The Health, Diet and Exercise Thread

[Lemondropkid]

2 hours ago, Krapow said:

Naw Lemons, was a good few years ago. See the post above, i explain more in it, but i do remember it was too much of a difference for me not to go back on them, as much as i didn't want to.

Thanks, your post is actually far more helpful than any stats on the efficacy of the drugs.

I've pretty decided I'm going to take them. A little part of me is railing against it thinking I'll exercise more, drink less and eat better. Same as yourself really.

Point taken.

 

[Horizondave]

3 hours ago, Krapow said:

That was my reasoning for stopping the statins, i had a very healthy diet, i exercised a lot at a good level, seen people 20 years younger not being able to keep up with me at circuits or whatever, don't drink or smoke etc. So decided i didn't need them, a healthy diet and exercise would suffice and be better.

So i stopped, then got bloods done a few months later, went to see Doctor about results. He showed me the figures when on the statin, compared to the then figures without. I forget the figures, a few years ago, but it was quite a lot of difference in the wrong way relative to how they measure it. It was too much for me to push back on, to say okay but i'll just eat more healthy, i'll exercise more. I didn't want to go back on them, i don't want to take anything i don't need to, but it was evident i needed to.

So i did, then went back another few months later after new bloods done, and the Doctor showed me the difference, and how the level was back to where it should be.

That plus my Da's had a heart attack, then stroke a few years later, my Granny on the other side dying from a stroke, was something i couldn't ignore or decide a health lifestyle, for all it's benefits, would be all i need.

Like now, on one hand i lead a very fit, overall healthy lifestyle, but on the other hand i'm on a good few tablets as well. I can remember having Supervision with my Manager a few months ago, saying how bad the latest gout attack was, but i didn't want to take yet more tablets. He said to me, it's just part of getting older, he's on a good few as well. So i started taking Allopurinol at the lowest level of one 100mg per day, plus cherry extract tablets, and it works for me.

I wish i didn't have to take any tablets and a healthy lifestyle was all that was needed, but as we get older, i think it's inevitable at least for some of us.  

I was told by a doctor that even being healthy and keeping fit doesn't always prevent us from needing certain drugs. Some just naturally have higher cholesterol levels, even if super fit and living a good dietary lifestyle.

Probably also how some can smoke heavily but never get ill.

[Trip]

41 minutes ago, Horizondave said:

I was told by a doctor that even being healthy and keeping fit doesn't always prevent us from needing certain drugs. Some just naturally have higher cholesterol levels, even if super fit and living a good dietary lifestyle.

Probably also how some can smoke heavily but never get ill.

I'm convinced that there is a limit to what anyone can do to extend life and/or quality thereof. I believe healthy habits are important and extend/improve life to a degree, but ultimately not much, if anything, will trump you getting a bad hand genetically.

[Glasseye]

20 hours ago, Lemondropkid said:

Been offered statins by my doctor's surgery apparently my cardiovascular risk is high.

Have a consultation booked with a doctor.

Disappointing as on no medication at present. But think I'll take them, im not a young man anymore!!

Still back into a steady exercise regimen so not all bad.

Anyone have experience of Statins?

 

Took them years ago. No issues.

 

Stopped taking them after I dropped 40 lbs. Haven't looked back since. Cholestrol normal.

Now that I am back at the regular exercise the b.p. meds will eventually get binned.

[KhunDon]

On 8/18/2023 at 11:21 AM, Lemondropkid said:

Been offered statins by my doctor's surgery apparently my cardiovascular risk is high.

Have a consultation booked with a doctor.

Disappointing as on no medication at present. But think I'll take them, im not a young man anymore!!

Still back into a steady exercise regimen so not all bad.

Anyone have experience of Statins?

Been on Atorvastatin for 20+ Years after 2 MI’s. They do the job. 👍

[Glasseye]

 

[Glasseye]

Good & Easy

 

 

[Jambo]

I passed a big landmark today.

Tuesday is my weigh/in day and my total weight loss is now 20.6 Kilo ( 3st 3lb).

That leaves me 5.4 kilo's to still lose by 13th October to hit my 6 months target weight. I am regularly losing a kilo a week so I am on track. I might even be really close when I go in for my hip replacement operation on the 15th September.

