BBS yes YOGA is wonderful!! Just wish I would be better at incorporating it more into my days

Wiz, thanks so much!!yes 40 hours on feet at work, five kids, and I am always worn out... thanks...

My vertigo days I had to stay in bed, as if lifted head it would be spin too too much.. and vomitting... uggg but other days once better the golf came in...

but today I am realizing that once I golf and work both, the next few days the back is spasming more... uggggg oh well life is full of pain at times, just tired of it sometimes... :(

this week I gave myself three days off yeahhhhhhhhh
although this is not happening often though.. as some here know hubby lost his job due to the casino shutting his department down...

hugss all and KEEP MOVING< now you got me thinking yoga video tonight in a bit... it might help my back tonight hugsss,sarah

I need help!
 

Ok so here's the deal---

I want to get moving, I read what some of you all are doing and I'm jealous!

I am only 25 years old but insanely out of shape.

Problem is, after my two leg (transverse myelitis) attacks, every time I walk even the slightest bit vigorously, I get tingling in my butt, sometimes legs and feet too. I'm not sure how much I should just push through it... and swimming is not an option for me right now unfortunately--that would be heavenly!

Any ideas or suggestions? Before I knew I had MS I was doing PT and all kinds of stuff through the numbness, I was just forcing myself to move. But now that I know what I have, I'm scared of provoking a relapse.

If you can walk, without walking vigorously, that would be a great start.

Also, if you can only sit, then start by vigorously moving your arms in an attempt to elevate your heart rate.

Whatever you choose to do, start out slowly.

Remember, these relapses when you exercise are not real relapses: They are pseudo flares. Once the body settles down, you are back to your regular baseline.

What makes swimming impossible?

Some people just hang out on the steps and move in the water on the steps. The water keeps the body cool so that you dont overheat.

Otherwise, like I said, just start out small with say, a five minute easy going walk. Each day add a minute until you are walking 45 minutes a day. Dont worry about speed. Even walking slowly is good for you. Just get moving. Only you can do this. In the long run it will benefit you more than any pill can! And be sure you are eating healthy as well!

Tell us how it goes each day. And welcome to our Club-- you are our newest member.

Poetic, I am a 58 year old woman. In 2004 I could barely walk across the room I was so out of shape. Now I swim a mile every day. I lift weights. I go up and down from my roof carrying plants (its a four story house) in the heat. If I can get in shape, anyone can!!!

Tingling and numbness are sensory symptoms - abnormal sensations that are very normal if you have MS.

These sensations can increase, for some, during exercise but once you relax and cool down the sensations will also calm down.

You are not hurting yourself or the MS. Quite honestly, if I didn't exercise because of sensations, in my case those sensations are buzzing/vibrations from the waist down, I would never do anything.

I was 24 when I was diagnosed (I'm 48 now), my neuro told me the best thing I could do is walk, this disease likes to effect my legs ( I have numerous cervical spine lesions).

I thought he was out of his flippin' mind, I was having my first exacerbation which was quite severe and could barely get around my home let alone go for a walk.

I did take his advice, I started to try and walk. At first it was just down the drive way and back. I would come back exhausted, weak and my legs would be vibrating/buzzing. All I could do was cry. Then after awhile I would do it all over again and cry ( if I haven't mentioned it, I did alot of crying in those early years). I found the process to be frustrating, tiring, and I would get angry at my legs.

I have gone through this same process 5 different times due to exacerbations. Each time I get angry and frustrated but I keep going anyway while I lovingly curse my neuro under my breath.:p

Because this disease likes to effect my legs and mobility I truely believe had I not kept trying and still try I would have been using a wheelchair/scooter very early on in my diagnosis.

It's important to rest and cool down after exercise. Taking a cool shower after your exercise will decrease your core body temp quicker and allow you to feel better quicker after working out. I also use a fan when I use my Elliptical or PT exercises to keep my core body temp down.

