|
|
 Veteran
Posts: 224
Location: Southern OK aka God's Country | I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with arthritis that started in their 30's? I am in my early 30's and have been noticing that certain tasks are becoming more difficult and even painful, usually things that involve grasping for extended periods of time. Gripping the reins for long periods is one thing that tends to trigger it, but the worst is peeling potatoes--that has become more and more difficult and now I almost dread it. It's not a sharp pain, just more of a stiff, dull discomfort in the knuckles across the top of my hands. I do experience a very sharp pain in the knuckle above my pointer finger at times when I grasp something with it. This has all started becoming an issue in the last year or so.
Is this arthritis? Has anyone else had it start this early? And did anything you do or take lessen the progression of it? I don't want to have useless hands by the time I'm 50. |
|
| |
|
 Miss Laundry Misshap
Posts: 5271
 
| It sounds like arthritis. I would see a doctor about it. I don't have arthritis in my hands, but I have it in my spine, from horse injuries. The biggest thing I can tell you is to keep moving as much as possible, it helps keep things loose. A doc can prescribe meds to help. I might also add a glucosamine supplement to my diet. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 224
Location: Southern OK aka God's Country | Thanks I'll look into that. I figured with as many ladies on here there would be a few with some experience with it. . . It seems like it is more prevalent in women, or maybe that's just been my experience. I know my mom and my grandmother both have arthritis but I'm not sure they had trouble with it in their 30's. |
|
| |
|
| I started having problems in my mid 20's with gripping items for a lond period of time. With barrel reins i dont have too much of a problem beause i am very light and dont keep in a fist position when riding so it dont bother me then. But I dont peel potatoes anymore... we eat them with skin... fishing, scooping poop, and sometimes even driving seem to be my triggers. bascially anytime i'm gripping something for very long will do it. I dont have any answers for ya on how to help but i just try to avoid grasping anything very long. i will clean one stall then go do somehting else for awhile them do the next stall later so it gives my hands a break. I do have the back on track gloves and on the nights my hands are really bothering me they help sooth them. |
|
| |
|
 Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | I was diagnosed with Juvenile rumatiod arthritis when I was teens and I'm now 30. I was able to manage it with diet. I can tell you more about what I eat if you want to hear what works for me. So far the most I take for it is an Ibuprophen once in a blue moon.
Edited by equussynergy 2014-03-05 8:42 AM
|
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 224
Location: Southern OK aka God's Country | Yes, I do want to hear what works in your diet! I wondered if some foods could help or hinder the progression. And I didn't know Back on Track made people products, so I will check into the gloves. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 2135
Location: Somewhere else | I have it in both knees due to playing sports all thru school and after..my knees are shot. They hurt so bad that 2000mg of ibufroen won't touch it. Finally went to the Ortho Dr & my left knee has no cartliage left in it, so it's bone on bone and the right one is going to. I have to have help to get on my horses that's how bad it is. Went this past week to the Ortho to get injections & he gave me a new med that has come out & it's helping so much. Now I can get back to the gym & working out.
Mine is arthritis and he said it won't ever get better but hopefully we can control the pain for a long time with the new meds |
|
| |
|
Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | Well it was a bit of a long road and the reason I'm now a full time farmer. My first step was avoiding additives, preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. Then a friend recommend I try raw dairy, pasteurized diary makes my joints flair. SO that was my main change. I make sure my meat and eggs are from pastured animals. I avoid processed oils and live on butter, lard and coconut oil. I have also eliminated refined sugars and grains as they always lead to flairs for me. I have found I can tolerate a little bit of grains if they soaked, sours or sprouted but in moderation always. As far as veggies I grow my own so they are organic.
I also incorporate organ meat, and fermented foods into my diet as much as I can.
Everyone says it is a restrictive diet but I pretty much eat like a queen. I do use a lot of healthy fats and no so far it hasn’t led to any weight gain. I’ve actually lost 30lbs eating this way and I never feel deprived.
As far as supplements I’ve had good luck with cetyl-m, I currently take krill oil, Epicor, vitamin D, K and nattokinase and fermented cod liver and high vitamin butter oil. You can google them for more info. Also look up the Weston A Price foundation. This is where I learned about eating real food. At 17 I was ready to give up on horses because of the pain I had. Today it is just a dark memory. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 224
Location: Southern OK aka God's Country | I have actually started trying to be more aware of what I'm eating, which was why I was really curious as to what food decisions you were making for your arthritis. For instance, I had no idea that Griffin's and other syrups are actually not maple syrup until like a year ago (that is sad, but true). They are actually corn syrup and a bunch of other "stuff." I was even more surprised to see how expensive real, organic maple syrup is. It's no wonder people buy bad food--it's so much cheaper! Same thing with creamers--they don't have any cream in them. They are all syrups of various kinds. So I started buying the Simple creamer and it is milk, sugar and cream. I can pronounce everything on the ingredients list. I try to use only unsalted butter and no longer buy margerine of any kind.
