Chronic pain

moneyoverbitches69

What does your 3 basic principles of sustainable living look like? Diet, sleep, exercise?

Follow an anti inflammatory diet, just Google for tips or watch yt videos it's very simple and is what I follow

Know 8 hours is difficult to achieve in our industry, but absolutely try to prioritize when you can and sleep debt is a real thing so prioritize even more on weekends. I use a sleep tracker to measure my sleep scores, imo a great investment

Did you know the average obese woman gets the equivalent of roughly 1 hour of exercise per year. Are you an obese woman? Do you want to live the lifestyle of an obese woman? No, no you do not. No excuse for not being in the gym at least 4-5 days per week. Even on days when I can't get in the gym, I'll do a quick 15-20 minute at home full body workout.

Inflammation is a systematic effect where your body is telling you you're doing something it doesn't like so it creates this inflammatory process. I can promise you that if you improve even slightly on the above three, you'll notice a difference in the way you feel. I would put an emphasis on diet if I were you, also maybe look into fasting as well.

Woah thanks for the detailed and to-the-point response. I will follow an anti-inflammatory diet. I mostly eat vegetarian stuff anyways so should be 75% of the way there anyways. Exercise... I get enough. 

What sleep tracker do you use? 

I have an appt with my primary care doctor next week after months of putting this off. Just dreading it is something really bad.

monkey0114

Go to doctor could be something autoimmune like lupus

I am seeing a few doctors early next week. It matches symptoms of lupus. 

m_1

Sorry to hear about this. I've had bad chronic pain since 17 caused by a genetic condition. It took 4 or 5 years, but a lot of the pain went away. Hopefully yours improves too over time. 
 

I tried pretty much everything under the sun. Was not a fun 4 years. :-) 

I'd recommend trying as many conservative forms of treatment as possible. Careful with surgery as long term outcomes usually aren't statistically better than conservative forms of treatment. 

Definitely not consenting to a surgery in my life unless I literally have a fall and need it. In other words, only consenting if I cannot verbally consent, haha. Saw my grandfather in his last days have countless surgical procedures performed and was a zombie who couldn't even muster the energy to speak after the procedures. That's an extreme example but yeah. 

What are some conservative forms of treatment you tried? Diet change yeah. But I also have as-needed pain medication (gabapentin, hydroxyzine, prescription strength acetamenophine) and lidocaine sprays. 

Monkey_In_NYC

OK - here's my advice. I mean no insult in the following. If you're extremely sedentary, shit diet, shit sleep, generally weak and out of shape - this definitely could just be the culmination of the aforementioned things combined with shit posture. I think this tracks as the wrist issues are probably some type of carpal tunnel (from typing/working on the computer too much). Experiencing sciatica along with low back pain is very common - if you previously had a lumbar injury, it could be some slipped disc combo. Migraines are probably just from horrible posture, as poor posture and weak neck/upper back muscles are going to cause tons of tension in your head. Add in staring at a computer all day and it makes sense.

IF that is not the case, which, quite frankly, it probably (and hopefully) is then you need to do the following (actually, you should do this regardless):
1. See your doctor, get a thorough physical exam - if there is anything egregiously wrong, they'll find it.

2. In addition to any blood and urine tests they suggest, ensure you get a CBC (Complete blood panel) and C-Reactive Protein test. If there is an active inflammatory disease/infection, it will almost certainly cause an elevation C-Reactive protein and, maybe less likely, will also cause an elevated white count in your CBC. You should also get your Hemoglobin A1C and fasting blood glucose tested (if you're seeing the doc in the morning, just don't eat/drink anything other than water for a good 10 hours)

3. Assuming something comes back abnormal, then further investigation may be warranted. Don't freak out about it if so - whatever it is, the sooner you address it the better.

I've dealt with more health bullshit than I'd like - feel free to msg me if you have any questions.

Also, some doctors are cunts - sometimes you need to be a bit of one too to get the results you need.

Thanks a lot for the detailed response. I definitely think (and hope) this is all primary to a sedentary lifestyle, bad diet, and horrible posture. 

Will PM you some specifics. 

IcedxTaro

Hey OP applebees1293 - 

As someone who knows a handful of dieticians, athletic trainers and health professionals - get tested for allergies.  Chronic inflammation can be a number of things, but get tested for food allergies and other ailments.  Seek a professional for this.  I would take advise on here with a grain of salt as many of us are licensed healthcare professionals.  

As a side note - I would also consider seeing a psychiatrist, too.  Your post feels as if you are stressed out (anyone who works in the industry is).  It may be worthwhile to check out.

Good luck.  Feel free to PM.

Thanks - sending PM rn