lot of different things! Sorry about the knee, Superbob. My lingering plantar fasciitis, while not the same thing, gives me a great deal of empathy.

In my world, my walking pneumonia might actually be whooping cough. Just had a chest X-ray and I’m going in for a swab test for anti-bodies to confirm diagnosis. At this point it won’t change my “wait it out and treat symptoms” plan, but hopefully provide info to those who have been exposed to me when I was more contagious. Still can’t get my workouts in, which is a bummer. Hard to stay the course this way.

 

[Paleowoman]

Hi Superbob - hope your knee holds out. I suspect, like you thought, you'll have to re-evaluate the exercise class though. I know from now two bad experiences that some exercises are not appropriate - my ankle went in my first cardiac rehab class back four years ago - a previous injury played up with fast reps with my ankles, and then this last January my shoulder went with fast reps in the re-rehab with bench press and weigted squats - both times I kind of knew deep down this was going to end badly as from experience my tendons do not take kindly to fast reps. Slow reps fine, fast reps bad.I'm day four after my shoulder steroid injection and still getting pain. It can take up to a week for the injection to take effect so I am still hoping...

I have an echo tomorrow.

 

[honeybunny]

SB, ditto to what Superman and Paleowoman said. Sorry your dealing with joint problems. I will feel my left knee buckle just a tad from time to time when doing stairs (not fully, just an "oh oh" type of feeling that prompts me to take a better grip on the handrail). No serious pain or movement problems at this time but I'm aware they could appear down the road.

I've been getting high fasting blood sugar levels (as high as 138) so I did some online research and found info about hormonal issues leading to a drop in glucose during the night resulting in a boomerang sort of increase of same. (@paleowoman, have you heard of this?) One suggestion was to take a vinegar supplement at night. Got some tablets at GNC and have taken them this week with good results. Fasting glucose levels have been below 110 which, while not fantastic, is acceptable. Weight is 152 so no real change there.

Been a crazy busy week at work but in a good way. Good to see everyone. Have a safe and healthy week~

 

[Paleowoman]

Hi honeybunny - When do you measure your fasting blood glucose ? There’s a thing called dawn phenomenon: everyone’s body releases certain hormones like cortisol and glucagon in the dawn time, roughly between 6 and 8am, which causes the liver to release glucose (it’s so we have enough energy to go off and hunt for our breakfast !) but if you’re diabetic then your pancreas cannot release enough insulin to cover the glucose release, or if you’re insulin resistant, and the longer you leave off having some breakfast the higher your blood glucose levels can go. So, one way to treat this is to have something light to eat very first thing in the morning, even just a cup of coffee or tea might do the trick, but don’t have anything carby. Also you can try having a high protein snack last thing at night. Good luck !

 

[Superbob]

Good advice to you above, HB. So true about the dawn phenomenon -- I know it well. Don't take me as your adviser -- I am far too lackadaisical about glucose measurement, but as long as my A1C is 6.5 or lower, I think things are hunky-dory. If I ever had a glucose reading of 110 or lower, I'd be worried I was going to crash from low blood sugar. But we are all different. I SHOULD be doing my readings daily, and I encourage YOU to continue being a good example to ME. I guess it's just that with stenotic back, dodgy bionic knee, heart device approaching 14 years mileage, I have other concerns that dominate, But diabetes SHOULD be up there because it can affect so many other aspects of health. (I do avoid eating whole cherry pies or a dozen Krispy Kremes at a sitting, as I might have done a few times in my youth.)

Shoutout to Superman, hope you're recovering from that nasty walking pneumonia (or whopping cough --wow!). Take care.

 

[Paleowoman]

Shoutout to Superman, hope you're recovering from that nasty walking pneumonia (or whopping cough --wow!). Take care.

Whooping cough - wow indeed ! You must be very youngSuperman or I’m very old, but now I’m showing my age, I had whooping cough as a child in the 1960s which was before a vaccine existed, everyone got whooping cough as children then. Just thinking, I see from your signature you had your BAV diagnosed in infancy - there I was with BAV and didn’t know it. I looked at a photo of me age three the other day and the first thought that came to mind was “my BAV was in there and I didn’t know it” - I’m not kidding, that’s exactly what I thought !

I suspect these things, like whooping cough, are worse in adulthood than they are in childhood (I had chicken pox as an adult and it was pretty terrible, apparently much worse than if I'd had it as a child), hope you are on the mend soon Superman !

 

[honeybunny]

Yes, dawn phenomenon is what I read about. I take a reading around 5 a.m before eating, sometimes after some sips of coffee.

Superman, wishing you a speedy recovery.

 

[Paleowoman]

i saw my cardiologist this morning to discuss the echo I had on Tuesday. The echo showed that since last year things have thankfully not changed, my peak pressure gradient is 58, mean is 31, and the EOA is 0.76 cm2. This is due to the patient prosthesis mismatch I have and explains why I have never got back to where I was before surgery (replacement valve area effectively smaller than my pre-surgery bicuspid valve area) and explains my symptoms (tiredness and some breathlessness). Because there’s no change I'm going to have the next echo in a year’s time instead of in six months unless I develop more symptoms. I’m relieved to be having a break from cardiologists.

