53 and past it!!

woodbon
woodbon Member Posts: 4,969
edited 6. Jan 2009, 16:53 in Living with Arthritis archive
I've just seen my GP, as I have had problems lying down, I can lie on the bed for a few hours at night and get a bit of resless sleep, (shouting about going back to England last night, apperently!), but then I get a lot of pain in the middle of my back, which seems to respond to placing heat pads on my neck :roll:. When I tried lying on the floor for my exercises I got an awful pain through the centre of my back, which felt as if it was snapping :shock: :shock: :shock: My GP has refered me to the physio for ultra sound. But the thing that I find difficult to come to terms with is that the diagnosis is osteo arthritis and wear and tear degeneration with normal aging. I'm only 53, surely not everyone my age this problem? Well, I know they don't so why call it 'normal'? I asked the GP and she said it was to differentate from people who had 'other problems' :roll: . Anyway, at least I'll be getting some treatment. I've felt a bit out on a limb since before Christmas. Anyway, I'm to rest now as she thinks 'somethings moved,' . I know, as she said, theres no cure, but I'm begining to find the way they talk about it very depressing. Apparently the name is supposed to reassure you :? :| Sue

Comments

  • gretta
    gretta Member Posts: 74
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I have the same trouble as you. Can't lie on my back. The bones crunch against one another & it is very painful. Can't do exercises that require you to lie on your back. A visit to the Dentist is not good either. I was diagnosed at 50 & told it was wear & tear. So I don't think it is because of your age. Must be lots of people who get it at this age.
  • linmad
    linmad Member Posts: 18
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    hi
    im now 54 and was told about 5-6 years ago that the o/a and back problems were age related and wear and tear and they say 60 is the new 40 huh just can,t wait !! :(:(:(
  • noeltone
    noeltone Member Posts: 878
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi woodbon I know how you feel about neck and back etc and cant operate.
    I first got OA when I was a teenager where was the wear and tear than at that age i think it is a disposition that we are prone to as well as having injury from an accident etc, have you tried a neck support collar, it might be normal to have some OA at this age but to our extent may not be so normal. no names reasusre me and I have RA as well but you are not past it, are you going to RING meeting Prof Scott will be there you could ask him what he thinks.
  • oneday
    oneday Member Posts: 1,434
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Sue
    dont know if it makes you feel better but i am a few years younger than you and also past it!!!
    Today as i went out shopping, pleasurable type, not food shopping before i put my weight on my foot getting out of the car i tested for slippyness with the bad weather. It was slippy under foot and icy so I got out very very slowly. The reason for this is i am terriefied of falling over with my back!! I can set it off picking something up so dread to think what a fall would do.
    I too have trouble with being comfy in bed and when pain is at its worst I cannot sleep without some codeine to knock me out almost and even then the pain wake s me up. But I have a memory foam mattress topper and a pillow under my legs as I lie on my back, then when i want to change position I have to retrieve the pillow and put it between my legs before I can lie on my side. On holidays, if in hotel etc, i am like goldilocks trying out all available beds for the least painful one! If i think bout this too much I will get down so as not in pain at the moment I am not thinking about it and am thnking about the things i bought today!! :D
    So, 53 isnt old really for OA, I have it.....youre just going through a bit of a fed up patch and the pain is reminding you of it......
    Have you got loads of aides ...pillows....sticks when bad....etc etc....
    Keep you pecker up!!!
    One thing, does it do your head in when you see these fit 70-80 yr olds walking dead fast in country parks???cos I get a bit annoyed then and think what on earth will i be like at their age, probably in a motor scooter thingy bobs.
    take care, go out shopping for someting nice and have a nice big piece of chocolate cake whilst lyoure out!!!!
    take care........
  • mash65
    mash65 Bots Posts: 834
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    hi,im only 41 & dx in aug08 with o/a & cervical/ lumber spondylosis.
    i wake everytime i turn in bed even with the mattress topper,& all the painkillers,so i know were ur coming from.after asking several questions over the past few month,the dr/ pyhsio think the wear & tear as they call it, has been under lying since an motorcycle accident i had 23yrs ago.they think this is the cuase of the early onset of o/a.
    im also very weary of this icy weather as im so scared of falling & adding further injurys,fell new yrs day,still battered & bruised.
    hope that helped.
    debsxx
  • woodbon
    woodbon Member Posts: 4,969
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Thanks everyone, I think not sleeping and having to drive over the icy country lanes for 5 miles to see my GP got me down a bit! I must say, she was very understanding and has done what she could.

