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More of rich's brief articles: Check back soon for more
informative reading on the following subjects.
(As info is added I will highlight it as a link.)
(Gout, what triggered it for me and what
stopped it) Your
going to love the answer
(Exercise, Why did I choose pull cords to exercise with) Cheap
investment, high reward
(Goals, What were they, did we set any) For now, just get
started
(Stress, how I reacted and what I did about it) For now,
don't worry about the things you don't have control of.
GOUT
The answer to the question, (one of my food triggers for my gout
attacks?) It was Asparagus
I am sharing my experience with you in hopes you will have a better
understanding about gout, especially if you ever get it for the first
time and don't know what it is. I do believe it will not go
away on its own so seek medical help sooner rather than later, as it
will, get worse as time moves on. With gout there are several
things we all probably share in common. Gout comes on generally
without notice and in the middle of the night, it affects your joints,
most prevalent is the big toe, it is super painful, disabling, and
affects your quality of life.
The simplified answer, what gout is to me. It is when your uric acid level increases, it than forms sharp needle like crystals in your joint (s) and the pin like needles penetrate into your nerves. Believe me when I say that aspirin and standard pain killers did not affect it. I had to use a prescription drug to dissolve the crystals.
Humor: I was told to drink lots of fluids to help flush my body. Ever try going to the bathroom a hundred times a day with gout?
My first experience was approximately 12 years ago and I had not
quite turned 50 years old. The gout came on in the middle of the
night and it was in my big toe. I could not even let the weight of
the bed sheet lay on it. I thought I had sprained my toe and was
trying to figure out when and how. It got worse over a
couple days so I made a doctor appointment. I was able to see a
Physicians assistant at the time. I was diagnosed with a sprained
toe and sent home with an anti inflammatory drug. We went on a
weeks vacation which involved a lot of walking and it progressively went
from worse to horrific. I was using a cane because I could not put
pressure on my toe. This made for a miserable week. When I
returned home I made another Dr. appointment and told the doc if you
can't fix it I am going to cut my toe off. He immediately
diagnosed it as gout and gave me a prescription.
How did I get it? I don't know. I do know my mother
had it also so I naturally attributed it to my feminine side, LOL.
What caused it? My wife and I read up on gout. In fact there
is so much information on gout, I have to say good luck in trying to
figure out your reason(s) for getting the gout.
Many thing are attributed to gout, like injuries, beverages, food,
weight, and stress.
INJURIES: Yup, I had almost broke my toe many years
ago, but that did not answer all my questions.
ALCOHOL: Yup, I loved my beer. I gave up beer for a couple
month with no change.
FOOD: Yup, I love liver which is an organ food
and chocolate. These are some trigger foods associated with
getting the gout. I gave up or minimized all the foods I could
without starving. Not much thought on chocolate, that's health
food isn't it?
STRESS: Yup, I had stress in my life. Job and
life attributed, not going to change much here.
WEIGHT: Yup, about 40+ lbs over weight.
So, did I minimize or eliminate gout attacks?
This is a trial and tribulation effort and yes you may, if you figure
out your triggers. I was getting attacks often and they were
getting worse during each episode. The doctor wanted me to take a
prescription for maintenance. One main reason was that each attack
will slowly destroys your joints. Now you know already how I feel
about drug side affects so, we aggressively started to figure out what
my trigger points were. A long story short and with our already
minimizing or eliminating lots of foods, one night we had fresh
asparagus for dinner. About 4 hours later I was crippled again.
I also figured out that the health food chocolate was also another food
trigger.
Ok, so you think that I now know what caused my gout attacks. it
was not so much the asparagus or chocolate specific but that they were
at the end of the line and this I believe is what kept triggering the
gout attacks I was having.
To tell you the truce, I still don't know what caused my attacks. Over the years I have minimized my drinks, have been eating properly, lost weight, and minimized my stress. Just the other day I asked the wife to pick up some fresh asparagus. She was shocked and asked if I was serious. I ate it, I loved it, I went to bed, and I did not get a gout attack. Why, Why, Why not? Maybe it was the fear I had that frightened it so bad that it was soooo afraid to show its ugly face again.
Reality folks, come on lets look at the big picture. Yes, the gout triggers were certain foods, but I truly, maybe not medically speaking, believe that a combination of things have stopped my gout attacks. Loss of weight, eating properly, exercising, minimizing alcohol and stress all together had to have been what did it. With everything back in specifications and your body chemistry ready to fight back the evil, I was able to eat what I thought was one of the bad foods without it affecting me. So to sum it up, it was not so much the items specific but that they were at the end of the line to keep triggering the gout I had.
Do I still have it? Is it under control? When will the next attack
occur?
My take on this is, yes it is laying in wait, Yes, I have it
completely under control, and never again
How did I know if an attack was coming on?
