Physical Check-In #2

Hopefully I can offer some options that help. I have a decent list of sitting exercises, but many of them engage your core significantly. I worry they might exacerbate your pain.

Tell me more about the situation with your back. It helps to know where in the back the pain is as well as the cause of the discomfort. I'll take a look and see if I can find anything that might be a fit.

I just saw this, I had surgery on my L-4, L-5 discs. I recovered and was doing great. Then I went into a complete psychosis and ended up in the hospital. I was put on Seroquel and gained 50 lbs. Since then my back is just awful. It's the lower back, hurts to bend and do much of anything. I just take ibuprofen and Tylenol for it.

Core exercises should be ok, I can try them and make sure I stretch really good. I appreciate your help. any ideas are welcome!

I'm not an expert in this space so I will start with the disclaimer that you should immediately stop any of these exercises if they bring you more pain. A bit of of soreness is to be expected though as you begin if you've been out of practice for a while.

Here's a short cardio workout option


Here are some ab exercises you could try


This is a low impact chair workout. I'm not sure if any of these moves would flare up back pain, but it may be worth a shot


Also, if you type 'exercises safe for back pain' into the Youtube search there are a bunch of options for stretches and yoga exercises that are meant to assist with the pain itself and strengthen your back. Working some of those options in seems like a good idea.

Start slow and work your way up. Any changes you make are valuable!

Thank you so much for this. I'm gonna start them tomorrow. I will let you know if any of them cause too much pain. Also thanks for the encouragement.

Well I did finally sleep!!!!’ But because I was in bed so long my pain level is actually higher but now mentally I can really work on getting in front of it.

My breathe is still just junk! My psoriasis flare is indeed popping up in other places.. I have an ointment from my dermatologist to hopefully help.

But I really need to get back on a biologic because that helps the PsA and skin involvement. I would not wish this on anyone.

We are leaving for Florida in 10 days !!! Last trip I almost forgot to go to the post office to hold our mail. Yes tomorrow I’ll start that list

You can hold mail online at the usps.gov site if that makes it easier for you

Thanks ! I forget that !

We did that once before because I forgot. But we had 3/4 days already delivered, so small town living helped us out because our mailman picked that stuff back up. I usually take my local post office a cake for the holidays, there’s only 2 office workers and 3 route drivers. My living room and master bedroom is bigger than the whole office lol

Coming from big city to a small town of at most 5000 was so strange at first lol

I hope you rest comfortably ~Christina!
bizi

Thanks Bizi

I’ve been slacking on my low carb diet for at least a week now. I went out to eat a lot. We haven’t gone food shopping in a couple of weeks so there’s not much food in the house. That’s definitely part of the reason why. I think I need to go to the food store on sunday and get a rotisserie chicken for the week and also some sopressata. I tried to eat deli I meat and cheese for lunch one day this week and it was awful. I hate deli meat. I rarely eat sandwiches. Just tuna salad. I can mKe tuna salad for lunch too. That’s low carb. I mean, I did OKAY this week but I could do much better. I doubt I lost any weight.

I bought the nicotine patch to help me quit smoking. Can’t do it cold turkey at all I wish I could but I just can’t. I’m hoping the patch and chewing regular gum will help.

I think you need to cut your self a bit more of a break.

Your trying to do 2 massive changes in your life at once. Quit smoking and trying to follow a diet at the same time ??

It almost sets most people up to just fail.

Maybe focus on the smoking bit and ease up on the diet a bit. I worry your going to just burn yourself out and then feel even worse about yourself.

Maybe just cut out fast food , or obvious carbs like bread and pasta... something that you can achieve easier, and once your down the road smoke free you can then focus harder on a diet.

Just a thought

I wasn't able to start the exercises fern recommended. I'm struggling right now to just stay out of panic mode. But thanks once again fern for the exercises.

Happy to help. You'll check them out when you feel ready. Hang in there Rose.

My throat is hurting a bit and my stomach is feeling off. I am praying I do not have the nasty virus my kids have been fighting off. My little one has had it for a week and is still fighting it.

I've been keeping up with my chair workouts this week and resting my foot as much as possible. It is nice to change things up once in a while. I found a couple of Youtube channels I want to follow now for new workouts to mix into my routine.

