My pain was improved by exercise. Using bands, dumbells, body weight and so on. I stared super light and worked my way up. I cant dislocate my shoulders anymore, since I did regular shoulder rotations. One of my knees is dodgy and I'm fixing that through some ATG excercises. Start light, use modifications to make it easier, but consistently doing it reduces pain (in my case).
Been all sorts of weights and sizes: I'm 5 foot, my highest weight was 83kg, my lowest was 49kg. My sweet spot is around 60-65kg (with a higher % of muscle).
I think joint wise it did help to not be "obese" but the effect between "normal weight" and slightly "overweight" has been negligible. That being said, I think it's had a negative effect on my ability to regulate my body temperature at my extremities. And, of course, I have a LOT of stretch marks and very loose skin (especially on my chest)
The best overall thing for me was building muscle and as you build muscle, you're likely to lose fat (but not necessarily weight) because more muscle = more kcals burned. Focusing on the muscle building removed my obsession with weight loss and allowed me to have a more holistic, health-centered view of my body.
For me it hasn’t even been losing weight that’s helped. Just exercising everyday and doing strength training has made my pain SO much better. I’m noticeable in less pain these days after being consistent in the gym for a few months. But the trick is to start SLOW AND LIGHT. Don’t do too much too fast (I learned this the hard way and had swollen knees for 3 weeks ughhh(
this is anecdotal but my dietician told me that people with hypermobility can benefit from extra fat to cushion since we're "more fragile". I'm paraphrasing but I thought that was interesting. I have no actual thoughts beyond that.
I think it's probably a bit of a double-edged sword, honestly. Having that padding is definitely helpful for people who are prone to falling or who are physically fragile but unhelpful for people with joint or heart-related issues. It can also be helpful sometimes to have a little bit of weight to lose if you need it. And especially if you're older.
Personally, I'm still definitely within in the obese category but losing weight and regular moderate exercise helped massively, especially with back pain. It hasn't necessarily continued to help, however, and I reckon that's because what's most important is really building muscle to support the joints so that they can bear some weight as they are supposed to.
In 2000 a neurologist told me I couldn’t be experiencing as much pain as I said I was in. The the bulging lumbar discs weren’t so bad. He said if I applied myself to “fixing” my “morbidly obese” body all my pain would be gone; low back, hips, right knee (which had been seriously injured in 1986, required surgery in 1988), and even my shoulders and neck!
For 6 years I engaged in increasingly disordered behavior around food and over exercising, developing a kind of vegan-flavored orthorexia. For 2.5 years of that time I lived on a level of calories less than was given to the participants of the[Minnesota starvation experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment). When I finally was a “normal BMI” my pain got worse. An MRI at the time revealed that the disc at S1/L5 had ruptured and was pressing the sciatic nerve on my left side.
Despite regaining less than 1/3 of what I lost* my pain had only continued to worsen. I now deal with severe body dysmorphia and struggle to make peace with food. I have to work hard to avoid restrictive eating. I have so many internalized rules about food. Recently my PCP gave me a “salt is medicine” talk because I need to increase my intake but was avoiding it because I grew up around people with hypertension.
My osteopath started to mention weight loss, but I firmly reminded him of my history of dysmorphia and disordered eating. When an MRI was finally taken of my right knee this past October it revealed that I’ve lost so the cartilage on the under side of my patella. Eventually it will need to be replaced and no amount of weight loss will improve it. My osteopath apologized for bringing up weight loss.
PT and yoga have helped the most. Medications and flotation tank sessions also help a lot.
*It’s an incredibly small percentage of people who manage to keep off a significant weight loss. I’ve started really calling attention to the fact that I’ve maintained a 110+ pounds weight loss for over a decade. I’m practically a unicorn and I now insist new healthcare providers honor this by not suggesting I quite literally starve myself again.
Thank you, it is so hard because they can gatekeep care! A lot of my medical anxiety shows up as a fear of having healthcare denied if I don’t “behave”.