Wow! Let me try to answer this one. First you remember I
have denial running through my blood stream and it affects my brain
cells. I can remember just about every time I got the gout I would
be walking and the pain was radiating up my foot into my legs. It
was like you had not walked for quite awhile and it was the pins and
needle pain from starting a walk after being dormant. I attributed
that to being out of shape. I was afraid to take the medicine
because if it was not the gout I had that in my system again.
Should have listened to my body not my brain each time because the signs
were there.
Note: These statements and comments are from my own experiences
and every person is affected differently. Gout was one of the
contributing factors that helped me to make life style changes.
So, please listen to your doctor's advice for telling you the best way
to handle your gout. My recommendations would be to reevaluate
your life style and adjust accordingly.
I hope you will enjoy my site and that it helps you in some way.
If you have any questions or would like to contact me I can be reached
at
sherby@richssite.com
RUBBER PULL CORD (a favorite)
The cords attach to a door and are very easy to install.
Easy to use with the grip style handles
Comes in different colors, this indicates the tension resistance.
Are inexpensive as far as exercise equipment costs go.
Can be set at different areas of a door for directional uses.
Convenient when installed, more apt. to use them often.
These stretch cords work well for helping you to
maintain balance.
They are safe to use especially where you regulate how far you want to
pull on them.
We called this, "coming out of the closet"
Walking: If I had to recommend anything at all, this has got to be the best exercise you could start out with. Walking is what I started with. I figured that since my old knees would not co-operate with running my next option was walking. Little did I know that starting out was easier said than done, yet the benefits far out weighed anything else that I could have done.
How I started:
My first serious walk (no timing) to start out with was approx. 3,500 ft. long total at work. Serious. It involved going down three flights of stairs, walking out to the level side walk for approx. 1500ft., going up a 30% grade hill for another 1000ft., walking flat again for about 500ft, and back into the building down 2 flights of stairs. I took the hill for the cardio. It worked. I did this walk for about 1 week than changed directions for 1 week. Bottom line, get started, set small goals, and continue.
In the evenings I would also walk approx. 1 mile each day alternating between walking flat and up and down a hill. So, after 2 weeks I actually felt good enough now to go further. I went through the turnstile at work and walked a good 1.5 miles. I gradually added distance each week. I disciplined myself to continue walking a minimum of 20 minutes, 4 times a week. It was not long and I was tearing up the highway. My normal walks now range anywhere from 1 to 2 hours at a brisk pace. It is not uncommon for me to take a 5 to 10 mile walk.
Distance:
Start slow and go only a small distance at first. If you overdue it to start out with and get real sore than you will more than likely want to stop. Don't stop, it is short lived and you can only benefit from continuing. I worked up to no less than 20 minutes, 4 days a week as a goal to get the body working and responding to me.
Where do you walk and Safety concerns:
That is an individual choice, so start out where you will be comfortable and feel safe. I carry my ID card and enough money to be able to take a bus or taxi back home if I just happened to crash and burn (figure of speech). Fortunately I have never had to get a ride back home. The ID card is more of a hey! This is who I am, in case of an emergency. No, I did not have to use that to date either. I also carry my cell phone with me.
Walking buddy:
I am as a rule, a solo walker. I do enjoy a good walk with a friend or family member. It is difficult walking with someone unless they can keep up with your pace and they enjoy your walking route. Dogs also make a great companion when out for a walk and encourage you to get up and go.
This was my younger brother & I hamming it up before we took one of our walks. We really did not go out in public outfitted like this. Wife stopped us.
Meet & greet,
This is probably why I like to solo walk. I love to meet people during my walks. It doesn't matter who you are, in the right time and place I may just strike up a conversation with you. I have met a lot of my neighbors and many more interesting other people this way. Especially at a bus stop. Just sit down and start up a conversation, or catch up with someone walking and just pace yourself with them and start chatting. You will be amazed with who you will meet and how some conversations will go. I believe you can make a difference in someone's day just by being friendly, smiling, and saying hello. One of my favorite people is Bud. He is elderly, resides at the convalescent home down the road, is often outside by the fence ready for a conversation. He is mentally slow and limited in his discussions. He gets so excited with my frequent stops to say hi and it is hard to say who enjoys this more, Bud or myself. Rule #1, don't bring anyone home. LOL
The recumbent bike is the wife's favorite piece of equipment. With both knees replaced 1-1/2 years ago this has been by far the best mover and shaker to date. It is low impact and easy to operate.
Prior to the recumbent bike we owned a Tony Little Gazelle Glider. This was a fabulous low impact on the knee's piece of equipment to use.
Stair stepper is another piece of equipment purchased from craigslist and is used on occasion.
Have you noticed?
As you see by now we have many items to choose from so the variety and
availability of the equipment really does help keep us motivated and
moving. The indoor equipment is great on cold or rainy days.
With craigslist available and garage sales so abundant I was able to pick up a nice bike for $25.00. I enjoy riding it more down by the river along the many trails. Yes, I do wear a helmet.
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