 

[Seaton]

Free for a year! Good news, Anne. And a good sign, relatively.

But sorry to hear about those symptoms. At least things are ‘stable’ for now.

The best of health (and fitness!) to you.

 

[Seaton]

And, of course, Superbob good healing for your knee pain twinges. I hope it settles down soon. (I meant to put that first at the front of my last comment above to Anne! Just realised I hadn't.)

And Superman too! I managed to somehow avoid Whooping Cough through the '60s. Back when it seemed to be everywhere! A speedy recovery to you ;-)

 

[Superbob]

Seaton, thanks for your good wishes. As for me, my strange bout of knee pain pretty much went away -- just a little gimpy now. I went to exercise class today and modified when needed to minimize strain on the knee, and did fine. We have an amazing teacher who just went through 3 full days of training at an international conference to learn new exercises to teach us. It's up to me to make sure they are knee-friendly.

 

[Superman]

Getting exceedingly frustrated here. I can’t shake this cough. X-rays negative. Tested negative for pertussis, which is no surprise since I already had a course of antibiotics. So I don’t know what’s going on, but have coughing fits that close up my airway and leave me gasping/gulping for air. I don’t feel bad otherwise. No fever. No sore throat. Energy is okay aside from sleep lost to coughing. I can go up to an hour or more without coughing at all. This morning I was goofing around with my son, then just pushed a bit too hard and started another fit.

Kids are are starting to ask mom if I’m going to be okay. I don’t like them being worried. Dad’s supposed to be strong and make them feel safe. Trying to to reassure them that aside from the cough; I’m fine. Just really annoyed with it.

Suppose it’s time for a specialist but I really hate to waste the money if it’s just something I have to wait out.

Thanks for the vent. Happy Mother’s Day to all the great moms on the board!

Oh yeah. And I really hat plantar fasciitis. Best shape I’ve been in in 16 years, and I can’t enjoy it because of this stupid cough and foot pain.

As as long as I’m venting... On the bright side, a touch of diarrhea today should take any weight off that I’ve gained due to lack of exercise. What? TMI?

GRAAHHHHH!!!!!

 

[Superman]

Seaton, at this point I have to consider any and all input. I appreciate the product recommendation and will take a look.

Ironically, I was listening to a comedy bit on the radio the other day about plantar fasciitis. (Weird, right? How often does that get put in comedy routines?). The guy was funny. He closed with saying, “...the thing is, at the end of this show, at least ten of you will come up to me and say, ‘What you need to do is.....’. And I HAVE TO LISTEN. BECAUSE MY FOOT STILL HURTS!!!”

 

[Agian]

Superman, it's spring in the US. Are you sure it's not asthma. This can cause laryngospasm. This type of problem is very common in South Oz.

Give Ventolin a go. The other thing it could be is reflux. Acid can irritate your larynx, as well. You can get PPIs over the counter.

 

[MartinF]

Superman, I second Seaton's recommendation. I posted a couple weeks ago that I have had PF in my right foot and added heel lifts in my shoes. I put 2 in the shoe after 1 wasn't really working. You need to put these in all your shoes all day. Work shoes, walking shoes, etc. No flat bottom shoes until your PF gets better. Limit barefoot walking. I've been a runner for 40+ years and started to get PF after 40 years old. What I've read is that you need to strengthen your foot muscles. There is also a "sock" that you can wear in bed that pulls your foot up toward the shins. I hear that works too. I have also done ice baths and running barefoot to strengthen the foot muscles. I still have some pain but now I can get up in the morning and walk without limping.

Only about 10 miles of walking and running this week. I think I'll run a 5K for July 4th. It's one I go to and watch everyone else run.

Weight is stable but higher than I want. It's stress weight and hard to get rid of.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers.

 

[Seaton]

REPOSTING THIS AGAIN AS IT SEEMS TO HAVE DISAPPEARED FROM THE EARLIER STREAM

Greetings from the UK, Superman.

Sorry to hear about your current difficulties.

Re: Plantar fasciitis … I had this bad and hobbled for weeks. Eventually I bought some Scholl Orthaheel Regular Orthotic (Large size) inserts (I’m a shoe size UK 10, by the way. That’s 10.5 in the US). The Scholl inserts mention helping to relieve the symptoms of foot problems like P.F. by supporting the foot.

Once put inside my shoes they alleviated the pain almost immediately for me. After a week or two of continuous use, the pain had gone completely!

You may have tried something similar without success. But thought I’d mention it. Not saying it’’s the answer to your particular symptoms, but might be worth a try.

I couldn’t find the product for sale in the US on Google, but found some (seemingly shipped free) from the UK on Ebay US. Here’s a link:

Ebay US Link

Either way, hope things resolve soon.

Edit: Fixed link