Aches & pains.

Hi,

For many years I've suffered aches & pains thinking these to be related to all the hard work I do. I'd go to bed then get up the next morning feeling worse than when I went to bed.

Over the last year I've become progressively worse; the last few months I've been waking at around 5am in terrible pain; I lay on my right hand side and my right shoulder to arm joint was suffering agonizing pain preventing me getting back to sleep but once I got out of bed and started to move around I felt much better; not only pain in my shoulder but I ached all over and was forever tired; it was getting out of control.

A short while ago whilst having breakfast and watching YouTube videos I came across this video;



At first I wasn't impressed but watched the video full length and it suddenly made a lot of sense; all my life I've slept with a single pillow hence slept with my head at an angle; with little to lose I added a memory foam pillow to my shopping trolley whilst in Morrison's; I'm pretty sure this pillow cost £12 for one but I can't find it now at Morrison's; anyway I tried using this memory foam pillow on top of my original pillow and it felt very strange indeed but I fell alsleep to wake up the following morning pain free; the transformation was truly amazing and I'm still pain free and all my aches and pains have also disappeared all because of watching the video and trying two pillows.

My wife has suffered back pain for a long time so whilst at Bounday Mills in Catcliffe I asked an assistant in the bedding section if they sold memory foam pillows; at £28 it was discounted from £45? This pillow is a lot thicker than the one I bought at Morrison's and my wife didn't like it so we swapped memory foam pillows and now my wife is enjoying better health; her back pain hasn't yet completely gone but she's in a lot less pain and still improving.

Last summer I worked harder than I've ever worked before doing heavy manual work removing hedges together with their stumps and over the last few weeks I've been putting in twelve hour days repainting the walls in three rooms and replacing six lots of glazing; I'm forever busy and thought all my aches & pains were self inflicted.

Sleeping with a second pillow has transformed my life hence I thought it information worth sharing; I've just enjoyed a mug of tea whilst typing this but now I'd better get off my backside I've got work to do.

Before I go it's worth mentioning that I suffered serious ill health for the first 57 years of my life in and out of hospital; in 1980 I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and in 1982 had major surgery removing a section of bowel; a mass and also my appendix; I then daren't be too far away from a toilet for six months; having overcome this I then started to itch firstly down the left side of my face and neck; oh boy this got much worse; it's a long story with tests after tests and having visited Leeds General Hospital three times in the same week I was diagnosed with a slight intolerance to Formaldehide? What a load of rubbish and I was desperate. Shortly after this my wife was reading a girlie mag in bed one night and showed me an article about food intolerance especially dairy.

The following morning whilst in Meadowhall Shopping Center we visited County Bookshops and bought a book about food intolerance; I immediately dumped everythind dairy and went to Soya; the transformation as with the pillow was truly outstanding; after the very first nights sleep I got out of bed with the energy of a child and now aged 73 I can do a hard days graft. I'll never ever forget the terrible itching from my waist up keeping me awake scratching all night long for years; during my many hospital admissions and endless tests not one doctor or specialist mentioned food intolerance; I can't put into words the pain I suffered but it was my wonderful wife who cured me just by showing me the magazine article; after this I became so healthy I didn't visit the surgery for twelve years until I suffered a flare up possibly something I'd eaten containing dairy;


When I say I suffered ill health for 57 years I wasn't kidding; here's just a flare up; I still need to be very careful what I consume but generally I feel on top of the world these days; I've also suffered broken bones the scar seen at the top of my knee is where I now only have one knee cap.
First visit to the surgery in twelve years after switching to Soya; the doctor this time was brilliant the prescibed ointment cleared it and I now always have a tube of ointment to hand.

If this helps one other person then it's been worth the time to add it.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

The figures for men over a certain age who have Lactose intolerance is staggering especially when you look at the numbers who actually know they have it.
If you feel the need to have lactose then you can get Lactase tablets which gives one short term ability to digest the stuff.

 

Hi,

Many thanks Palutris for your useful information; years and years with many hospital admissions and no doctor or specialist even mentioning food intolerance; whatever I said they were the experts and all sang from the same hymn sheet; I lost confidence in the lot of them all the while my skin was dropping off in flakes it was horrendous; the bed sheets often had blood on them due to my constant scratching during the night then I'd get out of bed to face a very highly stressful job.

