Yesterday was my birthday-yay! So after last year's disappointing birthday I decided this year I would take the day off of work and try to enjoy the day as much as possible. It turned out to be a great day. I drove my daughter to camp and my husband to work then found a parking spot close to the waterfront and enjoyed running back and forth along the 4km stretch before heading into the downtown to finish up 10km. The boardwalk was somewhat busy with cruise ship passengers and local day care centers sightseeing, but it wasn't to the point it was annoying or anything. It was cute to see what the tourists deemed picture-worthy in the area as I ran around them.
I should explain why I wasn't on a trail, which, trust me, would have been preferable. The province is currently sitting under a trail ban. It's horrible and it sucks but with multiple huge forest fires out of control it is the easiest and safest thing to do. So, for the next 2 weeks at least all of the HRM runners will be invading the streets of the HRM. Boohahaha.
The acid reflux I had the other day has thankfully passed, although I'm still a bit queasy and have some gas (burping) issues but overall I feel a lot better. I took half of a naproxen pill yesterday morning and it certainly helped my knee make it pain-free through the 10km run. So I guess I'll scale back the pill to a half portion, once a day, as opposed to two full sized a day as I was originally prescribed, and see how this goes. Going two days without one sucked, and I was really surprised how fast my knee pain/swelling returned. Clearly I need to take something for this swelling but going back to the doctor and playing the medication game just takes too much time and I'm not a human petri-dish. So I'll keep with this routine until it either doesn't work for me any longer or I have some time miraculously added to my life to spend sitting in a doctor's office.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
New meds and new complications
I sat, frustrated, talking with my husband last night. I was pissed off that in a trillion dollar industry they can't make a simple anti-inflammatory pill that has no side effects. The early morning hours before had me up with what felt like bubbles in my throat, a headache and eventually vomiting for 30 minutes in my bathroom while trying to stay quiet so my child could sleep. Thank Naproxen side effects for that.
When I was more coherent later, I googled it. It sounds like I had an acid reflux attack (a Naproxen side effect), so I called my GP and told her what happened and asked if I should keep taking the Naproxen, because, hey, it was working on the anti-inflammatory end. I got a call back a few hours later saying my GP wants to get my heartburn under control first, so she would be adding another pill. NOPE. After 18 months of this BS I won't. I will not add a pill to counter the side effects of the first pill. And if there are side effects for the second pill, well, we'll just add a third pill. I see why those weekly pill cases were made and have stayed so popular. I won't become a human petri dish unless I have some serious disease that requires multiple medications.
So after figuring out that naproxen has a half life of 6 hours, I figured my 24 hours of not taking one was sufficient and I grudgingly took one of my husband's proton something-or-other pills he uses for his severe heartburn. Last night I slept beautifully, thankful that pill worked.
This morning I woke up to the familiar aches and pains in my knee but no burning or bubbling in my throat, so some progress was made? I guess I'll hold onto my naproxen pills for my flare ups and try to muddle through in between. I did manage a run yesterday of 5km, which was so much further than I thought I would get. I honestly thought I'd get to the end of the parking lot at work and puke at the effort, but my tummy behaved. Today I'll go for a 6km run and hope the knee pain isn't too bad. I've been slathering my knee and thigh in BioFreeze like it's suntan lotion in the 80s and that helps, but I know it's not a permanent solution. Something tells me I'll be visiting my chiropractor again very soon...
When I was more coherent later, I googled it. It sounds like I had an acid reflux attack (a Naproxen side effect), so I called my GP and told her what happened and asked if I should keep taking the Naproxen, because, hey, it was working on the anti-inflammatory end. I got a call back a few hours later saying my GP wants to get my heartburn under control first, so she would be adding another pill. NOPE. After 18 months of this BS I won't. I will not add a pill to counter the side effects of the first pill. And if there are side effects for the second pill, well, we'll just add a third pill. I see why those weekly pill cases were made and have stayed so popular. I won't become a human petri dish unless I have some serious disease that requires multiple medications.
So after figuring out that naproxen has a half life of 6 hours, I figured my 24 hours of not taking one was sufficient and I grudgingly took one of my husband's proton something-or-other pills he uses for his severe heartburn. Last night I slept beautifully, thankful that pill worked.
