Dude. I’m practically the queen of setbacks at this point. I don’t want to make excuses, but LIFE gets in the way sometimes!
This time, it is pain. Sudden, chronic pain all over my body.
Since giving birth to Luna 2 years ago, I’ve had more issues with my joints than I had previously. But I attributed that to gaining more weight than I “should” have during pregnancy, having an emergency c-section, postpartum depression, and then having trouble losing the extra weight after pregnancy.
It started with pain in my hips, especially in the mornings. I thought maybe I was just sleeping weirdly on my sides. But it would come and go and wasn’t keeping me from any daily activities, so I figured it was fine.
Then this past summer I started having more issues. My lower back was hurting more than usual. My knees and ankles were getting stiffer and hurting. But still, it was intermittent and wasn’t impacting my daily life.
Part of the reason I decided to start exercising again was because of this pain. Surely it was just because I’m getting older and just needed to stretch and move a little more. My day job consists of sitting at a desk — though I rarely sit for more than 30 minutes or so at a time thanks to having a toddler at home with me. So getting some more movement in my life definitely couldn’t hurt!
So about three months ago I started doing some light walking 2-3 nights a week while Landon was at soccer practice. Then I started adding in some yoga and pilates. It seemed to be going well. I was a little sore, but nothing crazy. So I added in a HIIT workout or higher intensity workout about once a week for a couple of weeks. And I was more sore, but still not more than I would expect, and it wasn’t anything super crazy or high intensity. I’ve been pretty active most of my life and know when my body can’t handle something.
But, my knees and hips started hurting pretty badly, so I started to take it down a little again, just to be safe. For the past 3 weeks I’ve only walked and done light yoga and pilates.
Then last week, it hit me. I walked for about 45 minutes on Friday evening, then on Saturday I felt like I had run a marathon. My entire body hurt. The joints, the muscles, everything. And not just the muscles and joints used for walking. My hands and even fingers hurt! My wrists and arms hurt. My shoulders hurt. Literally. Everything. Hurt.
And I was exhausted as well. I am notorious for not sleeping well, but the exhaustion and fatigue hit me like a ton of rocks. All I wanted to do was lay down. It hurt to move anyway.
This extreme level of pain and fatigue lasted until Monday evening. I scheduled an appointment with a doctor on Thursday and tried to just wait it out. I was scared to do any type of activity or movement for fear of it hurting or causing more pain afterwards.
Since seeing the doctor, I’ve gotten an anti-inflammatory prescription and am awaiting my test results. She advised me to keep moving as much as I’m comfortable with, and to try to keep up the light yoga. The pain has gotten better since Monday night, but it’s still there, still exhausting me, I’m still not sleeping well, and I’ve also started having shooting pains and my hands and feet tingle and fall asleep very easily.
I have this fear that things are going to go the same way they have when it comes to my digestive issues. All tests will come back normal and they won’t be able to diagnose what the issue is, therefore they won’t be able to help me feel better.
I want to stay positive. Maybe I really just overdid it and my body just needs a break since I’m older. I have been under quite a lot of stress at work. But the longer this goes on and I still feel pain throughout my body, the more I worry.
I honestly don’t even know what my purpose was in writing this post anymore. Maybe I just needed to complain a little and get it all out into the universe. Maybe someone who has had similar issues will see this and give me advice or hope. Maybe someone is feeling the same way and it’s nice to know you’re not alone?
Probably I’m just a little crazy. But we all knew that already. 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to read. When I get some answers, I’ll post an update.
Be nice. ❤
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