Please allow me to start this piece with, I have issues that aren’t associated with aging. However; I’m not naive enough to think the issues I have aren’t part of the problem.
And I have to keep educating myself about menopause (or the change of life). I’ve always heard, your mom is a good indicator of how this phase of your life will affect you. Now, scientists are saying that’s not totally true. It’s like eggs all over again. Eggs are good for you. No, they’re not. 10 years later, yes they are. PICK ONE ALREADY! Are they incredible or not?
I did something this weekend I never thought I’d do. I spent over $100.00 on a single pair of shoes. How did we get here? Other than my feet screaming, ‘STOP ABUSING ME!’ First, I praise God that I had the money to spend. This has not always been the case.
To give you a time reference, I had an MRI when Obama was in office. My lower back was killing me. As we age our bodies tell us it’s time to slow down. We don’t always listen. When I went to a G.P. (general practitioner), he gave me pain meds. I’m a stubborn human being, pain meds scare me. And I wanted to know why? Why is my back hurting? This sent me down a trail of ‘you got to be kidding me’.
Not to bore you with the history, L4 and L5 (disks in my lower back) are bulging. By no fault of my own. Which sent me down a different trail.
The past couple months have been consumed with hip, knee and foot pain. Shoe inserts, knee braces and yelp new shoes. My bestie helped me do research and we came up with Brooks shoes. They are number 3 on the list provided in the link below. I got a pair of Brook’s Adrenaline 23 and Brook’s Launch 10’s. The combined total of the trial and error list above is still cheaper than a doctor’s office call. I’m sure I will end up having to go to the doctor.
So is the age of heels and flip flops over for me?
Sitting at my desk right now, my feet are tingling but not hurting. 🎉 That’s a plus.
It seems like I’m stuck in a Catch 22. You’ve got to move more. Moving more creates more problems. You should lose weight. This will help joint pain. I’ve read the books, tried the things I’m not afraid of. I’ve tried: Dr. Adkins, The Military Diet (beets taste like dirt), The Cabbage Soup Diet. Weight Watchers. I’ve intermittently fasted. Smaller portions. I’ve tried drinking more water. I drink green tea. I’ve counted all the calories. You know, there’s an app for that. I can loose 5 pounds and gain 10. I’m working on one more weight loss trial. I’ll keep you posted.
The knee braces are for the ‘moving more’.
Oh, and I even bought a pair of compression socks.
I got out of the shower the other day and my hip popped! Big loud, say hello kinda pop.
Seriously! What is happening to my body?!
We (bestie, another friend and I) went shopping Saturday. One cashier! This store had one cashier. We had to stand in line forever. To the point, my feet where hurting. My left leg was going numb. I started doing knee lifts and just shaking my legs while we were standing in line. One of my friends turned to me and asked, ‘what are you doing? You look like you’re on something.’ That’s just too bad, I replied. I’m hurting. This spurred the shoe shopping trip.
In the mist of all of this, I bought a new pillow. I’m a side sleeper. Sleep isn’t good when you wake up with shoulder and neck pain. To the point, that moving your neck hurts. The Vuteehy neck support pillow has been great. I have to admit that I’ve never gotten an instruction manual with a pillow before. I have noticed that I’m waking up on my back more, since I started using this pillow. Don’t know yet if that’s good or bad.
https://www.prevention.com/fitness/workout-clothes-gear/g46055643/best-walking-shoes-women/
Poetry & More 
You have my sympathies. 💙
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How’s your journey going? You have updated us in a while.
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As they say, three steps forward, two steps back. I reached a milestone weight, only to have it creep back up. My pain is still around, although not as bad as it was before I started tweaking things. I wish the glucose would have stayed down, but the body likes to adapt to change. It is still in the realm of “controlled”, just higher than I was hoping.
We’ll see what the summer brings. I should be getting out and about more, sat least on weekends. That should improve things until my body figures out how to counter it. 🙂
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Keep at it. And sadly, research everything. I found this weight loss idea that sounded great. Very doable for me. And I did more research, I found out that it’s a scam. 😡 Great!
You are right. One step forward, 2 steps back.
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I am at least fitting in jeans that match my pre-2010 waist size 🙂. I didn’t realize just how baggy my jeans had gotten (and they aren’t baggy-styled) until I bought a new pair and risked dropping a few sizes only to discover that they fit much better that I was expecting or hoping for.
Yeah, there are tons of scams out there. My rule of thumb has gotten to where if it costs money to do, then it is probably a scam.
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Congratulations on great fitting jeans. 🎉 And of course the health (mental and physical) benefits that come with them.
You got it. If it cost money, move in.
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Welcome to old age. Ain’t it great
Sometimes I am in so much pain in my lower back I do not think I can get out of bed
But, after some stretches and a heat pad I am okay the rest of the day
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❤️🩹 One day at a time. And prayer.
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pain is just so jo
age is a number
but too harder
years time faster
and of it none of us are master
self med of body and mind
to thy self remember to be kind!
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Yes, to thy own self be kind. And take care of your body. You only have one. And no one else sure won’t.
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save our guardian angels and the good Lord hisself.
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Amen
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On the whole, I am extremely lucky- but I have treated myself to good shoes and bought a side sleeper pillow and a neck massager with heat and … I am sure the list goes on. treat yourself in this area- feeling good is the bare minimum and you owe it to yourself.
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Neck massager with heat sounds lovely.
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It was less than $30 on Amazon!
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I set at a desk all day long. Might need to look into one of those.
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Why do I feel like you’ve been reading my journal?!? I have this exact same pillow because I’ve been trying everything I can to help me get better sleep. Sad to report, this one only worked well for me for a few weeks before I had to trade it in for a large wedge pillow from Amazon. So far so good! I’ve been getting great sleep on it for over month now. So, if this one stops working for you…. might I suggest a giant wedge? Getting older is tough. I wish I could have received a playbook from my mom about all of this but alas, this eldest daughter is left to chart this territory alone. Sending good luck to you! May you find lasting comfort and continue to give yourself grace. 🙂
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Thank you for the tip.
So very true. If you do read a book about aging, chances are only a handful of the issues or remedies will work for you, we are all so different.
These waters are very deep. Just keep listening to your body. And if you can afford it, go to the doctor when you need to. Stay healthy and strong. 💪🏻
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