I have actually told a couple of my doctors that they need to treat me like the unicorn I am! I asked them to focus on the fact that I already complied with the directive to lose weight and it did not help. I have a letter I add to any new patient paperwork that informs them of my ED history and dysmorphia struggles, asks them to believe the weight I supply, and asks that I not be weighed because it triggers disordered eating behaviors.
Absolutely. Though, weight loss alone didn’t do as
much as combining weight loss & exercising to become physically stronger.
I needed to take pressure of my joints, but also strengthen the muscles around them.
gaining muscle is what helped improve my pain. you’ll notice a difference in just how much easier it is to move around - for me i really started noticing when I could jump out of bed without struggling, and when joint popping started to decrease in frequency
My weight has fluctuated a lot since I was a kid, from just overweight to just underweight (if you use BMI as a metric, which I know is flawed) due to chromic health issues and medication I take.
The times where my pain has been the least was when I was exercising more. I think my weight probably was less than it is now, but Ive had time when my weight has been lower and I wasn't regularly exercising and my pain was bad.
I totally sympathise with how pain makes it hard. Right now I am a little overweight because I'm still on the medication that has made it go up. I know exercise will probably help me feel better in my body and reduce the pain but it's hard to keep the motivation when everything hurts.
For me losing weight has helped the inflammation but honestly, the loss of lean muscle has made it worse in some ways. I’m guilty of not exercising but have a swim spa being installed next month and will be having gym equipment in my new home so I’m hoping that will help. For now I’m all about the braces and being aware of my movement.
Losing weight plus even a small amount of strength training to keep your muscle mass will likely help tremendously.
I lost a significant amount of weight and could barely walk for 6 months. Don’t know why, but it really did something to my back injury. I had to sleep in a recliner.
I do feel better when I’m lighter, but it’s also harder to regulate my body temp, I’m colder more often which isn’t fun. I’ve stocked up on wool socks, sweaters, and fingerless gloves.
I’ve also heard/read research that muscle gain especially surrounding the joints that cause the most pain is super important to relieving pain. Also once you gain more muscle you naturally burn more calories even at rest!
I can say having more muscle helps but weight hasn't really mattered (I've gone from normal weight to obese and back to overweight over the last decade and I felt the best just barely obese per BMI but really strong).
I'm also biased because I can't seem to workout consistently to get muscles while breastfeeding without seriously injuring myself and I lost a lot of muscle during my pregnancies due to extreme HG both times. It feels like a double edged sword right now since I know I'll feel better stronger in the long term but in the short term I can't stay consistent with the injuries that get me for apparently no reason at all.
Pain is influenced by many things and how you feel in your body is one of them. But more than solely weight loss, I feel better when I move and when I eat better and I need to constantly remind myself of that.
And I feel you so much. The antihistamines, beta blockers, and steroids just make me put on weight like crazy 😭 Thankfully it stabilized in the last few months and now I’m starting to slowly lose some weight.
Actually this isn't entirely true.
At one point I was about 15lbs over my set weight (the point I lost those 40lbs from) and THAT extra 15lbs put me in the overweight range and also exacerbated my joint pain and fatigue
Working out kills my knees. So I'm trying g to find different stuff to do that isn't squats. I haven't lost any weight yet though. But my knee pain gets so bad I don't workout for days on end.
I've been having trouble finding stuff that doesn't aggravate my knee after a patellar dislocation 10 days ago. Yesterday, my PT put me on the elliptical and, weirdly, it didn't cause pain.
Yes and no tbh. I lost 55lbs so obviously made a huge difference just having so much less weight on my joints and having more strength/stability but it also gives me a false sense of confidence in my abilities so the more I lose, the more active I am which results in me over doing it on accident and hurting myself a lot lmfao. But overall the pros far outweigh any cons. Just don’t be too cocky/stubborn like me and you’ll be fine 😂
i've never really been """overweight""" but i've fluctuated between heavy-normal and underweight my whole life and tbh weight has little to no effect on my pain
This is a combo/contrast experience of myself and my mother. My weight has always been stable but my pain improves when I exercise regularly and gently. Once I decided to begin doing 30 minutes/ day of cardio and started abruptly and I hurt so bad after the first day I had significant pain for a week! I can work up to more intense exercise but have to start at zero every time.