I've reached a very good balance and am mostly clear these days so I'll keep on as I am happy to feel healthy.

Cows milk is for cows?

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Took us a while, but now tea and coffee without milk or sugar is the norm for both of us.
Don't try the lactose free cheese though. It has the consistency of a pencil eraser and a similar taste too.
Finding an allergy or an intolerance is often a matter of luck and persistence. It took a long time for me to find I am unable to drink alcohol. Found that out when the Bar at the Uni I was attending for a post grad course ran out of beer so we had tea. First time in ages I did not have a migraine the day after. Not drunk alcohol since.

 

Hi,

Thanks Palustris. I drink tea and water; my tea is Morrison's de-caf; no sugar but with Soya; I stopped drinking standard tea after my hands starting shaking; they've been fine ever since. I've been drunk once whilst aged 16 at a family wedding; I said then I would never drink again when the bedroom stopped spinning so I've been teetotal ever since; I've seen first hand how alcohol abuse wrecks lives. I don't smoke either and I'll never have body piercing or tattoo's. I like a very simple basic but high quality life with my lovely wife.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Thanks @Retired about the memory foam pillow. Hubby has sciatica on his right side and it goes down the right leg. I have thought about a memory foam mattress once but he said no because it's a lot of money. I'll mention it to him.thanks.

 

Hi,

You're very welcome Logan; I'm sorry to learn of your hubby's problem and hope a second pillow helps; good luck to him.

A few years ago fed up with our rock hard mattress we bought a memory foam topper; it arrived in a small package and was opened up in our spare bedroom where it could be laid flat on the floor allowing it to expand and to de-gas a bit. A few days later I added it to the bed and what a huge difference; it made the bed quite higher but we found it extremely comfortable; it was nice and soft but it made us hot. Now we decided to buy a new mattress and it being New Year there was a sale on at "Dreams" we selected the mattress we liked online then visited the store where we bought the softest mattress; trying a mattress for softness instore doesn't work at least not for us. In reality this new mattress costing £800 delivered being the discounted sale price proved only slightly softer than the mattress just disposed of so more or less back to normal but £800 lighter.

We still have the Dreams mattress because we could make the same mistake again should we buy another mattress but now using two pillows the mattress is fine after all. Memory foam is excellent for comfort and now it can be bought as a mattress not being so hot; if we do change mattress in future I think it will be a new generation memory foam.

Thanks Shiney; our tea in Yorkshire is usually made with the addition of a drop of cows milk and two sugars; we have tea with soya and no sugar; it was strange at first but we're so used to it now. I used to buy fresh Soya drink at Morrison's and then it cost around £1.10L; later when Aldi opened a local store I noticed they sold fresh Soya costing 59pL; we use about 2L daily so buying fresh Soya at Aldi saves us over £300 per year just on this one product; I've not bothered checking Soya price at Morrison's for a long time; Aldi Soya is on the shelf in a cardboard surround holding 8L; I just pick up one of these packs although it is of course sold in singles too; I also pick up an 8 pack of Almond drink.

The world is going mad with so many harmless things causing offence such as calling Oat milk Oat drink. I think I'm safe in calling Soya drink and Almond drink; perhaps a more correct identification would be to call them liquid?

As usual mug of tea time; we've already been over to Meadowhall Shopping Center first time since Covid and what a change in M&S; the store has had a makeover. My wife wanted a skirt with elasticated waist but there were extremely few to be seen lots of the ladies section dominated by slacks/trousers so a total disappointment for my wife but I splashed out on three Tee Shirts and a top.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

Thank you @Retired and for the information on mattresses.

 

Hi,

You're very welcome Logan. This is the kind of mattress topper we bought;

Orthopaedic Memory Foam Mattress Topper | 1"- 4" Thick | With or without Cover | eBay

4" extra height on the bed made a lot of difference almost needing a ladder to get in and out; had the mattress proved cooler we'd still have it.

Kind regards, Colin.