Getting Back Into It!

I’d put off writing about my IMPROVEMENTS until I was reasonably sure I was staying on track! I’ve reached the point I’m reasonably sure! If you are catching up, please read A New Diagnosis: and Other New Stuff to understand recent events.

One thing I have learnt is often when we are in the midst of an absolute crap time, we don’t realise just how bad it was until we are out the other side. To give you an example, last week I started swimming again. Given how bad my shoulders had been, there had been no swimming for quite some time. I didn’t realise how long: when I looked back in my Garmin records, I had swum twice in 2023 and not at all in 2024. Had you asked me, I would not have thought it was that long. Lifting weights wasn’t quite as bad, but almost. I’d lived most of those two years, off and on, taking prednisolone and Celebrex. Earlier this year I had two rounds of steroid shots in each shoulder. Of course, during that time I’d also had my second knee replaced and an ankle fused.

The biggest problem had been the inflammatory stuff though, not the surgeries. At one point I had sore shoulders, fingers, wrists, elbows, the unoperated ankle and my neck and TMJ played up as well from time to time. Even my knees were painful at times – after all, after knees are relaced, the original muscles, tendons and ligaments are still there for any inflammatory disease to attack. My blood pressure (BP) was also up.

I am being VERY CAREFUL! Once I realised how much I hadn’t done, I knew I had to be slow and steady. Follow your own advice, Robyn! I had kept walking though. In fact August 2024 was my best walking month ever (well, since I started recording steps) and that only happened because a friend on BlueSky challenged me. But the upper body was a nightmare.

To put some dates around this, my first injection of my new medication was on October 16. A few weeks of loading (weekly) injections, then fortnightly. Yesterday was the eight week mark. I’d said I wasn’t going to be sure about progress until about the middle of December as when I first started I had the previous medication still in my system (presumably it was doing something, even if not much) and was on loading doses of the new medication. By now the old med will be washed out of my system and I’m on the standard injection regime, fortnightly.

One BIG plus? NO Celebrex! YAY! Looking back on my symptom diary, I assessed myself as feeling 15% better the morning after the first injection. I’d noted specifically that elbows and fingers were not as bad. Since then, constant improvement. I have not taken any major pain medication either. The odd Panadol Osteo for my back, which is not surprising given I hadn’t been able to keep up my posterior chain strength for the osteoarthritis.

I did a couple of very tentative gym visits in November to see how my body would react, than on December 1 I started back with a strategy.

Before you look at these numbers please bear in mind for some readers (e.g. healthy young weightlifters) these numbers will look terrible. To a chronically ill person of probably any age, these numbers may look like a bridge too far. And there will be people to whom the numbers look achievable or where they are at or they are already above. To those starting out, DO NOT rush in where angels fear to tread. Seek professional guidance if you can. Read my Pacing articles. Remember, I’m qualified to guide myself AND I’ve had 10 years practice at reading my body. Just because I’m doing something doesn’t mean you should – but it doesn’t mean you should not either. It isn’t really the numbers themselves that are important here – it is the fact I am improving! That’s the important bit.

Yes, to me the kgs look awful! But this is what (re)starting from scratch looks like, so I’m being transparent!

At the moment I am lifting weights every third day. By December 10 I had improved a few things! I did get pec dec on the other two days, just, of course, not the day I’m using here. I’m halfway back to my PB leg press of 160 kg. That is my PB since I’ve been chronically ill, not PB ever. I prefer to only compare within my health status – comparing to a healthy me is unfair and somewhat demoralising, so best not to do it.

I also got back in the pool. Given my shoulders had been SO BAD earlier in the year I am being very careful. I did 10 laps of the 25 metre pool, so 250 metres. The hardest part I found was my breathing! So long without swimming and I was struggling. Breathing during breast stroke was OK, but breathing during front crawl (commonly called freestyle) was a challenge. Today I swam again and my breathing was better. I’d like to swim more often, but lane availability is scarce, sadly. Am looking into how I can schedule more swimming without getting to the pool at 5:45 am – that is NOT a good time for people like me due to morning stiffness. The 50 metre pool has more availability, but until my breathing improves I don’t want to risk it. Very embarrassing to have to stop halfway down the pool.

In summary, I am very happy! My fingers are still a bit bothersome, but manageable. The wrists need strengthening – I could do heavier bicep curls, for example, as the biceps are fine – but the wrists get grumpy if I up the weight too much at the moment. There is improvement though and that is what counts. I’m not trying to head for the Olympics, just maintain and improve mobility and strength. My BP is back to normal, I’ve lost weight and my brain aneurysm has shrunk – a few very nice added benefits!