Back to a daily physio routine

Northern Wheatear (passage migrant), Buckinghamshire, 11/08/2012

It's been a week of mixed feelings. On the one hand, I'm glad to have a way forward with my right hip. On the other hand, getting back to a daily physio routine has been quite hard to come to terms with. I thought I'd done all the ground work. I remember the first 6 months of 2 hours of daily physio routines (1hr am and pm) and the constant pain, injuries and exhaustion. I didn't have any room for anything else in my life! It does feel like a step backwards to now be doing an hour of physio a day (1/2hr am and pm). My right hip has hurt constantly since the physio appointment and I'm now taking painkillers every night to be able to sleep with it. I'm also icing my right butt at least once a day. Overall, it's worse and I'm hoping that's it's a case of it getting worse before it gets better.

I tried to stick to the exercise bike last week rather than going for walks - it's kinder to the hip joint.

I did my usual gym session yesterday but followed the physio's advice to revert back to 2km run/walk (2mins run/1min walk) rather than a full run on the treadmill. Unfortunately, my hip was really a lot worse and I reckon that I need to stop the treadmill work completely until the hip is pain free. It seems silly to do the high-impact work knowing that it's not really strong enough to cope.

Of course, that's disappointing. When I started to run, it felt like I was finally getting somewhere. I guess I have to recognise that my body still isn't strong enough to manage running (especially when walking even aggravates the hip!). Once again, I've had to recalibrate my assessment of a) where I was when I started this (i.e. I must have been a lot weaker than anyone realised) and b) how much further there is to go.

On a more positive note, I have been day-dreaming about the prospect of having a healthy right hip. The thought of it being pain-free is wonderful. I can only imagine what it would be like to walk and run and swim and not have to worry about how much my hip will hurt as a result etc. Bliss. Oh to be pain-free!!

The other positive is that I was able to get out for a walk today (the day after the gym) and enjoy the sunshine and birds. It's early days, but I'd say that coming off the Trazodone has improved my post-exercise recovery by about 50%. My brain feels less drained/fogged up and I feel less like I've been hit by a bus. The limiting issue today was the hip and my lower back (which is slightly strained from the efforts of the daily physio, I think). It's all about the muscle weakness and fatigue right now....grrr.....

I'll get back to the daily physio tomorrow and probably go for a swim next Friday (it's easier on my body, esp hip). The following week, I'm off on holiday so that should give my hip the best chance to heal up and strengthen up.

Re: the Trazodone withdrawal: I think my emotions have stabilised a bit now and I am sleeping a little more normally (albeit fitfully -waking a lot during the night). It's still taking a while to get off but the hypnic jerks have all but stopped (unless startled by my noisy neighbours!). I do feel more refreshed during the day, even if it's taken me a long time to get off to sleep.