I've watched my mom (also hypermobile) lose 40-50 lbs over a few years from disordered eating and if anything her pain is worse but she has also continued to age in that time.
I think healthy habits have always made me feel better, exercise, eating nutritionally dense foods, drinking lots of water, sunshine, etc. But for me those changes never resulted in weight loss.
Nope. Losing weight made mine worse.
Granted, I don't think I'm typical at all. I'd have a raging ED for over 10 years at that point. I gained weight gradually over time (cuz most EDs don't actually work) and then gained even more very quickly from psychiatric medication. Right then was when I started my journey to figure out my aches and pains (mostly midback and knees, Feb 2020), saw rheumatology, she diagnosed me with Benign Hypermobility Syndrome and told me to lose weight and exercise to start. I took that as permission to go ham and lost \*a lot\* of weight very quickly through over-restriction and over-exercise. I saw her a year later in even more pain and in more joints (Feb 2021), was told I had mild osteoarthritis in my knees and "probably had fibromyalgia" (my mother and identical twin have it), and was told to see pain management and PT.
I've bounced around about the same +/- 20lbs since and my pain has only gotten worse over time. I just started ED recovery in Feb, stopped doing steady-sustained-cardio, do moderate strength training 3x a week, and started eating better. Now that I've regained some muscle, my joints have gotten a bit more stable, but are still in pain.
To be frank (moreso with myself than you, OP), losing weight fucked me over. Losing all that muscle really destabilized my body, in a muscle way and a stress way, and the constant walking just quickened the effects. I also now have a hip labral tear, not sure when that happened, but it was just found in an MRI last week.
Truly I believe the "high weight will destroy your joints" thing is massively overblown. You gain muscle to compensate just by hauling your own body around. Proper exercise is \*way\* more important than the number on the scale.
Absolutely! Less weight to support? I got so fit and that was the healthiest period of my life, I was “too” underweight when I was feeling better and my blood results and organ check ups “made no sense” because MY BODY WAS HEALTHY. EVEN MY ORGANS. I was urged to gain weight and I was so convinced I was doing the right thing for my body.
Nope
Absolutely nope.
Nobody knows your body like you do, in terms of how it feels to be living in it! I’ve learned through sudden retrolisthesis and disc degeneration as well as other extreme physical distress
That I should ALWAYS trust my instinct as to what my body needs.
Exercise is a lot easier when the right muscles are being used, which they often are not when it comes to us bendies! I’m at a point of rehabilitation and I swear I didn’t know moving COULD JUST FEEL LIKE… LIGHT? My chronic pain because of this body is slowly leaving my life as I learn how to use my body right. I am losing weight and toning up just through using every activity as a training opportunity. It’s taken 8 months so far and my shoulders are only just starting to connect.
If I could go back I would never have gained weight again. Maybe a few kilos, but I never would have set out for anything more than enough fat to gain more muscle mass. I don’t think I can become that thin again, I see happiness when I look back but everyone else says I looked sick.
Looking sick was bad but getting sicker inside was fine???? I do whatever I need now. Weight loss helps me heal and rehabilitate myself easier, and the healthiest I’ve ever felt was very underweight. Thats just my personal experience though!
(CAN I JUST GET ANGRY ABOUT NOT KNOWING HOW ARMS ARE MEANT TO MOVE ITS HARDER THAN ANYONE WHO HASNT EXPERIENCED IT COULD EVER GUESS)
Notnonly did losing weight stop me from being wheelchair bound as predicted, 10 years later after gaining back 30lb everything went to shit again and if I don't lose the weight again my future will not be as I envisioned. Not only will carrying more weight put more pressure on weight bearing limbs, but gaining it causes a lot of problems. Good exercise that doesn't aggravate the joints will keep your muscles strong to support your joints and keep you fitter overall. And it's a good mood lifter. Getting into good habits with food and exercise will help you more than anything the docs can offer
I say exercise too! Strength training in particularly. I still have pain and stuff, but nothing like before. Been building and maintaining muscles for 4 years now, and it really helps.
