posted
I've been having to deal with a lot of the little imperfections in my body lately... For one thing, I've gained some weight lately and it's reflecting badly. I've started to be more active to remedy that, but about a week ago, I started noticing another problem, which doesn't seem to be related to my weight.
I'm starting to have this pain in my shoulder joint. Not crippling, but frustrating and irritating. Just in my left shoulder... I can't really put any weight on it anymore, and it's driving me nuts.
Do you guys think it might be because I have weird joints? They pop in and out from time to time, my hips as well as my shoulders. And last week I felt this weird tingling in my shoulder when it popped out and back in. Do you think I might have pinched a nerve?
Anyway. I apparently only start threads to whine in. If anyone wants to, they can fluff this thread all up. Go for it.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
(((((Ryuko))))) I'm assuming you have ruled out anything you are carrying on that shoulder? (purse, backpack, etc.)
You might consider seeing a physical therapist. They can help with the pain; more importantly, they may be able to help you figure out what's causing it (way you're walking or sitting, for example).
posted
Yeah, but I just went to the doctor a few weeks ago with a laundry list of whininatings. I don't want to go back and annoy them all over again... :/
Edit: Rivka - I do carry a backpack, and it is a significant amount of weight, but I've decreased the weight and it hasn't really helped. I've carried the same backpack with comparable weight for three or four years without problems.
posted
I was going to say what rivka said. Physical therapy can do WONDERS. I have chronic tendonitis in both my shoulders, caused by a dislocated shoulder in infancy and bad posture. Working with the physical therapist fixed my posture and improved the pain in my shoulders. Wonderful.
So...since you have insurance, just call the doc with what's up and he should just refer you for PT.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
[edit: in response to Ryuko] Repeat after me: The doctor is there to help me. They would rather I come in and complain than that I not come in and suffer.
posted
Don't worry about annoying them it is their job to make sure you are doing well.
I would also like to commend you for getting active to lose weight instead of crash dieting. I only wish more girls in our age group would deal with their weight in a healthy way.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
But what if it really is just a pinched nerve and I waste the insurance company's money and my/my parents copay? :/ I don't know.
Allegra: I kind of have to. My roommate's anorexic, and if I went all crash dieting, she'd either stop me or join me and I don't want the last to happen. Besides, I had bad experiences with Atkins. (shrug) But thanks for your commendation. Hopefully I have the willpower to keep it up.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
A PT can help you get relief from a pinched nerve too. Talk to your parents. I bet they will be much happier paying the copay so this can get taken care of -- EVEN if it ends up being something minor -- than having you suffer.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Physical therapists actually have a term for a pinched nerve...I forget what it is. Anyway, yes, they can treat THAT, too. Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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I understand eating well to get to a better weight. That is partially how I lost 70 pounds last year. But eating pounds of meat everyday cannot be healthy. Carbs are needed for energy. How could a person be on the Atkins diet if they did more then lift their hand to change the channel? Also a lot of the foods that are deemed ok by the diet have huge amounts of saturated fat. "I am skinny as a stick so it doesn't matter that I just had a heart attack."
It seems like the only way to get to a healthy weight and stay there is to eat well and excercise. Why does everyone avoid the inevitable?
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
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All right, you guys... If you think I should, then if it continues to bother me, I'll talk to my parents. (sigh) I'm such a pain, aren't I?
And yeah, I do have some trouble eating well, since I like meat so much. I just want to eat meat and not much other stuff. Eheh. But I try to eat veggies. Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
*hug* One way or the other, I hope you feel better soon, sweetie. I know artists are stereotypically supposed to suffer . . . but I've seen your work, and it's great. So I think any suffering is just a waste. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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(scuffs shoe) Aw shucks. I'm not nearly as good as some of the people who are here... 'Specially not the ones that have gone to art school.
Posts: 4816 | Registered: Apr 2003
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It's not a competition, neh? As you long as you are consistently better than you used to be, you're doing perfectly. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Atkins does not equal "eating pounds of meat a day." Someone on the Atkins diet, and really following it instead of the distortions of it as portrayed in the media, will eat many, many more vegetables than the average American. I know my dad has significantly improved his blood chemistry (higher HDL, lower LDL, lower triglycerides, etc.) by doing it. Not to mention losing 60 pounds over the course of 14 months, and keeping it off for 3 more years.
posted
Yeah, if you're a student, ergonomics could have a lot to with it. How you sit down and study to read. And like you mentioned, carrying around a heavy back pack, etc. Things you do everyday that can affect your joints. Make sure you give yourself time to stretch out? The popuplar suggestion of a PT seems like the best plan.
Best of luck to you with finding a remedy for your aches and diet. Posts: 326 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
Dag already covered this a bit, but let me elaborate...
The Adkins diet is not a high fat, eat all the meat you want diet.
If done properly, as per the book, a person on the Adkins will only stay on the induction phase for 2-3 weeks, and that phase is the only phase which eliminates carbs completely. Also, Dr. Adkins never said "Eat all the fatty foods you want.", in fact he said the opposite, that portion control was necessary for any safe weight loss program.