    I think that the wear and tear thing is just a way of saying they don't really know why we get it. I think genetics are part of it; my early memories of Mum taking me to school include her wearing a horrible, old fashioned pastic collar to stop her moving her head :shock: Something out of the ark, I think :wink: My major worry is that I am going down the same path as her, because she had athritis of the spine and when she was ten years older than I am now, she had to give up walking further than the garden. I know things have moved on a lot since then and treatment she had was experimental then but common place now. I think that sometimes age and accidents are blamed and stop doctors looking at the reasons my sister, who is 17 years older than me and over 70 has just got back from a mountin walking holiday abroad and I struggle around town,(Not that I want to climb mountins as I hate heights!). Sorry, I'm going on a bit, but thanks for your kind support, it makes me feel better :wink:

    Take care on the ice everyone and keep warm Love Sue
  • melbland
    melbland Member Posts: 36
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hiya

    Let me put this in perspective for you.

    O/a happens at ANY age, at any time. What they mean by ageing process is where it gets worn away over time. However that "period of time" can vary quite dramatically for each individual.

    Someone who uses, for example, a wood saw at work 24/7 will get O/a in the shoulder and elbow whereas someone who is, for example, on their feet all the time may get O/a of the knees/ankles.

    Just for the record - my brother was 15 years old when he had an operation on an osteo-arthritic toe joint. . He was also 21 when he had an operation on an osteo-arthritic knee joint.

    Therefore, it can get you at ANY age so you're not that old :wink:
  • airwave
    airwave Member Posts: 579
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Please please please do not refer to 53 as past it, I have also, just by chance, reached 53.5 years of age and I am most definitely not past it, 18 by looks and 18 by nature! I just happen to have to drag this 53 years old body round with me!!!! What my body can't do, my mind does.......

    Pain is only a state of mind, if I can put up with it anyone can.


    8) Its a grin, honest.
  • nickynysmon08
    nickynysmon08 Bots Posts: 111
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I can still do a six mile walk or more, but now rest is the thing afterward. I used to walk silly distances and this is what did my knees in. I think if we look at arthritis and see that it gives us opportunities not so much to be as active , like others , older than ourselves, but maybe it slows us down a bit and allows us to see those things we would normally have missed.
    so, our knees , or back hurt, and we have to rest. but then there is the whole panoply of nature to observe, whereas before we would have just steamed ahead and not seen half of what we see sitting on some bench in the country.
    this is how i have come to accept things somewhat.
  • petmad
    petmad Member Posts: 252
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I do agree with the sentements in this post being 53 and having suffered with OA since 1982, though only fully diagnosed a couple of years ago.
    I am sick fed up of being told it is a normal condition of wear and tear due to getting older. If that is the case then why are so many of us becoming ill, yes ill and being unable to function if all we have is wear and tear.
  • woodbon
    woodbon Member Posts: 4,969
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Its great to be positive and thats the way of looking at things which I TRY I try to folllow MOST of the time :wink:
    I suppose I think its important to emphasise that we shouldn't be made to feel that this is just something that happens as we get older and to be excepted and expected. I feel that we should look at why some people have more wear and tear arthritic conditions than others. Make it more 'fashionable' as money tends to follow fashion in science, as in anything else! I do think that this is beginning to happen, but it needs to be encouraged.
    Still, I do class myself as lucky, and I can still do lots of things :wink: I just winge a bit from time to time :roll: :wink:
    I know we are not really old, just spring chickens!!!

    Thanks everyone for the support :P . Gor blimmy, i've gone on a bit :oops: :oops: Love Sue