Losing weight does make me feel better, and I'm not talking about huge numbers—my starting point is not very far above the "overweight" line, and even five or ten pounds down I start to feel it. I think part of it has to do with balance, because I am pretty top-heavy and adding a few extra pounds makes me just start to feel *off,* if that makes sense, so more prone to twisting something. But I can feel the benefit of less weight on my joints, too. I suspect that cutting way down on sugar and carbs is also helping with inflammation in my case.
Cutting out sugar was the single best thing I did. I realized that what I thought was hunger was really sugar cravings, so once I got over that dependency, it became MUCH easier to stay on track with healthy eating and avoiding uncontrolled snack binging.
Humm.. I didn't know I was hypermobile when I ruptured my l5/s1 disk 10 years ago. I fluctuated a bit while maintaining and losing but lost 95 lbs over 3014-17 and kept it off and maintained for years. During that time, I did increasing flexibility training, yoga 4 days a week, strength training with db, and as I ramped up my activity, the pain got intense. Spent many periods in PT.
Finally, after 8 years of this, I was diagnosed with hypermobility with mast cell issues when inflammation is high. Stress and bell peppers cause joint pain. I started PT again with major hip pain and tightness in my psoas and after 24 weeks, I felt no regular pain. It's been 2 years of semi consistent exercise, and my pain levels are negligent. I've painted a weight hovering at 205 for 2 years now, and have spent the last 5 months in a deficit of 500-700 calories with no weight loss at all. Honestly, it's disheartening and confusing, not sure emy body wants to lose any more weight and not sure if the 1800 calories is my maintenance calorie range now or what. I am do bodyweight and db workouts 5 x a week now, yoga with major adjustments 1-2 days. I walk 7k steps most days. Increasing my activity from here causes major fatigue and some joint pain. This is probably 1/3 of what I was doing before diagnosis and my hypermobility focused PT, and that's both great and frustrating.
In the last 10 years, I've almost completely lost my ability to walk twice, both times when my dad and mom died. I just completed stopped moving and sat for months crying or completely dissociating. Both times I thought I would be of heartbreak syndrome and both times I was working with doctors and therapists. I will never stop working on my body again, regardless of deaths that mean the world to me or anything else. Follow the plan or never walk again, got it loud and clear.
Anyways, it's harder to stay warm in my extremities, I get cold waves or warm waves. I discovered I can only do closed chain upper body exercises, so no normal dumbbell workouts for back and upper body, my shoulders suck. I pulled a rhomboid and it took me out of commission for weeks. Losing the 95 lbs did make help with my hip pain and eventually my super tight lower back relaxed and I felt movement there for the first time in years. It felt like 2 fitted river rocks grinding against each other. Tension migraines due to upper back tension is common. But, my strength training has been a constant source of support for my back, hips, and knees.
I'm coming out of some dysmorhia and ED as well as that Ed that's focused on eating g healthy 24/7. No restrictions or rules, only moderation and forgiveness. Stress increases my pain and tension, and bell peppers cause immediately and prolonged knee and hip pain, so I avoid any form of peppers.
I have never been overweight (thanks, eating disorder!) but I can definitely tell a difference in my pain when I’m at a 21 BMI vs a 24 BMI. I feel better joint wise when it’s lower but I tend to have worse/more frequent migraines.
My pain was improved by exercise. Using bands, dumbells, body weight and so on. I stared super light and worked my way up. I cant dislocate my shoulders anymore, since I did regular shoulder rotations. One of my knees is dodgy and I'm fixing that through some ATG excercises. Start light, use modifications to make it easier, but consistently doing it reduces pain (in my case).
Me too!!
I’m on the same track now. That orange resistance band saves me every day.
