Morning. I have bone on bone arthritis in both knees. If I have to shop at a large supermarket or a store like Home Depot or WalMart I can stand or walk for 10 - 20 minutes before I need to sit down. Yes, I do use the shopping carts for support, but there are days when that just doesn't seem to work.

I'm just about 70 years old. I used to climb Mount Washington once every few years. I enjoyed riding a bicycle from New Haven Ct to Easton or Monroe Ct every summer. Then, about 20 years ago I started having trouble with my knees,

There was no pain at first. It was the little things that tipped me off. Like I'd be helping my Dad in his vegetable garden, and it became a struggle to get back on my feet after an hour of weeding around the tomato plants. My Dad and I joked about it at first. He died before it became obvious that I became more handicapped as time went on.

I was advised to lose weight and have a total knee replacement on both knees. I lost some weight but was not at all enthusiastic about having knee surgery. Its been 5 years since I saw that knee doctor, and I was surprised that my joints hurt so much more during the winter. I had thought that cold weather would numb the knees and I'd feel less pain, but I quickly learned that the cold was not a friend. This past week, with the temps in Connecticut staying in the 30s, I have slept with a space heater close to my knees. It seems to help, but getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom is still painful. As I get up from bed or a chair I can hear and feel something like the ratcheting sounds you hear when you are changing a tire on your car.

Somebody asked about using marijuana for pain relief... I eat CBD gummies before going to bed. The only ones that are truly effective, at least for me, are Delta 9 CBD with THC. They stifle some of the pain and encourage the body to sleep. After shopping around both online and in the real world, I found a brand that works for me. Only problem is that each package of 10 gummies cost between $50 and $70 dollars. So I need to space them out.

I don't and won't smoke anything. Seen too many people my age with asthma and other ailments related to smoking.