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[RC] drugs,pain,riding - Diane Day

>>>>I am 43 and some mornings, in the winter especially, it takes a few cups
>>>>f coffee and as much as 5 aspirin in 3-4 hours to loosen up my stiff joints
>>>>and not feel like a 90 year old. Sometimes the pain in my joints wake me at night- I haven't seen a
>>>>Doctor about this yet but am going to need to soon

I so identify with this poster.  In the 80's, I sustained a head/neck injury in a car accident; then a few years after, I started to develop a kind of pain syndrome that no one could help me with .  Both my husband and I are in the medical field and had access to all kinds of people and info, but no one could figure out why I would be in so much pain that I could barely move a joint for a period of 2 or 3 months, yet have it spontaneously disappear.  The sites of the pain would move - one time it was a knee, another  time, an elbow. For 3 months one year, my feet hurt so bad, I spent a fortune in shoe inserts and expensive special shoes.   Finally I attended a conference where the speaker talked on fibrolmyalgia -( the affliction no one wants because most MDs are skeptical it is real)  I got myself an Rx for Bextra - a fabulous non- narcotic pain med similar to Vioxx// Celebrex etc. and was able to function.  To my horror they took it off the market when Vioxx was pulled.  I was finished for riding or doing anything that involved much activity.  I hurt all the time and had no desire to cause more pain from a long ride. Not wanting to remain like that,  I went on an internet search and found a naturopathic doc named Jordan Rubin who almost died from Crohn's disease.  He had to come up with his own cure because no one else was doing it for him. He did his own research and ended up curing his disease thru what he put into his body.  He started a company that sells supplements with wierd names like FYI ( for your inflammation) .  The premise he came up with, not a new one but one he acted on - is that after time, we start building up in our bodies 'free radicals' and other junk that get in our joints and muscles and cause symptoms which we blame on old age etc.  But if we can clean out our bodies of the free radicals with antioxidants - we can get rid of the pain/stiffness.  I very much liked the idea of treating the cause and not the symptom,and decided to try just a few of his recommended supplements.  I also started getting chiropractic adjustments more regularly. (Bruce Weary's humor would probably cure pain on its own, but the adjustments sure do help loosen dem bones)  I dont know if it was that or the supplements -maybe both - but I just hit 50 and I am in better shape that I was when I was 30.   I am not connected with this guy- so please dont think this is a promo for him - I just know how miserable I was then and how miserable I am not now.  If you have joint pain, muscle pain etc, go googling and be willing to try what is out there.  There's lot of companies that sell these types of suplements, but we can also eat foods high in anti-oxidants.  I was reading Darolyn Butler's description ( in the 100 milers interviews ) of what she eats on her rides which included berries and other fruits - and I recognized that she was taking things that are essentially high in anti-oxidants so she is well aware of their effects on pain and stiffness.  The other thing to look into is pH - an up and coming explanation of why we have fatigue and unwellness.   There are answers out there to why we feel like crap - there's more we can do for ourselves that just going to the doctor and getting something to get thru the day. (although please don't stop seeing doctors, mortgages must be paid!! )  But it is possible to learn for ourselves why we feel bad and what we can do to feel better.  Well, thats my soap box and I'm standing on it.
Diane, happy to be feelin ok in OK
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