Anyone else exercising/losing weight with osteoarthritis? (I'm new)

I wondered if there is anyone else out there trying to begin an exercise/weight loss plan while working with osteoarthritis? 

I'm 34 and was just diagnosed.  Apparently this changes the game from the "work through it" pain of my 20s, tp a "stop if it hurts/you're damaging your joints further"  situation -- which I don't seem quite able to tackle from an exercise standpoin. 

Would really like to find someone else who is coping with this.

I am 62 yrs old, have had osteoarthritis for years; had a spinal fusion in my back (of course) with titanium rod placement.  I have very painful knees on getting up in the morning and am generally stiff in my hips also.  I take a celebrex almost every day now since I started my excercise program so I can get through it.  I do aerobics by DVD every day, do Curves every other day and weight lifting with free weights twice a week.  If I'm really careful about my technique when I'm doing the lunges and squats in aerobics I can do pretty well without pain at the time.  The more I move around the less pain I have, but then of course, it starts all over again in the morning when I'm getting out of bed.  I have had some thoughts as to whether I'm hurting myself but I haven't gotten any worse and am enjoying being active again so I'll keep on as long as I can.  I have no back pain to speak of now.  Don't know if this helps you other than knowing you're not the only one with osteoarthritis attempting to improve yourself.

Hi there scalebeater.....I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis when I was 32.  I am going to be 40 this year and still find myself frustrated because I cant do what I used to do.  I used to love walking for exercise but now I find it painful.  I still walk but its much slower now and the longer I go the more painful I get.  I have been eating right since Dec 28 and have lost 28 lbs.  Everyone said that the pain would lessen as I lost weight.  I'm still hoping that will happen.  I have 42 lbs more to go.  Feel free to add me as a friend and email if you like. I would love to talk about this further.

Hi scalebeater,
I've had two arthroscopies on each of my knees, roughly in my late thirties and early forties. I'm starting to think that I might need them again. The swelling is definitely there in the knees.
I've been doing aerobics on and off for the last year, and since it's the walk aerobics program, my knees can deal with it. But, one of the DVD's uses lunges, and man, is that rough on the knees. But, I won't stop doing it. I too have read that the more you use your joints the better it is for them.  So, I tread on. If I have to, I take an aleve and that seems to help. But, I'm careful to only do that dvd once or twice a week.
Add me, if you like......peace

Have lost 42 pounds since Dec 05, and I cycle, I no longer have to take my meds, and I am, for the most part, pain free.

So work hard at getting the weight off, it will help loads and find a low impact excersise (swimming cycling or such).

I'm 59 and was only able to walk 900 - 2000 steps a day when I first started because of my severe asthma and osteoarthritis.  Now that I have lost 37 lbs I am walking over 2000 steps every day and was able to walk 2000 steps in 15 minutes with only 5 rests inbetween.  But my back still gives out a lot.  Oh and I still have to walk with a cane.  I am so close to my short term goal of being under 300 lbs that I'm encouraged.

I am in the same boat... going to talk to my doc on Friday...

A lot of what I have read says you need to do the really low impact cardio stuff - like swimming or cycling (which is my personal fav) if you can and light weight training - if you train with light weights, it allows the joints to become stronger without putting too much pressure on them plus slowly build muscle and then, of course, try some of the disease modifying type supplements (like maybe chondroitin and glucosamine) if your doc thinks they will help.  I have found my arthritis has improved with exercise - occ. a joint flares up (ankle today after several days on the treadmill) so I ice and elevate and move on.  Good luck!

here's 1 of my favorite resources on arthritis and exercise :)

http://www.arthritis.org/conditions/exercise/ default.asp

Have any of you tried Glucosamine/chondroitin for your oesteoarthritis? I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my lower back, knee and neck over 10 years ago. I was in extreme pain all night and every morning I had to stretch out my back before I could even get out of bed. I couldn't lift my son, and I was in pain most of the day. I was going to a chiropractor and he mentioned Glucosamine/ chondroitin to me. I figured what the heck and tried the stuff.

In 6 months the pain was mostly gone, in a year, no pain at all. I've been taking glucosamine now for over ten years. I can do what I want, I have no pain in my knee or back and I haven't been to a chiropractor in over 7 years. I'm currently 60 lbs overweight. And I rarely exercise. (I'm changing that now. I just started an exercise routine and I am dieting.)

How's it going?

scalebeater,

Just came across your post while searching for another, and was glad to hear there are others dealing with OA.  I was diagnosed 4 years ago at age 37 with OA in my right hip (it's now starting in my left as well).

I've taken glucosamine/chondroitin before and it helped somewhat but what is helping most is exercise.  I do a routine from Prevention.com called 3-2-1.  It's basically circuit training that does cardio, strength training and abs in only 30 minutes.  After a warm-up, you do 3 min of cardio, 2 min of weights, 1 min of abs, targeting a different section of your body during each 6-min circuit.  I've used it since March 1 and have taken off about 11 pounds and measurement-wise the equivalent of 15 pounds.

I experience pain mostly when I've walked too far (when I do that for exercise instead of the above) or have been driving longer than an hour (family lives in WI, we live in lower MI).  Fortunately hubby is understanding and drives most of the way, we take turns. 

Any of you are free to "Friend" me if you like, so we can give each other support in this endeavor!

Take care of those joints, everyone!

Thank you all so much for the support.  It helps a lot. 

A little more info - I skiied and did a lot of sports in my teens and 20s, and along the way blew out and had reconstruction on the ACL ligaments in both knees, as well as some cartilage repairs, again in both knees.  About 5 surgeries, last one in 2003 @ age 29.  And 4 years later, I thought I'd injured something again (despite being almost sedentary I did take a fall on the ice in Jan), and I'd always dealt with sports-related injuries before, and had the surgeries and reconstructions specifically to PREVENT arthritis, so was really startled by the arthritis. 

Believe it or not, it's been about six weeks since mmy diagnosis, and I've now lost about 15 lbs, and am almost pain free.  I can't really tell what worked -- My doc also recommended the glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM supplements, and I've been taking these for 6 wks, while going to physical therapy twice a week and trying to work out on my own two more times -- cardio & exercises recommended by the PT.  My legs are stronger, and I can stay on the elliptical trainer for almost 45 minutes now without pain-- up from the 18-20 minutes I was limited to.  I feel like that's a useful amount of exercise for losing weight, particularly if I add a few minutes on a bike.  Also -- For the first two weeks, the PT had me take an Aleve tablet every day to reduce inflammation, and I think this also helped me get on the workout bandwagon by keeping the pain in check.

I pretty much only have pain now right after I work out, or first thing in the morning.  But I know it's a long battle, and I have to keep adding strength and losing way more weight to prevent future damage.  I still have way too many pounds than I should, but it's a work in progress.  Being able to exercise is making a big difference. 

Thanks for all your help.  It feels so good to know there is someone else out there -- actually a lot of others!