9.45am: Making breakfast
I’m already feeling slightly limited in my movement and everything is taking twice as long. Really simple things like reaching for a plate on the top shelf, or bending down to fill the dishwasher is painful, not only in my knee joints which are hurting, but the muscles in my back and around my joints too.
As I’m cutting up my fruit I feel like I’m fumbling and I have to go very slowly, as the spikes in my gloves are digging into my skin….it’s hurting and I really don’t feel like carrying on. The spikey painful feeling simulates the pressure on finger joints if you have arthritis. Dealing with this every day would be exhausting and really quite upsetting too.
I’m told by GP Rosemary Leonard that it’s really important to eat the right foods when you have arthritis, this prevents aggravating the condition but also helps manage pain. I made a fruit salad including berries, which contain certain antioxidants that ‘may help to reduce inflammation’ and apples, which contain magnesium which ‘may help to decrease the pain and stiffness in joints and muscles.’