I saw my pdoc yesterday and asked her about the Mediterranean diet and its effect on mental health. She said she was not aware of any particular studies regarding it, so she's not up to date on the studies Dr. Marks mentioned in her videos. However, she told me that there is evidence to show that inflammation in the body can wreak havoc on all of your systems including mental health. She said any diet like the Mediterranean diet aimed at reducing inflammation is a great idea.

My husband was off from work today. Mid morning he wanted to run some errands. We went to so many places that I am totally beat. It's not yet 3 pm and I am resting in bed.

Oh I hope you don’t come down with a nasty bug

Yes inflammation body wide effects everything.. and defiantly mental health. I’m struggling a lot with the inflammation

Hope you are feeling better

How are you @~Christina?

Lunch:
2 Bacon wrapped chicken thighs....
there was some goat cheese in there too.
Swiss chard, beets and a side of avocado mashed.
2 diet stevia mountain dew sodas
very good!
Dinner:
4 pieces of sushi...no rice just veggies and shrimp.
6 oz of chicken salad that was delicious.
2 small squares of dark chocolate.

After working a late day I really thought about having a beer at whole foods where I was meeting up with hubby and friends they had just finished playing trivia. But I decided against that thinking I will hold out until we are on vacation. 53 days Alcohol free.

I am frustrated with my weight loss stall. Somehow I just thought the weight was going to fall off me when I decided to not drink those empty calories. or rather fattening drinks!!!!! But it has not happened that way. The first 5 pounds were easy....anyway.
11 pounds gone in 53 days.
bizi

Thanks Bizi , I’m really not doing well

I’m kinda stumped at you low number weight loss, your food choices are so much smarter and no beers .... I think if nothing changes soon I’d see your Doctor about it. Gotta be something going on

I am very sorry you are not doing well.
(((((((HUGS)))))))
wish it were easier for you.
I am sorry it is so hard.
bizi

bizi, that meal you mentioned sounded really good!!!

Fern, I hope you never ended up getting that virus you mentioned. Sometimes that stuff seems to come and go quickly. If you do have it, please don't let it go on as long as I did my bronchitis and cold (or flu).

I am so tired at the moment, and my back is a little sore. I just spent about 1 1/2 hours making the bee hive cookies I mentioned on the check-in thread yesterday. And I'm not completely done with them. When I am (tomorrow), I'll post a photo of the suckers on the check-in thread. That will be IT, in terms of my blog post cookie making. I say "blog post cookie making".

I have been pushing it a lot, physically. I am not in an acute flare from fibromyalgia , PsA and/or other. this gives me the opportunity to push harder than during other times.
I've been having an overall increase in pain, due to pushing myself. However, I've decided, at least for now, that I'd prefer to be more physically fit. I am in some degree of pain every day/night. Maybe I can be a fit person with chronic pain instead of being an unfit person with chronic pain. I'm giving it my best.

I am experiencing rather severe pain as I write as a result of pushing myself. I am very fortunate that my doctors will treat me for the additional pain, while they encourage me to work on increased fitness. Even so, it's a huge challenge.

I want to mention the fact that ~Christina and I are not currently in the same phase of PsA; she is having an acute flare. I cannot do much of anything when in the state she is in at this time. Additionally, we are treated differently. I am allowed very strong pain meds and still experience high degrees of pain. ~Christina is not allowed these types of meds. I cannot imagine going through this without an strong pain med.. It saddens my heart and makes me furious!

I believe it's important to continue to speak out about people who are truly suffering, in need of treatment with pain meds. It's important to counter the idea that everyone is a drug seeker, the idea that nobody needs these pain meds and that other meds can give as much or more relief. Many buy into the idea that opioids are detrimental. Opioids are often abused, just as other substances are abused.. If a person adheres to the guidelines set by their physician, opioids are generally quite safe. These ideas are erroneous/ignorant re: severe chronic pain and the extreme suffering experienced by people in this type of pain. it is this type of thinking that is responsible for people like ~Christina left suffering, often without any relief in sight.

It's my hope that I can continue wisely pushing myself in order to gain a greater degree of fitness. We will see!

Love to All!

@Wild Coyote
Good luck with your fitness goals.
sorry for your pain and suffering.
(((((((HUGS))))))))
bizi

Thanks Hun

Thanks BirdDancer! I definitely feel like I picked something up. It hasn't affected me as much as my kids, but it is slowing me down for sure.

I can't wait to see the bee hives. The hedgehogs and Christmas tree were fabulous.

Sending healing vibes to those who are struggling. Sending vibes of continued wellness to everyone who is blessed with good health at the moment.