This morning I woke up to the familiar aches and pains in my knee but no burning or bubbling in my throat, so some progress was made? I guess I'll hold onto my naproxen pills for my flare ups and try to muddle through in between. I did manage a run yesterday of 5km, which was so much further than I thought I would get. I honestly thought I'd get to the end of the parking lot at work and puke at the effort, but my tummy behaved. Today I'll go for a 6km run and hope the knee pain isn't too bad. I've been slathering my knee and thigh in BioFreeze like it's suntan lotion in the 80s and that helps, but I know it's not a permanent solution. Something tells me I'll be visiting my chiropractor again very soon...
Thursday, July 28, 2016
I did a double!
Yesterday, nothing went totally according to plan. I got to work only to leave after 2 hours so I could work from home while my daughter had a fever (it broke, she's fine). Then the work I thought would take most of the day went faster than I thought so I had time to jump on my treadmill for 6km. I recently started using a new app, called BitGym, which displays a virtual scene (single track trail runs mostly), through various regions of the world. The camera tracks your movement and estimates how far you've gone based on your profile and estimated bpm. I'm using the free version so I'm limited to 10 minute circuits, but there's enough of them I could string together 5 if I need to. It certainly beats watching tv since I'd rather be running outside. I thought I had only covered 4km but it turned out I had run 6km. yay! So treadmill run done, I got ready and took my daughter to her dance practice (they were learning a new routine so she couldn't miss it, fever or not). While she danced, I decided to hit the real trails and squeezed out another 4km. I didn't really plan to run that far, in fact I figured I would go for a short walk, but because my knee felt so good I figured I'd go for a double...and I love the trail system in Cole Harbor.
So I have a birthday coming up. 38. The other day I realized how fast the big 4-0 is sneaking up on me. To celebrate I'm taking the day off of work and running a nice looong run. I want to run 38km to commemorate the day but I don't know if my legs can handle that right yet. I'll see how I'm feeling closer to the day. If worst comes to worst (maybe it'll rain) I'll deal with only running 3.8. haha
So I have a birthday coming up. 38. The other day I realized how fast the big 4-0 is sneaking up on me. To celebrate I'm taking the day off of work and running a nice looong run. I want to run 38km to commemorate the day but I don't know if my legs can handle that right yet. I'll see how I'm feeling closer to the day. If worst comes to worst (maybe it'll rain) I'll deal with only running 3.8. haha
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Anti-Inflammatories don't cure everything
It was another long slow slog of a run commute yesterday in the 30C temperatures and 80% humidity. But I did it! I was a gross stinky mess by the end, but I did it lol.
Today the humidity has given way to rain showers. Okay, so excuse me for the misconception but I thought if I was taking an anti-inflammatory pill that it would relieve my rain-day soreness? Apparently I was wrong. Very wrong. Ugh. In fact, it appears to have enhanced to itchy sweater feeling I have under my kneecap...not very comfortable. So did it remove the swelling to leave the crumbled bits of cartilage that I have in my knee to bump and grind as I move? 'Cause it sure feels that way! I also have some intense shin pain (WTF?!) so I'm not sure if that's swelling moving around more freely now or if this is a symptom of something else? Who knows? I'll wait this out and see how I feel this afternoon. I'm still going to try and get in my 9km run today, rain and all.
Today the humidity has given way to rain showers. Okay, so excuse me for the misconception but I thought if I was taking an anti-inflammatory pill that it would relieve my rain-day soreness? Apparently I was wrong. Very wrong. Ugh. In fact, it appears to have enhanced to itchy sweater feeling I have under my kneecap...not very comfortable. So did it remove the swelling to leave the crumbled bits of cartilage that I have in my knee to bump and grind as I move? 'Cause it sure feels that way! I also have some intense shin pain (WTF?!) so I'm not sure if that's swelling moving around more freely now or if this is a symptom of something else? Who knows? I'll wait this out and see how I feel this afternoon. I'm still going to try and get in my 9km run today, rain and all.
Monday, July 25, 2016
Half Marathon Goals and Hunting Pokemon
It's decision time. I've decided that to cap off this half marathon training that I'll do the Maritime Race weekend again. Last year's performance sucked, especially after the 15km mark, so this year I am determined to get it right and finish somewhere in the range of my previous half marathon times (anywhere from a speedy 2:15 to a respectable 2:45). I'll be running this one alone, which might be best since I tend to push myself harder when I'm by myself.
So to meet this ambitious new end, I've set up a new training plan on Runner's World's Smart Coach app and see that today's run is scheduled to be an easy 5km at 8:30 per/km. I can do this.