If only my hip would not stop me doing my old daily sit/up regime I would have been able to rid myself of the last stubborn strip of belly fat which refuses to disappear. I cannot wait until I can turn that belly fat into stomach muscle. There is a six pack underneath for sure. 😄

[Krapow]

17 minutes ago, Jambo said:

I passed a big landmark today.

Tuesday is my weigh/in day and my total weight loss is now 20.6 Kilo ( 3st 3lb).

That leaves me 5.4 kilo's to still lose by 13th October to hit my 6 months target weight. I am regularly losing a kilo a week so I am on track. I might even be really close when I go in for my hip replacement operation on the 15th September.

If only my hip would not stop me doing my old daily sit/up regime I would have been able to rid myself of the last stubborn strip of belly fat which refuses to disappear. I cannot wait until I can turn that belly fat into stomach muscle. There is a six pack underneath for sure. 😄

That's over 3 Stone in old money, a massive achievement, especially when your condition is currently such that you can't exercise as much as you'd like.

Well done!

[coxyhog]

About 10 years ago my mum was being plagued by massive pains around her neck & shoulders.

I told her to go to the quack & get taken off statins....quack had forgotten that she was on them.

Instant relief and still going at 93.

[Glasseye]

20 hours ago, coxyhog said:

About 10 years ago my mum was being plagued by massive pains around her neck & shoulders.

I told her to go to the quack & get taken off statins....quack had forgotten that she was on them.

Instant relief and still going at 93.

 

Similar happened with my aunt when she was 93, but it was ulcers. Caused by baby aspirin. When you get that old the stomach lining can't take it. 

[boydeste]

On 8/22/2023 at 9:57 AM, Jambo said:

I passed a big landmark today.

Tuesday is my weigh/in day and my total weight loss is now 20.6 Kilo ( 3st 3lb).

That leaves me 5.4 kilo's to still lose by 13th October to hit my 6 months target weight. I am regularly losing a kilo a week so I am on track. I might even be really close when I go in for my hip replacement operation on the 15th September.

If only my hip would not stop me doing my old daily sit/up regime I would have been able to rid myself of the last stubborn strip of belly fat which refuses to disappear. I cannot wait until I can turn that belly fat into stomach muscle. There is a six pack underneath for sure. 😄

That's a fantastic achievement.

Whether you make the target or not, your body and new hip will thank you for it.

[Jambo]

23 hours ago, Krapow said:

That's over 3 Stone in old money, a massive achievement, especially when your condition is currently such that you can't exercise as much as you'd like.

Well done!

Thanks, much appreciated.

The simple fact is that on the 13th April I stood on the bathroom scales and gave myself the fright of my life. Limited exercise and comfort eating resulted in me actually feeling ashamed of myself. If my scales had been of the "speak your weight variety"  it would have said "Will you two stop fucking about!"

When I was playing football in my 20's to 30's my adult playing weight was 13st 7lb, never got knocked over and I could run for ever. I was a "box to box" player without ever knowing it. 🤣

I am never going to get back to that but my target is to get to 13st 12lb by the 13th October which completes six months on the diet. When I do that, and I will, I will have lost just over 26 kilos. I have 5 kilos to go and 7 weeks left.

I may not have too many years left but my new hip and I are going to enjoy them.

 

[Glasseye]

Concerning....

 

I suppose this could happen to any of us at any time....

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/16/entertainment/bruce-willis-dementia/index.html

[Jambo]

I have been giving a lot of thought to the medication I am currently taking to lessen the extreme pain I am currently experiencing in my hip/knee. I have my doubts they reduce the pain at all but I take them just in case if I stopped the pain will somehow gets worse.

Here is the conundrum.

After my hip replacement apart from the short term pain associated with the operation itself the source of my extreme pain should be no more. I have, however, been taking 2 tablets of co-codomol three times a day and morphine sulphate before I go to sleep.

I know one cannot just stop taking co-codomol so about a week ago I decided to reduce the dosage to 2 tablets, twice a day. I have not noticed any appreciable increase in the pain but I have with me in other ways. Generally I feel a bit under the weather and periods of what appears to be anxiety. Its as though I am checking myself expecting to find ........ .......... I don't know what I am expecting to find?

I have my per-admission meeting at the hospital next Thursday. Maybe I should have waited until then and discussed reducing the medication.

I was never 100% happy about taking opioid pain medication.

