My physical therapist just had a talk with me yesterday about the issues I am having with swelling and how I am not progressing normally. She suspects that there is something going on that is possibly preventing me from advancing such as an autoimmune condition. I did see a rheumatologist in March but he didn't want to order too many tests at that time. He just did an aNa (which was normal) and said that he'd like to see how surgery helps me. I have had issues with swelling in joints that are completely unrelated to my hip problems. For example, sometimes my elbows swell and are red (can last for months). I also cannot get off of the anti-inflammatories b/c I get so much worse....stiffness, swelling, fatigue, pain. I was hoping it was just b/c I am not that far out from surgery but my PT said getting off of Mobic, for example, for a day or 2 shouldn't cause such a drastic change in how i feel. I have made an attempt to be on an anti-inflammatory diet and have recently tried to be gluten free-ish. I will be getting tested for food allergies next Monday. I'm not sure how much having a gluten intolerance can affect joint swelling but I will be going completely off gluten after next Monday.
It seems like I have issues anytime I add a new strengthening exercise. I re-tore my adductor at 3 weeks post op while on the recumbent bike. So, I've been avoiding bikes and all adductor strengthening exercises ever since. I do have an upright Aero bike that I just tried out yesterday for a couple of minutes....figured it had been long enough since the injury to give it a try. It didn't flare me up so I am going to try to use it for 5 minutes 3x per day and advance from there. I have to keep reminding myself to be PATIENT! Just because my mind is ready to be active & normal doesn't mean my body is ready. This is a much slower recovery than I had hoped for :(
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