If this thread will motivate even one person to start exercising or seek the advice of a Physical Therapist (PT) it's worth the effort to keep posting and to keep this type of thread going.

Checking in:

Friday, no exercise, we were traveling most of the day to see our niece and her family.

Saturday, wow. We shopped for nearly 7 hours, :eek: then came back to her house to eat dinner. After that I played with her 35 lb puppy, even rocked and sang to him. I tossed the football for about 20 minutes or so with my nine year old great-nephew, then went for a 15 minute power walk with my niece. :thud:

Sunday my hands ached from catching the Nerf football, today, I ached all over but it was a good ache, from exercise.

I couldn't keep my eyes open today and had to take a nap. I was toast, lol. I'll go to bed early tonight and get back to my new exercise routine in the morning. :o

Well, my weekend exercise consisted of working on dbf's kitchen. The walls are stripped (peeled the paint off - literally came off in big pieces.:eek:), we did that a while ago. So Friday, I patched any holes, rough spots, etc. I did lots of careful up and down on the stool thing he has and overhead reaches. That was a lot of stretching! I think that counts as exercise.;)

Saturday I weeded the 2 small garden beds in preparation for fall vegetable planting. I didn't quite get them done as it got too hot.

Took 2 days off (Sunday and Monday) from exercising except my stretches.

Took a small walk today - 5 minutes was all my legs wanted to do this morning.

Start out small. Maybe take a 2 minute walk and do that for a few days and slowly increase it by 1 minute every few days.

There are many things that you can do to make it more like exercise. I call it creative exercise.

During the summer months I exercise far less and am less active. It is too hot out and the pool becomes warmer than bath water. I fill my tub up with water and do exercises in the tub. I do scissors, kicking, and leg lifts.

Additionally, I make housework more of an exercise routine by using controlled movements and paying careful attention to my core and posture. Things like vacuuming without bending forward, engaging my stomach muscles, and working my upper arms while vacuuming. I do the same with mopping the floor - slow, controlled movements.

You can do it! We are all here to help you and support you.:hug:

http://www.free-animations.co.uk/ins...es/snail_2.gifMoooooooooooving verrrrrrrrrrry sloooooooooow,todaaaaaaaaaay. Humidity wins again..:mad:

Finally set up a "no excuses" zone around me a few weeks ago. Need to be under 300 pounds for the hip replacement and this October will be the 4 year mark of The Wreck that put me in this wheelchair (or using a cane).

Me and my boys get out for a few hours daily, as I noticed they are getting a bit 'pudgey' and I was practically a shut-in for awhile. There's a ton of junk in the yard to keep us busy organizing, cleaning, raking and burning. Chipping away at it a little a day.

Always nice to see you're still "moving" around, moosey baby..:hug:

Wow, our club is getting big! Thats wonderful :)

tkrik, those are some good ideas you share. I can always count on you.

Mooseasaurus Rex: Welcome to the club and keep telling us about your physical activities. I know you will reach your goal. Increase your protein and get rid of bread, rice, potatoes, carrots, cookies, cake and ice cream :)

ewiz: Good job girl, its good to see you again :)

snoopy: Thats terrific support and advice for poetic.

I swam my mile today early, before the sun hit the pool-- hate getting up so darn early, but its nice to swim while its still cool ( 80 degrees) outside.

Spent the weekend in San Antonio...watched the bats friday night. It was a really neat experience. Besides all the bats flowing out of the cave (they started at around 6:30pm and were still going when we left at 9:30pm), we also saw two coachwhip snakes feeding on bats that hit the ground, a mother and 3 young skunks heading into the cave, a mother and 2 young racoons scavenging, 3 swainson's hawks, 1 redtailed hawk, and a great horned owl feeding on bats in flight. There was one other bird feeding and we believe it was a peregrine falcon, but nobody got a good enough look to say for sure.