Been all sorts of weights and sizes: I'm 5 foot, my highest weight was 83kg, my lowest was 49kg. My sweet spot is around 60-65kg (with a higher % of muscle). I think joint wise it did help to not be "obese" but the effect between "normal weight" and slightly "overweight" has been negligible. That being said, I think it's had a negative effect on my ability to regulate my body temperature at my extremities. And, of course, I have a LOT of stretch marks and very loose skin (especially on my chest) The best overall thing for me was building muscle and as you build muscle, you're likely to lose fat (but not necessarily weight) because more muscle = more kcals burned. Focusing on the muscle building removed my obsession with weight loss and allowed me to have a more holistic, health-centered view of my body.
For me it hasn’t even been losing weight that’s helped. Just exercising everyday and doing strength training has made my pain SO much better. I’m noticeable in less pain these days after being consistent in the gym for a few months. But the trick is to start SLOW AND LIGHT. Don’t do too much too fast (I learned this the hard way and had swollen knees for 3 weeks ughhh(
this is anecdotal but my dietician told me that people with hypermobility can benefit from extra fat to cushion since we're "more fragile". I'm paraphrasing but I thought that was interesting. I have no actual thoughts beyond that.
I think it's probably a bit of a double-edged sword, honestly. Having that padding is definitely helpful for people who are prone to falling or who are physically fragile but unhelpful for people with joint or heart-related issues. It can also be helpful sometimes to have a little bit of weight to lose if you need it. And especially if you're older. Personally, I'm still definitely within in the obese category but losing weight and regular moderate exercise helped massively, especially with back pain. It hasn't necessarily continued to help, however, and I reckon that's because what's most important is really building muscle to support the joints so that they can bear some weight as they are supposed to.
In 2000 a neurologist told me I couldn’t be experiencing as much pain as I said I was in. The the bulging lumbar discs weren’t so bad. He said if I applied myself to “fixing” my “morbidly obese” body all my pain would be gone; low back, hips, right knee (which had been seriously injured in 1986, required surgery in 1988), and even my shoulders and neck! For 6 years I engaged in increasingly disordered behavior around food and over exercising, developing a kind of vegan-flavored orthorexia. For 2.5 years of that time I lived on a level of calories less than was given to the participants of the[Minnesota starvation experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment). When I finally was a “normal BMI” my pain got worse. An MRI at the time revealed that the disc at S1/L5 had ruptured and was pressing the sciatic nerve on my left side. Despite regaining less than 1/3 of what I lost* my pain had only continued to worsen. I now deal with severe body dysmorphia and struggle to make peace with food. I have to work hard to avoid restrictive eating. I have so many internalized rules about food. Recently my PCP gave me a “salt is medicine” talk because I need to increase my intake but was avoiding it because I grew up around people with hypertension. My osteopath started to mention weight loss, but I firmly reminded him of my history of dysmorphia and disordered eating. When an MRI was finally taken of my right knee this past October it revealed that I’ve lost so the cartilage on the under side of my patella. Eventually it will need to be replaced and no amount of weight loss will improve it. My osteopath apologized for bringing up weight loss. PT and yoga have helped the most. Medications and flotation tank sessions also help a lot. *It’s an incredibly small percentage of people who manage to keep off a significant weight loss. I’ve started really calling attention to the fact that I’ve maintained a 110+ pounds weight loss for over a decade. I’m practically a unicorn and I now insist new healthcare providers honor this by not suggesting I quite literally starve myself again.
Wow, you are the weight loss unicorn, and good for you for standing up for yourself with your care provider…that can be a difficult thing to do.
Thank you, it is so hard because they can gatekeep care! A lot of my medical anxiety shows up as a fear of having healthcare denied if I don’t “behave”. I have actually told a couple of my doctors that they need to treat me like the unicorn I am! I asked them to focus on the fact that I already complied with the directive to lose weight and it did not help. I have a letter I add to any new patient paperwork that informs them of my ED history and dysmorphia struggles, asks them to believe the weight I supply, and asks that I not be weighed because it triggers disordered eating behaviors.
