Physical vs mental health

Just wondering which you guys would prioritise?
A few years ago I realised that exercise really does help my depression, I'm not very good at doing things just for my own benefit so my current occupation where I have to walk 12+ miles a day and be outside whatever the weather is fantastic.
Especially now I'm off meds I can feel the difference, if im off work for any reason and quite inactive for more than a couple of days I feel myself heading to that dark place again However....
I have some ongoing issues (by which I mean I have suffered my entire life) with almost constant pain in my knees, lower legs and feet, never properly diagnosed, just dismissed as growing pains or completely ignored by doctors.
Last time I saw the GP about this he said I should just quit my job because then the pain would probably stop, but if I do that I know my depression would end up "winning"
So which would you choose?
Keep ongoing physical pain to keep *relatively* mentally well
Or
A life in mental distress or on meds which i can clearly do without, just so I'm not in physical pain

I don't think you have to choose.
You said that these pains have been ongoing for many years, before your current job. So the first thing i would do is get it examined by a doctor.
If the worst came to the worst and you had to stop this job, you could find alternative exercise to release those endorphins :-)

I have to agree with HealingTimes because it sounds like your doctors have sucked. Something is wrong in your knees and needs fixed.

I would prioritise finding another GP who will actually investigate what is going on with you instead of giving such duff advice. Sorry to be blunt...

please get seen by a different doc and maybe keep exercising even if you're on meds.

you should get seen by someone, but at the same time make sure you look after yourself... it is important to keep on top of how you are feeling mentally. specially if you're not doing so good right now

Or it is not your knees and something else physical that causes your knees to be in pain, or it is your knees, either way you need a dr who listens and investigates to find the source. For me it has been autoimmune disease. It took a lot of doctors and specialists along with me making a lot of noise to get to the bottom of it. But don't settle for no answers, it isn't worth it in the long run.

Exercise has helped me tremedously too, and I am no longer on meds either. I am trainkng for a half marathon despite my physical illness and pain, because I want to do it, and feel like choosing isn't an option I want to take.

I guess I try not to look at it as physical vs mental. The two do affect each other and are both part of whole wellbeing, they are connected, and our brains are a physical organ as well.

Hopefully you can find out what is causeing the pain, so that you can find a way to manage the problem. But I wouldn't choose between the two as they both lead to good health or neglected they can both lead to ill health.

You're walking a very long way at 12+ miles a day. I have 3 ruptured discs and try to walk 5.25 miles a day around a lake in my town. My goal for optimal results are 15min miles and I carry a pedometer. I do it about 5 days a week, and I want to incorporate pilates/yoga/light arm weight repetitions to be more well rounded. My Dr. said the very best exercise I could do with chronic pain is swim. It's frustrating bc I gained weight on abilify and am having a really hard time losing it so I switched meds. I also try to eat a healthy diet.

Good Luck,

TnT

12 miles every day your knees wont take it, I am a retired bricklayer because my knees are shot and waiting for knee replacements that just with using ladders and kneeling on wet surfaces. I take the pain in my knees , but I cannot take the depression pain has good, give me physical pain any day . You are addicted to walking if your doing 12 miles YOUR HOLE BODY WILL PAY IN THE END.

Maybe you can find another kind of exercise that won't be so hard on your joints. When I suffered from tendonitis, the doctor recommended swimming. Now I love to swim and it's a great stress reliever. Try yoga or low-impact exercise. I've heard that elliptical machines are supposed to be great for arthritis.

Walking is great, but try to do a bit less (12 miles is a lot for daily) and find something to supplement it. Maybe you can try other non-exercise activities like scrap-booking or crafts that will relieve stress. I do jigsaw puzzles.

Hi Just want to say, thanks for the support. A bit wobbly in both ways right now. Off work due to pain for a few days, Tried to talk to GP on the phone this morning but apparently I wasn't making any sense to him was getting his usual response "I don't understand, are you crying? Why are you crying??", so am going in to see him next week, gives me time to put some words together in some sort of logical order

dumburn,
can you change GPs? The one you have doesnt seem very helpful, especially if that is his usual response. Please see another GP in that practice.

I have tried before, but i do tend to turn in to a nervous wreck when challenged by someone I see as being in a position of authority.
GAH!!!! I'm so pathetic somtimes

you aren't pathetic at all dumburn. It's really hard to be assertive sometimes.
If it helps, i dont think that you have to actually ask your GP if you can see someone else. You would just call the reception and ask if you can have an appointment with another GP. Maybe tell them your pain problem and ask if there is anyone who specialises in (or has an interest in) pain management. See them for a time or 2, and then if you feel that they are helpful you can request to change GPs to them.

Good Luck

It was the receptionist i spoke to, who didn't seem to get that "no I don't want to make an official complaint, i just feel it's a not good fit with me and him." "Oh really? but he's lovely"
I was offered the opportunity to speak with the practice manager but she is the scariest lady I have ever seen (I know, don't judge a book by it's cover)
I just gave up...as usual

I would continue with the exercise but see a podiatrist to see if there is something wrong with your feet. My son had severe leg pain for the first 7 years after he started walking. They did x-rays, tested him for leukemia, and did a lot of head scratching and suggested growing pains even when he wasn't of an age in which they should occur. Finally I took him to a podiatrist who fitted him with orthotics. He says not only do his legs feel better, his feet and knees do too.

Perhaps that's not your problem, many things can cause leg/foot/knee pain, but it would be another place to look. We saw a pediatrician and two family doctors who never considered the podiatrist.

It could be that it is not necessarily just the exercise but the being outdoors, what I call "out-and-about". I have to take my blood pressure for a week before I go see my GP using a wrist monitor calibrated with the doctor's cuff, as arm monitors doctors use hurt my arm too much and send my blood pressure soaring from the pain.

I have found that just going out shopping or to breakfast or just "out" brings down my blood pressure to "normal" whereas sitting here at the computer all day keeps it higher. I am quite happy at the computer, have numerous course and projects I enjoy but we need the outside air and light I think for our health.

I was reading about sunlight/being outdoors and how that helps with our circadian rhythm and I know if that gets messed up depression and other stuff can follow, etc. I would do a test and try "resting" outside the house? Can you go out for a pint or a cream tea and just watch the world go by, walk to a used bookshop and browse, something like that you'd enjoy?

TBH it's a combination, I agree just being outside is beneficial- absorbing all that good 'ol sunlight. but I also get the exercise which i do enjoy, I have always loved walking.
But the biggest benefit with my current job is that I only have to be indoors with people for about 2 hours then i'm out and on my own for the rest of the day - HEAVEN!

It's just the perfect job for me.

Will just have to see what happens with GP tomorrow, Hopefully i can man up a bit and be a little more demanding with what i want.

Probably just freaking out because I have no qualifications so to get anything else is practically impossible right now

*sigh*, why is it, that the doctor/patient relationship, is seen as one of authoritarian over the patient? Took me, many years, to see them, as not having that position of power, over me. As human beings, worthy of being peers, just with different occupations/specialties/skillsets.

Once, I did that, I was able to become more assertive. For instance, with my neurologist. Sorry, doctor, I am just not going to take the meds that you have to offer. Their rebound effects are worse than where I am now, which isn't too bad off.

One expression you can use, 'Doctor, don't dismiss my pain, and chalk it up to walking 12 miles a day. I've had this pain, most of my life. I'd rather find out, what I have, than change my job. Is it arthritis, doctor? Tendonitis, doctor? Is there something wrong with my back, that I have this pain? What is it, doctor? That's why I am here!"