Thursday, November 20, 2008 Jen asks

Q: Can't Walk

I am a 54 year old black female, with oa and ra. Also morbid obesity and various other ailments. I have been bedridden since 3/07 when I could not stand. PT is medicare paid and not constant enough to get the fullness of benefits. Because of cost I don't have someone to help with completing excercises on a daily basis.  98% of the time I am in pain and most pain meds don't work. Do you have any suggestions on how to help me walk again?

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Answers (2)
11/22/08 4:16pm

I know what you are going through. Because I have been there. I have RA and diabeties,Predizone will get you up walking. but talk to your doctor first,there are side effects. Vioxx will get you walking too,of course side effects with that too. Salslate will help with the pain you are having. You won't feel like running,but you could walk again and get out of the house.Please see your doctor or talk to him on phone and see if you can take these medications.While you are in bed maybe you can try to raise you arms up and down for excerise and get the blood flowing. If you can shake your hands and move your fingers slowly tham eventually move faster and raise arms and hands higher later on. I hope this helps you. I will say a prayer for you to get to feeling better.

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11/20/08 5:23pm

I work in physical therapy and what we provide with a Drs order is aquatic therapy. Just being in the water decreases weight bearing through your joints making mobility easier. Starting off with just water walking back andforth and waist deep or chest deep water is what I would begin with. You could look into YMCA's to see if they offer any aquatic classes. Some even offer what they call "Golden Sneakers". I believe Humana (insurance provider) is the only one that covers the Golden Sneakers program, but it's worth a shot to ask if medicare will cover. If you have any more questions feel free to email me!!

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By Jen— Last Modified: 12/24/10, First Published: 11/20/08