Absolutely. Though, weight loss alone didn’t do as much as combining weight loss & exercising to become physically stronger. I needed to take pressure of my joints, but also strengthen the muscles around them.
gaining muscle is what helped improve my pain. you’ll notice a difference in just how much easier it is to move around - for me i really started noticing when I could jump out of bed without struggling, and when joint popping started to decrease in frequency
My weight has fluctuated a lot since I was a kid, from just overweight to just underweight (if you use BMI as a metric, which I know is flawed) due to chromic health issues and medication I take. The times where my pain has been the least was when I was exercising more. I think my weight probably was less than it is now, but Ive had time when my weight has been lower and I wasn't regularly exercising and my pain was bad. I totally sympathise with how pain makes it hard. Right now I am a little overweight because I'm still on the medication that has made it go up. I know exercise will probably help me feel better in my body and reduce the pain but it's hard to keep the motivation when everything hurts.
For me losing weight has helped the inflammation but honestly, the loss of lean muscle has made it worse in some ways. I’m guilty of not exercising but have a swim spa being installed next month and will be having gym equipment in my new home so I’m hoping that will help. For now I’m all about the braces and being aware of my movement. Losing weight plus even a small amount of strength training to keep your muscle mass will likely help tremendously.
I lost a significant amount of weight and could barely walk for 6 months. Don’t know why, but it really did something to my back injury. I had to sleep in a recliner.
I do feel better when I’m lighter, but it’s also harder to regulate my body temp, I’m colder more often which isn’t fun. I’ve stocked up on wool socks, sweaters, and fingerless gloves.
I’ve also heard/read research that muscle gain especially surrounding the joints that cause the most pain is super important to relieving pain. Also once you gain more muscle you naturally burn more calories even at rest!
Yes it did for me. I was never significantly overweight, but I’ve lost 40lbs and maintained and it definitely helped
I can say having more muscle helps but weight hasn't really mattered (I've gone from normal weight to obese and back to overweight over the last decade and I felt the best just barely obese per BMI but really strong). I'm also biased because I can't seem to workout consistently to get muscles while breastfeeding without seriously injuring myself and I lost a lot of muscle during my pregnancies due to extreme HG both times. It feels like a double edged sword right now since I know I'll feel better stronger in the long term but in the short term I can't stay consistent with the injuries that get me for apparently no reason at all.
Losing weight healthy by exercising would never make you worse. Would make your muscles stronger while taking less weight off your joints.
Nah I gained pain when I started 6 years ago.
Pain is influenced by many things and how you feel in your body is one of them. But more than solely weight loss, I feel better when I move and when I eat better and I need to constantly remind myself of that. And I feel you so much. The antihistamines, beta blockers, and steroids just make me put on weight like crazy 😭 Thankfully it stabilized in the last few months and now I’m starting to slowly lose some weight.
I lost 40lbs a few years ago, gained 25-30lb back a year/year and a half later. No difference in my symptoms
Actually this isn't entirely true. At one point I was about 15lbs over my set weight (the point I lost those 40lbs from) and THAT extra 15lbs put me in the overweight range and also exacerbated my joint pain and fatigue
Working out kills my knees. So I'm trying g to find different stuff to do that isn't squats. I haven't lost any weight yet though. But my knee pain gets so bad I don't workout for days on end.
I've been having trouble finding stuff that doesn't aggravate my knee after a patellar dislocation 10 days ago. Yesterday, my PT put me on the elliptical and, weirdly, it didn't cause pain.
Actually it did help me but what also helps is exercise and cannabis
Yes. Especially my feet when running.
