Endless Pain/Fibromyalgia

Flowers

From Val - Hi to everyone - Diagnosed with Osteoarthritis of Hips and Knee 6 months ago now Fibromyalgia has been added - am Over 70 and am struggling to cope with symptoms of both (long list) I read exercise is important but find doing that impossible, next day unable to move and pain and fatigue unbearable - is there any way forward - help

Anna

Hello @Flowers and welcome to the online community,

You’ve recently been diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the hips and knees and now with fibromyalgia. You’re finding it hard to cope with the symptoms and although you want to exercise you’re finding that the pain and fatigue the following day is hard to bear. You are certainly doing the right thing by wanting to exercise - it can help with the pain, keep you mobile and flexible and also help you emotionally. But the key is to start gently and never over do it. Perhaps you’ve been pushing yourself too hard. I’ve added a couple of links below to some suggested exercises for hips and knees from the Versus Arthritis website. Both suggest that you start slowly and build up gradually:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/exercises-for-healthy-joints/exercises-for-the-hips/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/exercises-for-healthy-joints/exercises-for-the-knees/

I’m sure some of our members will come along with some suggestions for exercise - everyone here is very friendly and helpful and I hope you have the same experience.

Do have a look round the forum and join in wherever you feel comfortable.

Anna ( Mod)

Rina

Hi @Flowers , sorry to hear you’re in such a lot of pain. I know what you mean by exercising and then regretting it the next day, even if I don’t think I’ve done very much. Have you seen Let’s Move with Leon? It’s on the VA website and I love the exercises. They are really gentle and Leon stresses that we should only do what doesn’t hurt. It’s a programme of 12 sessions but you can just do one or two. Here’s the link:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/lets-move-with-leon/

Good Luck, Rina 😊

stickywicket

Hi there, It's true about exercise. It's essential for keeping our ,uscles stromg and so supporting our joints. That was we have less pain.

But it's also important to start very gently and build up slowly. A physio once told me to start with three repetitions and build to 5, then 8, then 10. She also said to do them every other day at first. Part of me thought she was crazy but I tried it. She was so right. It really did help. Give it a try.