Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Miracle Drug and back to the treadmill

For those of you who joined me in the last couple of months, Last spring I  set a goal of walking 1000 miles on my treadmill to get into better shape for walking in our National Parks someday.  Everything was clicking along, a few miles a day, until I began to have a really achy knee. Doctor said "arthritis" and prescribed Naproxen.  It tore up my stomach!

 I limped along into summer and by July the knee discomfort was overshadowed by grinding ankle pain and swelling.  In August I quit drinking all alcohol, so that I could try some extra strength Tylenol.  It didn't help at all.

In September a Druggist suggested I ask my Doctor about a drug called Mobic.  He gave me a prescription for the generic version and in  a few hours after the first dose my pain was almost gone!

My sister-in-law has been taking it for over nine years and says it still works for her with no side effects! The only negative is that you should not drink wine or any alcoholic beverages.  But that was OK since I had quit a month earlier.

 I have been taking one pill a day for about a month and find that not only am I pain free in my knee and ankle, I have renewed flexibility in joints that I had given up on.

 I can bend!  I can smoothly get up from a chair!  I can sit on the floor and actually stand up on my own without first crawling over to the sofa!  Getting out of bed in the morning is no longer an "iffy" proposition.  Painting some of those hard to reach places on the roof overhangs would have been impossible last July.

Now I'm able to walk on my treadmill again!


 I have it downstairs in the home theatre room. (Thats a large screen with an overhead projection screen system.)

I usually watch NetFlix DVDs or TV while I walk.

I restarted walking last week with just one easy mile on Friday.  No problem.  So I did two miles yesterday and two today.


Bringing back the mile count:


Exercise Goal:
1000
 miles on the treadmill, 
1 mile Friday, 2 miles Monday, 2 miles Tuesday
Total walked = 190 miles
Someday I will be hiking 1000 miles in National Parks!




Daily countdown:
392 days, or 1 year, 27 days. 

7 comments:

  1. That is excellent news! Happy walking!

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  2. Good for you! I'll have to tell Al about Mobic, but he won't want to give up his beer :)

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  3. For me it was a balanced choice. Lack of Pain and immobility vs. much loved red wine consumption.

    I have a daughter that did liver function research and has made me aware of what the alcohol combined with meds can do!

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  4. What an excellent way to be prepared for the fun days ahead! Good for you!

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  5. That's great news about that Mobic stuff. I hope it continues to do the trick for you so your exercise routine can continue.

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  6. Good for you, Merikay! Keep on marching! Happy to see the count back. :)

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  7. Good for you!! Your goal is awesome and I applaud you for getting to it!!!
    I love to walk outdoors, I live in the perfect rural setting for it too, so I have no excuse I usually take my dogs along! So glad to hear you talk about the effects alcohol has on the body...so many peole have many complaints that they DONT link back to that..and if you mention it they get a upset as if you are accusing them of being alcoholics, but the truth is one drink of alcohol a DAY can cause multiple physical complaints!! Such as dizziness, lethargy, confusion, headache, muscle pain, the list is LONG!

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