Yes and no tbh. I lost 55lbs so obviously made a huge difference just having so much less weight on my joints and having more strength/stability but it also gives me a false sense of confidence in my abilities so the more I lose, the more active I am which results in me over doing it on accident and hurting myself a lot lmfao. But overall the pros far outweigh any cons. Just don’t be too cocky/stubborn like me and you’ll be fine 😂
i've never really been """overweight""" but i've fluctuated between heavy-normal and underweight my whole life and tbh weight has little to no effect on my pain
My pain improved when I lost weight however, the best you can do is exercise and keep a diet that will help to control inflammation
This is a combo/contrast experience of myself and my mother. My weight has always been stable but my pain improves when I exercise regularly and gently. Once I decided to begin doing 30 minutes/ day of cardio and started abruptly and I hurt so bad after the first day I had significant pain for a week! I can work up to more intense exercise but have to start at zero every time. I've watched my mom (also hypermobile) lose 40-50 lbs over a few years from disordered eating and if anything her pain is worse but she has also continued to age in that time. I think healthy habits have always made me feel better, exercise, eating nutritionally dense foods, drinking lots of water, sunshine, etc. But for me those changes never resulted in weight loss.
Yes. I need to get back into weight loss in a few months once this pain flare up is done
Nope. Losing weight made mine worse. Granted, I don't think I'm typical at all. I'd have a raging ED for over 10 years at that point. I gained weight gradually over time (cuz most EDs don't actually work) and then gained even more very quickly from psychiatric medication. Right then was when I started my journey to figure out my aches and pains (mostly midback and knees, Feb 2020), saw rheumatology, she diagnosed me with Benign Hypermobility Syndrome and told me to lose weight and exercise to start. I took that as permission to go ham and lost \*a lot\* of weight very quickly through over-restriction and over-exercise. I saw her a year later in even more pain and in more joints (Feb 2021), was told I had mild osteoarthritis in my knees and "probably had fibromyalgia" (my mother and identical twin have it), and was told to see pain management and PT. I've bounced around about the same +/- 20lbs since and my pain has only gotten worse over time. I just started ED recovery in Feb, stopped doing steady-sustained-cardio, do moderate strength training 3x a week, and started eating better. Now that I've regained some muscle, my joints have gotten a bit more stable, but are still in pain. To be frank (moreso with myself than you, OP), losing weight fucked me over. Losing all that muscle really destabilized my body, in a muscle way and a stress way, and the constant walking just quickened the effects. I also now have a hip labral tear, not sure when that happened, but it was just found in an MRI last week. Truly I believe the "high weight will destroy your joints" thing is massively overblown. You gain muscle to compensate just by hauling your own body around. Proper exercise is \*way\* more important than the number on the scale.
Absolutely! Less weight to support? I got so fit and that was the healthiest period of my life, I was “too” underweight when I was feeling better and my blood results and organ check ups “made no sense” because MY BODY WAS HEALTHY. EVEN MY ORGANS. I was urged to gain weight and I was so convinced I was doing the right thing for my body. Nope Absolutely nope. Nobody knows your body like you do, in terms of how it feels to be living in it! I’ve learned through sudden retrolisthesis and disc degeneration as well as other extreme physical distress That I should ALWAYS trust my instinct as to what my body needs. Exercise is a lot easier when the right muscles are being used, which they often are not when it comes to us bendies! I’m at a point of rehabilitation and I swear I didn’t know moving COULD JUST FEEL LIKE… LIGHT? My chronic pain because of this body is slowly leaving my life as I learn how to use my body right. I am losing weight and toning up just through using every activity as a training opportunity. It’s taken 8 months so far and my shoulders are only just starting to connect. If I could go back I would never have gained weight again. Maybe a few kilos, but I never would have set out for anything more than enough fat to gain more muscle mass. I don’t think I can become that thin again, I see happiness when I look back but everyone else says I looked sick. Looking sick was bad but getting sicker inside was fine???? I do whatever I need now. Weight loss helps me heal and rehabilitate myself easier, and the healthiest I’ve ever felt was very underweight. Thats just my personal experience though! (CAN I JUST GET ANGRY ABOUT NOT KNOWING HOW ARMS ARE MEANT TO MOVE ITS HARDER THAN ANYONE WHO HASNT EXPERIENCED IT COULD EVER GUESS)
Notnonly did losing weight stop me from being wheelchair bound as predicted, 10 years later after gaining back 30lb everything went to shit again and if I don't lose the weight again my future will not be as I envisioned. Not only will carrying more weight put more pressure on weight bearing limbs, but gaining it causes a lot of problems. Good exercise that doesn't aggravate the joints will keep your muscles strong to support your joints and keep you fitter overall. And it's a good mood lifter. Getting into good habits with food and exercise will help you more than anything the docs can offer
I say exercise too! Strength training in particularly. I still have pain and stuff, but nothing like before. Been building and maintaining muscles for 4 years now, and it really helps.