We have a dairy that sells unprocessed milk but it's about an hour drive. I bought some a few months ago, but I did a lot of research and while I had no problem with it myself, I was really scared to give it to my young child because of the risk of foodborne illnesses. While the risk may have been small, it was enough to scare me into not giving it to him. If it were readily available, I would buy it for myself and keep giving him the pasteurized milk until he's older. I do get eggs from my mom's chickens or our neighbors and I try to buy cage-free chicken. Our beef is from a calf that our friends butchered, so I know how it was raised and treated.
We do have a great health food cafe and store here and they are very helpful, so I will go by and see what they recommend for supplements. Unfortunately they are vegan and don't carry any meat or cheese products. |
|
| |
|
I Really Love Jeans
Posts: 3173
Location: North Dakota | When I went through puberty around the age of 13, when my period started I developed arthritis in my knees and shoulders. Now that I am 40 I almost drag my feet trying to walk some days. For whatever reason my body attacked my joints when I started growing up. Go to a DR. and make sure they do ALL they can to diagnose you 100%. I am sorry you have developed this problem and I wish you all the best. |
|
| |
|
Swiffer PIcker Upper
Posts: 4015
Location: Four Corners Colorado | I have to order my supplements online. As far as Raw Milk safety my best advice is to know your farmer. My diary cows are 100% grass fed and we follow very strict guidlines for cleanliness and test our milk regularly for pathogenic bacteria. I used to drive two hours everyweek to get my milk before I bought my cows. My nephews have been drinking raw milk since they could hold a cup and never been sick from it. My oldest one has bad ezema that totally clears up when he is with me for the summer due to our diet here. I've also caught them out with the cows milking them into their hands and drinking it. I about had a heart attack that day Lol not because they were drinking the milk from the cow before she had been cleaned but because they were out with her loose in the pasture.
Also to make it more affordable you can look in to a local CSA program to get local grass fed meat and veggies at a more reasonable price. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 224
Location: Southern OK aka God's Country | equussynergy - 2014-03-05 9:41 AM
I have to order my supplements online. As far as Raw Milk safety my best advice is to know your farmer. My diary cows are 100% grass fed and we follow very strict guidlines for cleanliness and test our milk regularly for pathogenic bacteria. I used to drive two hours everyweek to get my milk before I bought my cows. My nephews have been drinking raw milk since they could hold a cup and never been sick from it. My oldest one has bad ezema that totally clears up when he is with me for the summer due to our diet here. I've also caught them out with the cows milking them into their hands and drinking it. I about had a heart attack that day Lol not because they were drinking the milk from the cow before she had been cleaned but because they were out with her loose in the pasture.
Also to make it more affordable you can look in to a local CSA program to get local grass fed meat and veggies at a more reasonable price.
My son has eczema and allergies, and that was actually the reason I looked at the raw milk in the first place. I just talked myself out of it! If I were like you and had dairy cows, I would have no problem with it at all. We do have a farmer's market here on Wednesday and Saturday spring-fall, so I can hit that up for veggies once they get started again. Thanks for all your info. |
|
| |
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 464
| Research antinflamtory foods. It may not cure it, but it will help. If yours is not burning, you don't know what your missing. Keeping moving is critical. |
|
| |
|
Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| If there is anything specific you've eliminated from your diet that helps?
My knees kill. Especially at the gym, I can't do lunges at all.
I will say do good research about production agriculture please. Look at both sides of the issue before you make a decision. I have no problem with people who choose to eat organic, or non-GMO, or cage free etc IF they've researched both sides. Cage free hens are raised in the same buildings that caged hens are, with the same lack of access to sun/outside etc. cage free is not free range, but the media machine has led many people who haven't done their research to paint a picture of free range when they hear cage free.
We eat a mix of all, based on a healthy diet with few processed foods and price. |
|
| |
|
 The Bird Lady
Posts: 6440
Location: The end of the Earth, SE AR | dakota88 - 2014-03-05 8:50 AM I have it in both knees due to playing sports all thru school and after..my knees are shot. They hurt so bad that 2000mg of ibufroen won't touch it. Finally went to the Ortho Dr & my left knee has no cartliage left in it, so it's bone on bone and the right one is going to. I have to have help to get on my horses that's how bad it is. Went this past week to the Ortho to get injections & he gave me a new med that has come out & it's helping so much. Now I can get back to the gym & working out.
Mine is arthritis and he said it won't ever get better but hopefully we can control the pain for a long time with the new meds
What is the new med you are on?
My husband was diagnosted with osteoarthritis when he was in his 20s and has had 3 knee replacements. He has bone spurs on almost every bone in his body and he's in his mid 60s now. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 2385
| I was diagnosed with arthritis in my back when I was 23-24 (I'm 26 now). I've noticed a huge difference when I take any kind of joint pill (msm, glucosamine, or chondritin). Smooth run makes a human joint supplement that I LOVE! |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 224
Location: Southern OK aka God's Country | OhMax - 2014-03-05 10:28 AM
If there is anything specific you've eliminated from your diet that helps?
