Goodbye to good health :(

[sheeny (Al)]

That's good news about your eyesight, Scott. It's such a precious sense to us humans and especially to astronomers and photographers.

I hope your knees recover. It sounds good so far. As an ex-long distance runner I have shot knees. I pushed them for a lot of years, after I stopped running, bushwalking and doing search and rescue, but its frustrating now not being able to run without pain, or indeed walk down a reasonably steep hill without pain. As for squatting, well I haven't been able to do a deep squat since I broke my leg when 12 YO (fracture through the knob of the lower bones 1/2" below the knee didn't set straight). It's not so bad... you adapt, but hopefully you won't have to.

The joys of growing old!

Take it easy.

Al.

[MarshMan (Adam)]

I sincerely hope you get better... Auto Immune problems are a pain, more than literally. I just (2 weeks ago) received this diagnosis, after 20 years of symptoms, no Doc, except my current one, worked it out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidradenitis_suppurativa

Hidradenitis. It's an Auto-Immune disease where the immune system attacks the sweat glands in the skin, which can result in lesions, very large infected areas... I wont go on. I don't have it that bad, early stages of symptoms.

From some research I did, seems its related to Gluten intolerance, another Auto-Immune disorder. So, having felt rather off stomach and general health wise for a number of years, I took gluten out of my diet, and what do you know, the Hidradenitis has rapidly cleared up, and other pains I was getting in my joints, like inflammation, swelling, etc, also cleared up, within a week of getting rid of Gluten.

I supplemented the Gluten free diet with high Zinc and Vitiman A doses, after some further research, and I am feeling an amazing amount better.

Ok, so why am I prattling on. Well I read in your original post about your symptoms, and I had some similar ones, including the sore joints, and cloudy urine, all now gone. They seem common to Auto-Immune diseases.

Maybe, something else is triggering the Reiters off? Seems my Hidradenitis, was being, and had for about 20 years, been triggered off by my Gluten intolerance. The Gluten set off the Auto-Immune response, so it seems.

Just passing on a bit of info, so maybe you can keep an eye on some dietary stuff, could be relevant, may be another trigger? With your eyesight at stake, I would be remiss if I didn't pass on what I know, it may be helpful.

On the flip side, as I am Gluten, egg white and Lactose intolerant, my diet consists of water, meat and beans..... Oh yeah, vegies too. Not so bad, have lost some weight without wheat products, and meat is awesome of course.

Good luck and as I said, I sincerely hope you get it beaten. I'll keep reading for you, if I find anything relevant, I'll post it.

[theodog (Jeff)]

Great to hear that you're on the path to recovery.
Gives a great excuse to not jog 50k's a week though.

I jest.

Just great to hear you're feeling better.

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by tornado33

So that's my sad story, I think I must say goodbye to good health from now on. Cheers, Scott

Thats how I felt when I went from walking 10 km for fun to 10m at a struggle, in one week... Toasted half the circuitry in my ticker. Then I got a severe Gluten intolerance and a couple of other delights at the same time. Felt like SHI*TE; bloody horrid but a couple of years later and I have a new equilibrium. I can do most stuff again and have learned a little patience. A freezer suit makes the worst cold weather pleasant.... Give yourself some time.

[Jen]

I hope you get better soon Scott

[SimmoW (SIMON)]

Sounds awful Scott, thanks for keeping us informed of your progress. Yes you really dodged a bullet with your vision loss. Take care

[sil (Steve)]

You'll fight on and adapt. I had a stroke early last year, my left side was paralysed. Year and a half on I can walk (painfully and with a stick), have no use of my left arm. So my good telescope is pretty much never going to be usable for me ever again (dont have room or money for an observatory to keep it assembled). But I have adjusted to be able to use some of my other gear and continue to enjoy astronomy in some capacity. One day at a time mate.

[xelasnave]

Well Scott I would say you are having more good luck than bad.
Although my legs are not what they once were the fact is at least I can walk.
And I think as the years pass by being able to be thankful for what you have left is best as it is easy to focus on the down side.
I have just spent 2.5 hours getting a real nasty cancer thingy cut out which was on my chest...and one on my ear but it seems I am over the worse of it.
It was only a month ago I thought I had liver and colon cancer but they were not found.
My point is life is really a day to day thing and one is best counting blessings rather than letting anything get you down.
Stay positive no matter how difficult things get..it's all we have really.

[tornado33]

Thanks all.
An update. I have started cycling and running. 2 days ago I really tested myself and ran 23 kms and at an average pace of around 5 mins 30 sec per km and wasn't too sore when I got home. Just this week I have been able to squat all the way down without knees protesting too much. Last week I ran a 5k race in 21:10. Just left with some light dermatitis on head and lower back that gets slightly itchy at times. So quietly confident the worst is behind me. Cheers. Scott

[xelasnave]

Scott your efforts are inspirational

[GeoffW1 (Geoff)]

Hi,

Very glad to hear there is improvement. All the best from another old creaky IISer.

Cheers

[Hagar (Doug)]

Good to hear you are on the mend Scott. Amazing how easily life can turn. Age is also a bugger with the body and the brain.

[tornado33]

Many thanks all. Some more good news, today I competed in the Maitland River Run 11.5km and got first in my age grade 50-59yo male in a time of 48:53. Later on i ran in the 1 mile event in 6:27 and after all that don't feel too bad

[sil (Steve)]

..I'm just happy if i can make the walk to the loo before peeing. Good news is relative, probably quantum too

[tornado33]

Hi all, another update. I ran in the first Half Marathon before getting sick, the inagural Istasium run, last Sunday, got a time of 1:31:56, just over 2 minutes slower then my personal best when I was 2 years younger. My knees handled it okay, some soreness in the calves probably just general post workout soreness. Still a bit of dermatitis on head and back, and knees do get a little sore and stiff stopping me from squatting right to the floor but generally okay for running and cycling. Had a general checkup at my GP's rooms, including a cardiogram. My resting heart rate was 40 BPM, thats technically Bradycardia (too slow a heart rate) but is actually good for very fit people From what I read of Reactive Arthritis there can be future flareups will see what happens. I have another race this coming Sunday the Fernleigh 15.