When did you realize that all your aches and pains were not a temporary setback, but a "new normal?" I think it is finally starting to hit me that this is where I am at and there's probably no going back to the way things were physically even just a few years ago.
I seem to have hit a dead end regarding my low back and hip/glut issue. After 12 PT appointments and doing the PT exercises almost everyday for the last six months, plus countless trials and errors with various remedies, I decided it was time to at least get a back x-ray and an MRI. Neither test showed anything terribly out of the ordinary for a woman of my age, just the usual slight degenerations of the hip joints and lumbar vertebrae. So the problems I have been having seem to be all about dysfunctional muscles. My primary care practitioner has no good solutions other than massage therapy and acupuncture. She won't give me a referral to the pain and spine clinic up in Santa Fe because they are primarily dealing with people that have orthopedic and neurological problems.
Meanwhile, I wake up every night around 3:30-ish because I can't lie on either side due to my buttock, outer hip and thigh muscles screaming in some kind of crampy muscle pain. Getting out of bed and getting to the bathroom in the morning is an exercise in misery. Basically the first two hours of the day are spent trying to loosen up all the tight things and get them to stop hurting. I spend a good 45 minutes on the floor stretching and strengthening. I have been doing some internet research and have diagnosed myself with myofascial pain syndrome. Now to find someone who knows how to deal with it! Of course my insurance won't cover massage therapy but I think I need to find someone who is familiar with this buttock and hip problem. That is my task for the new year, along with trying to get myself back on track with exercise, eating better (doing pretty good on that front, but because of the holidays I am eating more than usual). I should probably should try to wean myself off caffeine and the occasional 800 mg tabs. of Ibuprofen, the occasional opioid pain killers and muscle relaxers, Ambien or Benadryl for sleep - yet sometimes I just don't care and take whatever I have on hand to try to not feel this physical pain all the time. I also want to add that the grieving process probably also plays a big role in how I perceive physical pain. I have started one-on-one therapy recently, and also plan to go back to a grief group I had been going to once my schedule changes in January.
When did you find your "new normal" and how do you deal with it?
I am trying to do all the "right" things but I am starting to realize (and trying to accept) this is what aging bodies do - they store up a lot of aches and pains. I just wasn't expecting to deal with this kind of stuff for another ten years!