Saturday we went to see the Disney Christmas Carol Amtrak Train, bought some supplemental feed, and reoriented the pasture gates so we could put out a feeder for deer without the goats destroying it. Sunday, we spent about 3 hours in the heat watering persimmon trees we have planted in groves around the property. Hopefully we will get some rain out there soon, as it is getting VERY bad and we will be losing a lot of wildlife this winter if it doesn't rain enough to start some growth soon.

I was lazy and just worked and went home on Monday. Last night was spin class. I worked alot harder than I usually do since it was a "race day" profile. 58 minutes, 92% of max HR, 78% avg HR, 954 calories burned.

Didn't walk today. Did my Wednesday housecleaning.

I need to rest up today as tomorrow is DD17s move in date for the dorm. That will be my big workout for the week. The parking is far from the dorm and she is on the 2nd floor and no elevator. Should prove to be an interesting morning.

Txbatman, I very much enjoyed reading about your bat exeprience. What is a Disney Christmas Carol Amtrak train?

tkrik, I wish you well on your move-in. When my oldest moved into a dorm, she as on the 4th floor, no elevator. But, there was a university Christian Club of young college students who hauled everything up to the 4th floor for students!! maybe you will be lucky too.

I swam 1/2 mile in between the rain bands of remnants of Ts Ana-- I didnt want to chance the full mile because there has been on and off lightning today. I sure miss the mile (I"m a bit OCD about doing a mile a day),b ut , a 1/2 mile is decent swimming too.

I havent done anything since monday. Insomnia is driving me nuts and I'm too tired to go treadmilling.

Might go walking tonight or tomorrow, probably need to take a nap first. Good thing the gym my dad and I go to is a 24 hour one.

Don't beat yourself up for only doing 1/2 mile. The fact that you can do 1/2 mile is fantastic. Maybe this evening the weather will be better and you can do the other 1/2 mile. It is also great that despite the weather you still went out and did what you could. :hug:

Erin, I hope you get that much needed nap.

tkrik, thanks for the words of support :) Its still rumbling out there, so I hope its clear in the a.m. to swim...

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/...aroltraintour/

It is an AmTrak train touring the country to promote the new Disney remake of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The train is all decorated up with graphics from the movie, and inside they have static displays showing how they made the movie. It is an animated movie, but they used real actors and models for alot of the scenes and then converted it to animation using computers. They also have a small theater they set up where you can watch a "making the movie" short film.

I was just along for the ride as my in-laws are big train buffs and my BIL is very into computer 3-D graphics design. They have a setup at the end of the train where you can stand in front of a camera and it takes your picture, then you pick one of the characters and it basically inserts your face into the character using the same animation they used to make the movie. It is really oriented more towards kids, but it was interesting to me as well.

hey all,
about to go take a short walk since there is a few less rain drops dropping... short in case it gets downpouring again.. been raining all day!! maybe some yoga tonight, to stretch, my back is full of spasms last two nights and hurting by day. hugsss,sarah

Because I was exhausted from my trip to my niece's house, I didn't have the energy to exercise Sunday - Wednesday.

But I bought a basketball at Menards yesterday, so this morning I bounced it down to the park and shot some hoops for 20 minutes. :D That's a tough workout! I dribbled the ball a lot and worked my way around shooting baskets from several positions. I made a basket in all but one spot, and I even made a couple of "hole in ones" lol. I used to be fairly good at playing basketball even though I'm short. DH asked me if I dunked any shots, lol.

Then I came home and it was cool enough and wet enough to pull lots of weeds. I did that for an hour and 40 minutes and then came inside and had a healthy, gluten free lunch (that's another thread, lol.)

I'm tired but I feel great now since I exercised and it was FUN!! :)

Wow Wiz, what a workout! Basketball is so much fun too. Its a great idea. Ill remember that one.

Hi sabimax, I hope the rain cooperated, and sorry to hear about your back.

The train sounds like a great thing to visit txbatman.

I swam a mile this morning. Its very relaxing.