 

[Siam Addict]

2 hours ago, Jambo said:

I have been giving a lot of thought to the medication I am currently taking to lessen the extreme pain I am currently experiencing in my hip/knee. I have my doubts they reduce the pain at all but I take them just in case if I stopped the pain will somehow gets worse.

Here is the conundrum.

After my hip replacement apart from the short term pain associated with the operation itself the source of my extreme pain should be no more. I have, however, been taking 2 tablets of co-codomol three times a day and morphine sulphate before I go to sleep.

I know one cannot just stop taking co-codomol so about a week ago I decided to reduce the dosage to 2 tablets, twice a day. I have not noticed any appreciable increase in the pain but I have with me in other ways. Generally I feel a bit under the weather and periods of what appears to be anxiety. Its as though I am checking myself expecting to find ........ .......... I don't know what I am expecting to find?

I have my per-admission meeting at the hospital next Thursday. Maybe I should have waited until then and discussed reducing the medication.

I was never 100% happy about taking opioid pain medication.

 

I recall after my knee ops I was taking Co-codomal and it made me constapated, so I took a herbal tablet called Senna which greatly helped.

I now take 2 paracetols and 2 ibuprofens whenever the pain gets bad or if I know I will be going for a 3-5 mile walk I will take them before I go out. I will on average only take these once or at max twice a day.

On your weight loss well done! But be careful that you continue to manage your weight when you have reached your target, the difficult part is after your operation when you are not as active.

I went from 120kg down to an ideal 80kg over a two year stretch but it bounced back to 100kg after a few years. Since then it has leveled out about 90kg and I am struggling to get it down below that!

[Jambo]

18 hours ago, Siam Addict said:

I recall after my knee ops I was taking Co-codomal and it made me constapated, so I took a herbal tablet called Senna which greatly helped.

I now take 2 paracetols and 2 ibuprofens whenever the pain gets bad or if I know I will be going for a 3-5 mile walk I will take them before I go out. I will on average only take these once or at max twice a day.

On your weight loss well done! But be careful that you continue to manage your weight when you have reached your target, the difficult part is after your operation when you are not as active.

I went from 120kg down to an ideal 80kg over a two year stretch but it bounced back to 100kg after a few years. Since then it has leveled out about 90kg and I am struggling to get it down below that!

Unfortunately, constipation is a very common side effect of taking co-codomol. Since I reduced the amount there has been some improvement but I still need to take lactulose every day.

I can only be more active after the operation. The pain is now so bad I can barely get around for very short distances. I had to check with the hospital that they had a lift to get me to their first floor for Thursday's Pre-op meeting. Or more particularly, how far was the lift from the entrance? I was told they had wheel chairs if required at the entrance.

Daily mountain bike rides to a wheel chair in 2 1/2 years!

[Glasseye]

13 minutes ago, Jambo said:

Unfortunately, constipation is a very common side effect of taking co-codomol. Since I reduced the amount there has been some improvement but I still need to take lactulose every day.

I can only be more active after the operation. The pain is now so bad I can barely get around for very short distances. I had to check with the hospital that they had a lift to get me to their first floor for Thursday's Pre-op meeting. Or more particularly, how far was the lift from the entrance? I was told they had wheel chairs if required at the entrance.

Daily mountain bike rides to a wheel chair in 2 1/2 years!

 

 

I am wondering if some sort of steroid injection could help to temporarily reduce the inflammation that is causing the pain.

Doctors are sometimes reluctant to give because of possibility of liver issues. But, I say fcuk them when suffering in great pain like that.

[Jambo]

15 minutes ago, Glasseye said:

 

 

I am wondering if some sort of steroid injection could help to temporarily reduce the inflammation that is causing the pain.

Doctors are sometimes reluctant to give because of possibility of liver issues. But, I say fcuk them when suffering in great pain like that.

I will have had my operation before I get an appointment to actually see my GP. My last "telephone" consultation had an appointment period of almost 4 weeks.

I have had two cortisone injections in my knee neither of which made any difference to my pain. Maybe that will have something to do with the fact that it is my hip that is f***d. The pain in my knee is residual from my hip. The first one was given before the knee/hip was x-rayed. By the time I was given the second one I was already on the waiting list for a hip replacement. It was the Practice nurse who administered that after she did a routine blood test. 

To be fair it was me that pushed for the first cortisone injection. I had a cartilage op at the end of my footballing days which took me a year to recover from  and a cortisone injection help no end.

