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I have an auto-immune disease (lupus) that was first diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis. It was a battle over many years to get it correctly diagnosed and actually took two decades before I found doctors who were competent at treating the illness. Most gave me steroids (prednisilone) and painkillers, then sent me on my way! I ended up hooked on painkillers, and it took years to get off steroids with all their long term complications. Anyway, nearly died after severe pneumonia set in. THEN the doctors took my illness seriously! Finally (only took 20 years!) I found a couple of specialists who turned things round for me - I really do owe them my life! My advice on anything health related is to find the best doctor you can that really understand your particular condition. Practical advice on fishing: Don't drive too far, it is far more tiring than most will admit! Short fishing sessions Minimise your tackle - one rod/reel, rest, small bag of bits, bucket with bait, landing net, chair Search those places where you can get your car close I had to admit defeat with sea fishing, but when I got my state pension retired to France. I was lucky to be able to do that with a lot of support from my wife. Settled for river fishing and have spent the last three years searching locally for easy places to fish - and my health is improving! Here I am parked on the slipway (out of boating season) with my Decathlon chair (very comfy!) placed to take in the view. ......and caught some barbel, even hooked what was probably a carp - hooked pulled!

Good to see you still at it 👍👍👍

Well I could do with a new right shoulder if there’s one going spare...

Or even with the Angling pressure on a spot! I used to have a very good spot on the end of the back channels at Taverham, once people saw me regularly catching from it, the spot got regularly fished and stopped producing. Another area, alongside one of the islands, a small gravel plateau just in front was also another favourite. The fish moved further out and down and stopped swimming between the plateau and the island.

A good 20mm from hook shank to the bait It really worked well on Nazeing Brackens pool; a quite heavily fished, even crowded at times, 2 acre lake with some wise carp, where you pretty much had to fish on gravel. Added to the running lead and I got proper runs. In 3 seasons I caught a number of rarely banked fish, including 3 30's. The only reason I stopped using it exactly like that is I moved onto the lagoons, and crayfish could be a 'mare playing with the bait.

If it ain’t broke

About time to get my actual fishing head back on I think, I haven't been since December 😳 I'm not going to lie I haven't really missed it that much, haven't had time or the energy, it's starting to not feel like a bad time to start firing in a few freebies out though so I may get my prebaiting hat on again and start getting ready for a couple of overnighters and prepping some spots, ready for action, need to sort my stuff out respool my reels, and get spot finding and airbombing, hopefully I can find a couple of windows for this next week, so far I've thought about it a few times, but it has always seemed to be raining and cold when I get the chance, I'm just not that hardcore at the moment 😂 Anyway hopefully this year will be a good one for us all and we can all catch some whackers,

LVwell cbd is a reputable company it’s the one we use check them out just remember what I said about dosage do half if it says ten only do five remember you can have more if needed later

Jebus we’re all knackered haha.... lots of good advice here. I’m going to a small site in April and going to see how I get on. My biggest worry is bending to unhook fish (presuming I don’t actually blank), so that will be the tester

It's hard not to take a good photo here!

Lucky lady! my mrs would have none of that she wants me to get a cheap caravan stop on sites that have fishing, i could just imagine the response i'd get if i asked the guy who runs the lakes i fish if i could pop a caravan in the car park lol.

If you need a bait boat for medical reasons it is not cheating😉 If for the sake of using a bait boat it is... Even if you can't park behind the swim, being able to drop off the gear will surely help. That is something I do whenever possible. My gear seems to have increased now that my PTSD care dog (Sky) comes with me almost everywhere. She has her food bucket, which usually contains extra treats... I found that where I used to walk with Rucksack, rod holdall, bedchair and tackle box the ordinary barrow does make life a lot easier so I can be more comfortable with an extra chair, more water etc.

I have 2 discs missing in my neck which has caused the arthritis in my spine, doesn’t help being a fat biffa, it does trap the nerves which effects my walking. I’ve thought about a barrow and I think that’s something I’m going to have to consider when I get back to work

I have arthritic knees and collapsed discs in my lower back... it hurts to fish but the drive to fish pushes the pain aside.... I dose up with paracetamol and ibuprofen if I know I'm going out, I also wear a back brace to help with keeping my back stable and warm... I also make sure I stay as warm as possible as the cold is a reet b*gger with arthritis...

Pain, love it, it makes you know you are alive... 😖😳😉 Seriously it really is not funny, can be a real session killer, stops you enjoying it. I have arthritis in my knees, and a sore back, too much sports and probably not enough looking after myself. Sciatica down my right leg, from buttock to ankle, and my right knee especially can get very stiff and sore. Even walking Sky a few miles in the morning now hurts, but her welfare comes before my own. For some reason it seems worse in the morning than the evening! I have had to stop using tackle brand chairs, they are too low, and switched to a directors style chair, which just happen to be cheaper. If I can I do drive to the swim and unload, then put the car back in the car park, or as I did at Nazeing, fish 'car park' swims. I don't find pushing a barrow too bad for short distances, but anything over around 200metres and it hurts. Sciatica, I found massaging my right buttock and trying to lay flat reduces the problem a bit, as does sitting with hips higher than knees, so even at home a low sofa is not good. I'm more comfortable standing than I am sitting, but obviously everyone is different. I go through stages of needing painkillers, then none for ages. @Carpbell_ll I'd be interested in the diet you are with as if the red meat is a potential problem.

Thanks for all this, a few years ago I did a pain management programme, it doesn’t solve the issues it just teaches you how to deal with the pain. Plan and pace was the bug thing they kept saying, plan what you have to do and pace yourself, take stops if you need to walk any distance. I use a shooting stick which is pretty good really, I also have a motorhome and plan on doing as much fishing as I can while out in that, it’s finding the right places that’s the hardest. I’m hoping I’m going to be able to cope with my bivvy, I still have my old hutchy apotheosis but it’s the bending to peg out that has stopped me using tents over the last few years. I know there are going to have to be compromises, and as you say, painkillers are pretty ineffective long term, all I have usually is 2 paracetamol as I go to bed, it helps me sleep thru any pain in the night. One of the things on the PMP was them wanting everyone off meds as much as possible as long term effects can be worse than short term pain. thanks again

For you id say very slowly and on pain killers which is a bit of a problem in itself due to pain killers not working like most people think they should it really is a trade off of how much you are willing to suffer in term of recovery time after. hot water bottles are a must. you may or may not of seen all the talk of cannabis being a awesome cure all wonder painkiller, nonsense, remember most of those claims come from the USA and they have a very limited access to GP health care so take it with a pinch of salt, as cannabis could psychologically worsen your problems if you over do it and suffer a mild panic attack. I only say that due to arthritis being one of the main medical reasons for cannabis use. Tackle wise a three wheel barrow maybe with a motor could be of a big help along with a bait boat. pegs you can drive to and make diet changes if you already haven't eat less meat I only eat red meat once or twice a week, rest of the time it is cheap frozen fish or vegetarian ready meals and lots of porridge with added tinned or frozen fruit. I have a auto immune illness of sorts I constantly have to monitor what I'm eating as it can cause my immune system to start doing weird stuff upper body sciatica pain being what I literally fear returning if I don't damn near live like a monk. I don't claim any sick pay or anything but i could as could you, you may be able to get help with transport costs, the only reason I don't is because it's a bit of a catch 22 for me as I might lose my licence if I was that ill I needed a car due to the possibility of suffering bouts of vertigo, so long as I don't allow my digestion system to slow down or stop I can get by alright.