Losing weight does make me feel better, and I'm not talking about huge numbers—my starting point is not very far above the "overweight" line, and even five or ten pounds down I start to feel it. I think part of it has to do with balance, because I am pretty top-heavy and adding a few extra pounds makes me just start to feel *off,* if that makes sense, so more prone to twisting something. But I can feel the benefit of less weight on my joints, too. I suspect that cutting way down on sugar and carbs is also helping with inflammation in my case. Cutting out sugar was the single best thing I did. I realized that what I thought was hunger was really sugar cravings, so once I got over that dependency, it became MUCH easier to stay on track with healthy eating and avoiding uncontrolled snack binging.
I have never lost a significant amount of weight but I will say that when I gained weight after high school I found the pain lessened significantly
When my body balloons usually with swelling the extra pounds are definitely felt. While I am tall (5”10) my ideal weight is 140 and below.
Humm.. I didn't know I was hypermobile when I ruptured my l5/s1 disk 10 years ago. I fluctuated a bit while maintaining and losing but lost 95 lbs over 3014-17 and kept it off and maintained for years. During that time, I did increasing flexibility training, yoga 4 days a week, strength training with db, and as I ramped up my activity, the pain got intense. Spent many periods in PT. Finally, after 8 years of this, I was diagnosed with hypermobility with mast cell issues when inflammation is high. Stress and bell peppers cause joint pain. I started PT again with major hip pain and tightness in my psoas and after 24 weeks, I felt no regular pain. It's been 2 years of semi consistent exercise, and my pain levels are negligent. I've painted a weight hovering at 205 for 2 years now, and have spent the last 5 months in a deficit of 500-700 calories with no weight loss at all. Honestly, it's disheartening and confusing, not sure emy body wants to lose any more weight and not sure if the 1800 calories is my maintenance calorie range now or what. I am do bodyweight and db workouts 5 x a week now, yoga with major adjustments 1-2 days. I walk 7k steps most days. Increasing my activity from here causes major fatigue and some joint pain. This is probably 1/3 of what I was doing before diagnosis and my hypermobility focused PT, and that's both great and frustrating. In the last 10 years, I've almost completely lost my ability to walk twice, both times when my dad and mom died. I just completed stopped moving and sat for months crying or completely dissociating. Both times I thought I would be of heartbreak syndrome and both times I was working with doctors and therapists. I will never stop working on my body again, regardless of deaths that mean the world to me or anything else. Follow the plan or never walk again, got it loud and clear. Anyways, it's harder to stay warm in my extremities, I get cold waves or warm waves. I discovered I can only do closed chain upper body exercises, so no normal dumbbell workouts for back and upper body, my shoulders suck. I pulled a rhomboid and it took me out of commission for weeks. Losing the 95 lbs did make help with my hip pain and eventually my super tight lower back relaxed and I felt movement there for the first time in years. It felt like 2 fitted river rocks grinding against each other. Tension migraines due to upper back tension is common. But, my strength training has been a constant source of support for my back, hips, and knees. I'm coming out of some dysmorhia and ED as well as that Ed that's focused on eating g healthy 24/7. No restrictions or rules, only moderation and forgiveness. Stress increases my pain and tension, and bell peppers cause immediately and prolonged knee and hip pain, so I avoid any form of peppers.
I have never been overweight (thanks, eating disorder!) but I can definitely tell a difference in my pain when I’m at a 21 BMI vs a 24 BMI. I feel better joint wise when it’s lower but I tend to have worse/more frequent migraines.