[Glasseye]

7 minutes ago, Jambo said:

I will have had my operation before I get an appointment to actually see my GP. My last "telephone" consultation had an appointment period of almost 4 weeks.

I have had two cortisone injections in my knee neither of which made any difference to my pain. Maybe that will have something to do with the fact that it is my hip that is f***d. The pain in my knee is residual from my hip. The first one was given before the knee/hip was x-rayed. By the time I was given the second one I was already on the waiting list for a hip replacement. It was the Practice nurse who administered that after she did a routine blood test. 

To be fair it was me that pushed for the first cortisone injection. I had a cartilage op at the end of my footballing days which took me a year to recover from  and a cortisone injection help no end.

 

just thinking.

 

Yes, I agree the hip problems are probably aggravating the knee issues.

 

Kind of like back issues can cause pain in the feet. Also balancing issues.

 

Stay tough buddy. You will get through it.  

 

*** also the fact that you have experienced and confronted similar pain and recovery should help you to cope. Although I recognize it doesn't get any easier.

Edited August 27, 2023 by Glasseye

[KhunDon]

Been having trouble pissing for the last 6 weeks, it takes bloody ages to get started! Despite taking Tamsulosin for 12+ years.
So I experimented with reducing my morphine drastically and found that it’s worked well, unfortunately the pain is obviously worse. Spoke to my GP over the phone when it started and she asked me to come in and see her. 

She was worried that it could be prostate problems and stuck her finger in too check, but declared that not to be enlarged. She also took blood for a PSV check and that came back as ok at 1.7 on the Richter scale. 🤣

We discussed reducing morphine and replacing it with Codeine and she gave me 2 months prescription, but I’ve decided not to take it, but haven’t told her that. 
I’m now down to 1/3rd of my normal morphine intake most days and yes it’s working as I can now pee pretty much on demand, the down side is of course the pain can be extreme and my mobility is much reduced, with times that I can’t even get out of my chair. 
 

I know I’ll never be able to give up Morphine completely, but reducing it is got to me good, if only for a while. 
 

I’m determined to reduce it for 3 months and deal with the pain as I feel more awake and with it when I’m taking less of it. 
I can always try Codeine as a stop gap, but replacing one opioid with another isn’t what I want. 
 

I know that my spine is getting worse fast, but there’s nothing I or the surgeons can do about that, but I can do something about my opiate intake, at least for the short term. 👍

[KhunDon]

I forgot to mention that the constipation is a lot better, especially as I shouldn’t take Lactulose, as it pushes up my Blood Sugars as it contains Glucose. 👍

[Glasseye]

raisins, cabbage, nuts...  helps the pipes run clean.

[Glasseye]

44 minutes ago, KhunDon said:

Been having trouble pissing for the last 6 weeks, it takes bloody ages to get started! Despite taking Tamsulosin for 12+ years.
So I experimented with reducing my morphine drastically and found that it’s worked well, unfortunately the pain is obviously worse. Spoke to my GP over the phone when it started and she asked me to come in and see her. 

She was worried that it could be prostate problems and stuck her finger in too check, but declared that not to be enlarged. She also took blood for a PSV check and that came back as ok at 1.7 on the Richter scale. 🤣

We discussed reducing morphine and replacing it with Codeine and she gave me 2 months prescription, but I’ve decided not to take it, but haven’t told her that. 
I’m now down to 1/3rd of my normal morphine intake most days and yes it’s working as I can now pee pretty much on demand, the down side is of course the pain can be extreme and my mobility is much reduced, with times that I can’t even get out of my chair. 
 

I know I’ll never be able to give up Morphine completely, but reducing it is got to me good, if only for a while. 
 

I’m determined to reduce it for 3 months and deal with the pain as I feel more awake and with it when I’m taking less of it. 
I can always try Codeine as a stop gap, but replacing one opioid with another isn’t what I want. 
 

I know that my spine is getting worse fast, but there’s nothing I or the surgeons can do about that, but I can do something about my opiate intake, at least for the short term. 👍

 

Morphine related stuff sucks IMO.   Only makes me sick.

 

Glad you had the finger shove. What a relief to know your prostate is in good order. Worth the dosh to know that.

 

 

[galenkia]

Gutted, went 189 consecutive days hitting my app calorie goal, and the other day I was 5 calories short but didn’t realize until the next day as I’d have done a few trips up and down stairs.