My run commuting/Pokémon hunting has been going pretty well. I've discovered the most ghetto of places in north end Dartmouth are filled with the nicest (and most curious) people. I've managed to get to level 5, which is apparently pretty freaking slow since I met a few other players at a pokestop on Friday that were at level 10 already! Sheesh, I'd better get my pokebutt movin'! Today I'm going through a more northerly route since I've bagged most of the pokemon to the south of my work.
Last week, after four miserable, pain filled days I cracked. I bit the bullet and went to my GP. I explained that normally I wouldn't bug her about this, but after four constant days of pain I didn't know what else to do. So, she put me on an anti-inflammatory pill. I take it twice a day and it gives me horrid stomach cramps, but it does help with the knee swelling and therefore, the pain. It's helped so much so that I don't need to wear KT tape constantly, so my skin is certainly happier. I still cramp up and get the occasional pseudo locking thing but it isn't anywhere near the level of pain I was in last week. So we'll see how this goes. If the GI pain turns out to be too much of an issue my GP has told me to try seeing my chiropractor again. I'm in no rush to have more deep tissue message so hopefully this pill helps long term.
So to meet this ambitious new end, I've set up a new training plan on Runner's World's Smart Coach app and see that today's run is scheduled to be an easy 5km at 8:30 per/km. I can do this.
My run commuting/Pokémon hunting has been going pretty well. I've discovered the most ghetto of places in north end Dartmouth are filled with the nicest (and most curious) people. I've managed to get to level 5, which is apparently pretty freaking slow since I met a few other players at a pokestop on Friday that were at level 10 already! Sheesh, I'd better get my pokebutt movin'! Today I'm going through a more northerly route since I've bagged most of the pokemon to the south of my work.
Last week, after four miserable, pain filled days I cracked. I bit the bullet and went to my GP. I explained that normally I wouldn't bug her about this, but after four constant days of pain I didn't know what else to do. So, she put me on an anti-inflammatory pill. I take it twice a day and it gives me horrid stomach cramps, but it does help with the knee swelling and therefore, the pain. It's helped so much so that I don't need to wear KT tape constantly, so my skin is certainly happier. I still cramp up and get the occasional pseudo locking thing but it isn't anywhere near the level of pain I was in last week. So we'll see how this goes. If the GI pain turns out to be too much of an issue my GP has told me to try seeing my chiropractor again. I'm in no rush to have more deep tissue message so hopefully this pill helps long term.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Pokemon and Pseudo Locking
Yesterday's 7km run was pretty fun. I decided to try out the new Pokémon app and spent my run commute time chasing Pokémon all over north end Dartmouth. Before I knew it I had covered 6km and it was time to pick up my daughter. I also learned some interesting facts about some of the local landmarks. I'm not entirely sure why some people are so frustrated by the idea of this game, I think it's an excellent way to get people outside, walking, and learning abut their community.
I also had one of the worst sleeps in a few weeks. I woke up at 4am to searing pain in my knee, it had completely locked up and it felt like someone was trying to pull my kneecap off. I rolled around moaning for a few minutes before I got a grip and started breathing slowly while trying to force my leg to straighten. It took a while, especially since as I tried to straighten the knee I had even more pain, but eventually I was able to get my leg straight. Then the back of my knee started throbbing so I pressed my kneecap into the mattress and that helped for some reason. All I can assume is that it was due to the impending rain?
So, of course, I'm googling how to get rid of this pseudo locking crap. I know its the OA, I know it is a result of swelling in the joint. My question is how do I get this to stop? It's not like I can "make sure to move my knee" since I'm asleep when it gets locked. Today I was a hair away from calling in to the office "sick" because I was pretty sure walking would be out of the question. Thankfully I could get up and walk around, and it's slowly improving as the morning goes on. It just sucks. I tried to think practically. If this is due to swelling, then would taking a diuretic help? Is that going overboard? I refuse to just constantly mask the issue with pain killers, since that doesn't address the underlying problem. That said, today it just hurts too much to not take anything. I do have to get through the workday. So far, Google hasn't been super helpful. Every medical site and forum gives advice for preventing this when you are awake, not so helpful since it gets locked when I'm asleep. The search continues.
I also had one of the worst sleeps in a few weeks. I woke up at 4am to searing pain in my knee, it had completely locked up and it felt like someone was trying to pull my kneecap off. I rolled around moaning for a few minutes before I got a grip and started breathing slowly while trying to force my leg to straighten. It took a while, especially since as I tried to straighten the knee I had even more pain, but eventually I was able to get my leg straight. Then the back of my knee started throbbing so I pressed my kneecap into the mattress and that helped for some reason. All I can assume is that it was due to the impending rain?
