Joint Pain

Hi All! I am 2 weeks post op today and am feeling decent. I have been walking all throughout this process but today I was on my feet in Ikea (ha!) for 4 hours and my hips and ankles kill! I have not been getting all my protein in daily despite my best efforts. Is this joint pain because of that?

-Nikki

Hey, Nikki!

How are you feeling? I'm 1 week out and yesterday was having killer joint pain and muscle cramps. I was dehydrated. I feel much better so make sure thats not it. I was like about to go to the ER for fluids but I was able to hydrate fairly quickly with G2 and Water. A lot of it. Even if you cant get all your protein in (I'm having problems too) - make SURE your getting all your water in. 

It could be something else but thought I'd share my experience!

Just my thoughts, but it could be a couple of things.  First, two weeks post op isn't that long, so it could be plain old fatigue.  It could also be dehydration.  Thirdly, it might just be your muscles getting ready for more exercise.  My knees and hips hurt every day for about 6 weeks when I started walking.  They hurt because my thigh muscles weren't strong enough to support them, so in addition to walking every day I started doing squats and other thigh exercises.  And it helped!  

Good luck to you!

I have had joint issues since surgery. My knees and elbows pop. My right shoulder gives me a hard time. I just starting taking something from Nature Made for joint health. I know that the quick redistribution of weight is a culprit on my knees and ankles. If you gain, it stresses your joints. Carrying around all of that extra weight is a stressor. However, I also know that as I've been running, as things move and redistribute around my body, the joints have to keep up. Even though I'm losing and not gaining, the joints are used to things being in a different place and so as I develop muscle and weight moves to a different place (more upper thigh muscle, less calf weight, less belly, stronger core) my stance changes, my form changes as I walk/run and the joints have to adjust.

It's the same premise if you every played with tinker toys. The joints hold the items together. As you move items of different weight around, you need different kinds of connectors. As my body weight has moved and the muscles have developed, I've notice a small lag time in the rest of the body catching up. I've noticed a solution is to switch up my exercise and do different things. Protein also helps a lot and adding in Amino Acids and taking more calcium has helped.

The cool thing with this surgery is that you will get to know your body. As you shed fat and get to know the body hiding under the fat suit, you will be like "Hi body, how are you." Then you'll notice real hunger versus bored hunger, pains in a new muscle area, a tighter tush, etc. Doing this surgery and studying the plan and results, gets you a new understanding of how you tick. It's an a amazing process.

Thanks for the responses! All of the points made make perfect sense! I will keep pushing though because "slow and steady wins the race!"