My knees kill. Especially at the gym, I can't do lunges at all.
I will say do good research about production agriculture please. Look at both sides of the issue before you make a decision. I have no problem with people who choose to eat organic, or non-GMO, or cage free etc IF they've researched both sides. Cage free hens are raised in the same buildings that caged hens are, with the same lack of access to sun/outside etc. cage free is not free range, but the media machine has led many people who haven't done their research to paint a picture of free range when they hear cage free.
We eat a mix of all, based on a healthy diet with few processed foods and price.
You are right, I make the mistake sometimes of assuming cage-free and free range are the same thing and mean super happy chickens until their day to go. I wish that I had the stomach and the heart to raise and process our own animals, especially chickens and pork, but I don't see that happening. We do eat a lot of deer and wild turkey, and I am curious about elk and buffalo but have not tried any. I think cutting a lot of the sugar out that I eat would be a good step but I so love cookies and brownies and cake . . . they are my weakness. |
|
| |
|
 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
| I have arthritic changes in most of the joints in my hands, some worse than others, my shoulders and elbows, one hip, both knees, both feet, one ankle, an probably the second ankle after a break last fall.
I'm TERRIBLE with eating right for it, so I just try to keep moving. I limit my Aleve to 2 a week (Saturday night is pain-free night!), and as needed for horse shows. I start every day by walking thru the house and heading outside to feed and do morning chores. Do not stop - no time to chit chat! After that if I find that I'm sitting in a chair for over an hour solid I will become somewhat stuck, so I'll take a walkabout. It's really tough since I broke my 'good' foot/ankle last September because I need to stay off it to heal.
My changes were first x-rayed when I was in my late 20's (elbow, knee and hip), and then the other elbow, shoulders, other knee, feet and hands went by 38 or so. Since then, these past 13 years or so, I've only noticed another joint or two in my fingers (little finger on left hand?) getting worse. My knees scream when I ride a lot, but this winter I have -0- knee pain since I haven't ridden forever. I found the trigger motions that flared each area and learned new motions which helped tons. I DO NOT carry water buckets! That took care of most of my elbow and shoulder pain. I also don't pitch the fork much, also elbows and shoulders.
I know I would probably be much better if I ate a better diet. Someday I may have to pay attention to continue to ride and feed and move about somewhat freely. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 224
Location: Southern OK aka God's Country | lonely va barrelxr - 2014-03-05 12:02 PM
I have arthritic changes in most of the joints in my hands, some worse than others, my shoulders and elbows, one hip, both knees, both feet, one ankle, an probably the second ankle after a break last fall.
I'm TERRIBLE with eating right for it, so I just try to keep moving.  I limit my Aleve to 2 a week (Saturday night is pain-free night!), and as needed for horse shows. I start every day by walking thru the house and heading outside to feed and do morning chores. Do not stop - no time to chit chat! After that if I find that I'm sitting in a chair for over an hour solid I will become somewhat stuck, so I'll take a walkabout. It's really tough since I broke my 'good' foot/ankle last September because I need to stay off it to heal.Â
My changes were first x-rayed when I was in my late 20's (elbow, knee and hip), and then the other elbow, shoulders, other knee, feet and hands went by 38 or so. Since then, these past 13 years or so, I've only noticed another joint or two in my fingers (little finger on left hand?) getting worse.  My knees scream when I ride a lot, but this winter I have -0- knee pain since I haven't ridden forever.  I found the trigger motions that flared each area and learned new motions which helped tons. I DO NOT carry water buckets! That took care of most of my elbow and shoulder pain. I also don't pitch the fork much, also elbows and shoulders.Â
I know I would probably be much better if I ate a better diet. Someday I may have to pay attention to continue to ride and feed and move about somewhat freely.Â
Not looking forward to it spreading to other joints! Luckily (I guess) my hands and fingers are the only thing that are affected at this point, but I do notice more stiffness now than when I was younger in general. Unfortunately I work in an office and sit on my rear for 9 hours a day, which somewhat limits my mobility. I suspect typing all day has contributed to the effect on my hands. My left knee will start hurting when I ride for long periods, but I don't think I ever attributed that to an arthritic process--I guess it is possible that it is. I always thought it was my stirrup angle and being out of shape. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 631
Location: Oologah, Oklahoma | I am 31 and going through this same exact thing. It started about a month ago in fingers (not thumb though) of my right hand across the knuckles. A dull, sharp pain, stiffness, heat, and swelling. Aleve seems to help a TINY bit, but I'm going to have a doctor look at it next Monday. Seems like the onset of osteoarthritis. I'll post on this thread after my appointment if you'd like to know what I find out. Not fun!!! |
|
| |
Folks on-line