It is right there in his book, which I read to find out more about the science of it....I was curious about the weight loss mechanisms involved, as they seemed to run counter to everything else out there. What I found by reading it was that his main points were:
A) A lot of foods, such as meat, eggs, and butter, were blamed completely for weight gain by other diets, and carbs were suggested as the alternative to them.
and
B) If eaten in moderation those foods were beneficial to dieting, as long as the real culprits (carbs) were severely limited, particularly during the beginning of a diet.
The Induction phase is suppose to be a jump start to the diet, not the whole diet itself, but the initial weight loss is so dramatic that a lot of people stay on than phase longer than recommended.
The Second phase re-introduces carbs in a limited manner, teaching proper portion control and types of carbs that has good uses....as opposed to the empty carbs that dominate the average US diet; Soda and chips, so to speak.
The Third phase is the maintaince phase, which involves serious lifestyle changes in diet, reducing the amount of daily carbs compared to the normal US diet, but allowing all sorts of "good carbs" back. This is the phase that helps keep off the pounds for good.
At NO point did Dr. Adkins say to eat a pound of meat at a sitting, and he does mention that there are other health risks associated with a high fat diet, so dieters should excersize caution when eating a high-protein diet so as not to raise their cholestoral.
He also recommended an excersize regimen as a necessary part of a health lifestyle.
The media took his diet and started calling it a miracle diet, were on could eat a high-protein diet and still lose weight....something that ran against all common wisdom at that time. People began looking to it as a "magic bullet", and modifying his diet to include enormous amounts of meat, ignoring his actual advice.
There are a number of low-carb diets that work....South Beach, Curves (a club, with a dietitian included), just to mention two.....and they all owe a huge debt to Dr. Adkins.
It just pisses me off when people make up their own version of the Adkins diet, and then when they have health problems blame Dr. Adkins...even though they aren't really following most of his actual advice.
I know a ton of people who used the Adkins diet, and out of the 10-12 of them I don't think that half of them bothered to read his book...they just skipped to the diet part, and then changed it to what they wanted it to say.
Ryukochan, you're not a pain and you shouldn't have to be in pain. Go. Get yourself some relief. As your ninja master, I command it.
Posts: 4534 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
Ryuko, do you carry your backpack over just one shoulder at a time, or do you have it centered by using both straps?
Posts: 2919 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
Sudden weight gain can cause aches and pains and can aggravate things that were just slightly off-kilter to be very off-kilter.
I agree with all who are advising a trip to the doctor.
And by the way, did you see the post about a contest including one for illustrations? I think you could do it!!!
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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quote:There are a number of low-carb diets that work....South Beach, Curves (a club, with a dietitian included), just to mention two.....and they all owe a huge debt to Dr. Adkins.
I'm on South Beach, and I'm currently down nineteen pounds in 12 weeks. The first two weeks I lost a mind-boggling 10 pounds and have settled down to roughly a pound a week now, which is plenty for me.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I was refering to the way people interpret the low-carb diets. I was equating Adkins with the Devil when what I ment was the usual low-carb lifestyle. I am not sure that I think that low-carb, in its true form, is a good idea, but I am sure that the way many people interpret the diet is unhealthy.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Bob-No I haven't... I dunno about that. I'm pretty OK with sketches, but illustrations involve a degree of finalization that I'm not really good with yet.
quote:I was refering to the way people interpret the low-carb diets. I was equating Adkins with the Devil when what I ment was the usual low-carb lifestyle. I am not sure that I think that low-carb, in its true form, is a good idea, but I am sure that the way many people interpret the diet is unhealthy.
Misunderstood previously but now I agree.
And now that I think about it more, I did know someone who was doing Atkins (or at least her own interpretation of it). I say her interpretation because she was under the impression that she could eat all the carbs she wanted - total free rein - for one hour out of the day, and then absolutely no carbs for the rest of the day. So she'd have an egg and some cheese for breakfast, a burger and supersized fries and chips and I don't even remember what else for lunch, and presumably just meats for dinner. I never saw this person eat vegetables of any kind (unless you count mushrooms and green peppers on pizza). She lost about 15 pounds and then suddenly skyrocketed past her starting point... gee I wonder why.
I spent 3 weeks on induction because I cheated a lot the first week, but still lost 7 pounds that first week even with daily Oreo attacks. My current daily meal plan has one meal with reasonable carbs (i.e. a sandwich on wholegrain for lunch or some potatoes and a dinner roll with the evening roast), a daily salad, snack veggies, cheese and nuts. I haven't brought fruits back into my meal plan yet.
Now that Thanksgiving is almost here, it's time for me to relax my controls and ride through the evil season. I won't pig out and gorge on everything I see, but I'm not going to refuse myself if there's soemthing I want that's already on the table. I hope to maintain my current weight through the next month, although I'd love to still lose, and I won't be upset with myself if I end up gaining a bit. I believe I read someplace that the average American gains 2-3 pounds in the month or so between Thanksgiving and New Years. Then when the holidays are over, I'll be back on full-time. I have another 30 pounds to lose!
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Ryuko, you can try calling your physician's office and asking to speak to his or her nurse. The nurse would be able to help you sort out whether you need to come in and how best to take care of the problem.
Posts: 2919 | Registered: Aug 2004
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Repeat after me: The doctor is there to help me. They would rather I come in and complain than that I not come in and suffer.![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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