So, of course, I'm googling how to get rid of this pseudo locking crap. I know its the OA, I know it is a result of swelling in the joint. My question is how do I get this to stop? It's not like I can "make sure to move my knee" since I'm asleep when it gets locked. Today I was a hair away from calling in to the office "sick" because I was pretty sure walking would be out of the question. Thankfully I could get up and walk around, and it's slowly improving as the morning goes on. It just sucks. I tried to think practically. If this is due to swelling, then would taking a diuretic help? Is that going overboard? I refuse to just constantly mask the issue with pain killers, since that doesn't address the underlying problem. That said, today it just hurts too much to not take anything. I do have to get through the workday. So far, Google hasn't been super helpful. Every medical site and forum gives advice for preventing this when you are awake, not so helpful since it gets locked when I'm asleep. The search continues.
Monday, July 18, 2016
Making the training work for me
You might have noted my blog title change from Knee OA Sucks to Running with Knee OA. I think my former title certainly captured how I felt about my condition for my first year after diagnosis, but now I have come to see my knee OA as something that will always be with me but I will no longer allow to rule me or my decisions.
This past weekend was a struggle to fit in my 19km of long slow distance running (LSD), so I split it into two parts. I did a scorching hot 7km on Friday evening and the other 11km on Saturday morning (I am aware I only managed 18km but hey, I was in a rush). I know from experience this is not how to correctly do a LSD run, but when time is a factor and its a fall back week, I think the occasional LSD split is alright. I am very happy to report that neither run left me totally destroyed so I think my training is going pretty well.
On the long drive to my cousin's wedding this weekend my husband and I had a rare conversation about my running. He asked how it was going and how my knee was coping. I told him that while I am sure I can get my distance back up to a half or even full marathon again, my time is ridiculously slow, so slow I am assured to finish last in any race I would enter. I know what you're thinking; that's a piss-poor way to assume your speed in a few months time. I say I'm being realistic. That my long runs take almost 1.5 times longer than they used to and that puts me well at the back of the pack in any local race. I've finished last, and am okay with that to a point. My issue is keeping people around an event because I'm too stubborn to quit. So my solution is to do a virtual race. He said whatever decision I made was okay but that he thought I could do both an actual and a virtual race (a very rare show of support on his part lately). I was touched. Just that tidbit of support has me looking at the marathon plan again, thinking maybe, just maybe I can do it. This week's scheduled 24km will be a challenge, especially since I am crunched for time again with my husband headed out to a multi-day music event and I'll be chilling with our 9 year old at home. Basically I have 4 days to fit in my 4 running days. I may save the 5km run for the weekend when I can do it on my treadmill so I can fit in a rest day before or after the 24km run. The question is though, how the hell do I fit in a 3 hour run when I only have 1.5 hours to do it?!
This past weekend was a struggle to fit in my 19km of long slow distance running (LSD), so I split it into two parts. I did a scorching hot 7km on Friday evening and the other 11km on Saturday morning (I am aware I only managed 18km but hey, I was in a rush). I know from experience this is not how to correctly do a LSD run, but when time is a factor and its a fall back week, I think the occasional LSD split is alright. I am very happy to report that neither run left me totally destroyed so I think my training is going pretty well.
On the long drive to my cousin's wedding this weekend my husband and I had a rare conversation about my running. He asked how it was going and how my knee was coping. I told him that while I am sure I can get my distance back up to a half or even full marathon again, my time is ridiculously slow, so slow I am assured to finish last in any race I would enter. I know what you're thinking; that's a piss-poor way to assume your speed in a few months time. I say I'm being realistic. That my long runs take almost 1.5 times longer than they used to and that puts me well at the back of the pack in any local race. I've finished last, and am okay with that to a point. My issue is keeping people around an event because I'm too stubborn to quit. So my solution is to do a virtual race. He said whatever decision I made was okay but that he thought I could do both an actual and a virtual race (a very rare show of support on his part lately). I was touched. Just that tidbit of support has me looking at the marathon plan again, thinking maybe, just maybe I can do it. This week's scheduled 24km will be a challenge, especially since I am crunched for time again with my husband headed out to a multi-day music event and I'll be chilling with our 9 year old at home. Basically I have 4 days to fit in my 4 running days. I may save the 5km run for the weekend when I can do it on my treadmill so I can fit in a rest day before or after the 24km run. The question is though, how the hell do I fit in a 3 hour run when I only have 1.5 hours to do it?!
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