badminton is OK

I had an appointment with my rheumatologist today. She said the latest xrays confirm I have some type of rheumatoid athritis related to inflammation. This and the sacroilitis diagnosis make sense together. That would explain the extreme pain and stiffness I fought through at Badminton last night; still worth it though. :)

Anyway, now to combat this she has asked me to take Celebrex. I am not sure if it will cause GI tract problems for me (Ibuprofen does) so I have some samples and will get the prescription if this works. I am looking forward to sleeping through the night and REALLY hope this med lets me do that. If not there are other options like biologics.

I asked her if I can continue with badminton as I am really enjoying it (I was worried the impact would cause problems for my joints and spine, etc). She said it is OK but jogging/running are out so I'll keep it to a fast walk on an incline on the treadmill (this is OK, I guess).

Celebrex can raise your blood pressure and I am already on the verge of high b.p. so I need to really cut out sodium. Weight loss will also help with everything (lower b.p., take pressure off inflamed joints, etc). Unfortunately I am the opposite of a hard gainer. I have a LOT of trouble losing weight (I know everyone says this but it really is the case for me and I have a history of weight loss efforts that did succeed but more slowly than you would expect despite extreme calorie control and high exercise levels).

To deal with this I am considering trying a low GI diet... apparently, this should work really well for people who have trouble losing weight and have the same issues as I do (see above). I'll try to track it here so I can be accountable for my diet now in addition to exercise.