I still havent gotten to the gym since monday. Didnt get a nap yesterday, didnt sleep till 4 or 5am this morning, no nap this afternoon. Went out with a friend to BK for dinner.

Hoping to go walking tomorrow night tho, fridays are good days for my dad and I to go wandering around on the treadmills and other exercise equipment at the gym. We wait till around 8 or 9 and then go and get our choice of any of the machines because the big crowd is gone by then. Dont do a huge workout or anything, but we can actually do more with the other machines because there isnt a crowd or a waiting list waiting for a machine.

I was hoping to win Powerball last night, I want to build a house with it's own workout room in it. Then my dad could use that whenever he wanted to, and wouldnt have to pay the membership fees. Oh well...

Spin class last night. Fun class...the instructor always has good music and he does a good job matching the songs he is playing to the tempo and speed he wants us to be riding. It is a tough class, but I always come out feeling good because the good music makes it seem easier. Shorter class, but the intensity made up for it. 44 minutes, Max HR 88% of max, avg HR 78% of max, 706 calories burned.

Going to class this afternoon too. My favorite instructor is teaching and she isn't doing the usual saturday class...so I will just suck it up, stretch real well, and hope for the best.

That would be a good topic for another thread Erin...what would you do if you won the powerball...Hmmm.

have an ear infection, and its been very hot and humid here. I have been hiding in the house.

What a great class for you TxBatman.

Dejibo: Ear infections are so very unpleasant I hope you get some relief soon! My PEdiatrician had my kids chew sugarless gum when they had bad colds. Something in it, not aspartame, I cant recll the word, was it xylitol? was found to help not turn into ear infex.

I swam a mile this morning befoe the big fire ball in the sky hit the pool :)

My muscles are sore from yesterday so I passed on working out today. This weekend I'll get to sleep late both days so I should get in one or two good workouts.

It's supposed to be only 68 degrees here tomorrow! And 71 on Sunday! Maybe I'll go for a bike ride. :)

I just got back from the treadmill. Seems like I can do a little more than a half hour before my eyes start feeling all blurry and gummy. I dont know if it's because I get no sleep due to the insomnia, or if it's an MS thing, or a combination of being tired and having a pseudo-ex happening.

Oh, and allergies. Ragweed has been very...ragweedy this week, and my eyes itch constantly! (thankgoodness for the Pataday eye drop samples my eye doctor gave me a few weeks ago when I saw him. yay!)

Too bad the eye drops do nothing for the congested feeling in my chest from the ragweed. I can feel a little clump of congestion in there and I'm hoping it doesnt get any bigger to make me miserable. I've never found a decent antihistamine that makes me feel better when the allergies hit. I usually just end up feeling stoned and congested.

So, I did a little over a half mile today. Re-reading a Stargate novel on the Kindle because Amazon hasnt Kindlized the other Stargate novels that I havent read yet. I just cant get interested in anything else to read for some reason. I do have Glenn Beck's "Common Sense", but I like reading that at home in my comfy chair while eating M&m's. (any fans of Glenn Beck show will understand the M&m's reference)

I'm going to start needing suggestions for reading material pretty soon to keep my brain occupied while treadmilling.

thats a nice workout Erin :)

I swam a mile this morning. It was so pleasurable.

walked a half mile today. I am wobbly and out of shape from hiding in the house for a week. funny how quickly we can lose the progress we made.

Glad you had a chance to use the treadmill Erin. :) I often start to feel like I have lead legs when working out on our machine at home, but I point a fan right at myself and put it on high. If it's cold outside, I'll stop and stand on the porch a few minutes then go back to the elliptical. Is the gym air conditioned? Or do they have fans you could move to point right at yourself?

BBS,
It's really good that you have a pool for your workouts. That's just ideal for someone with MS especially. Sometimes I think about joining our local YMCA. It has an excellent gym and two pools, but it's expensive to join. It's also a 15 minute drive to get there. Maybe I'll win the lottery and we can put in an enclosed pool room for year round use. :)

I always feel better the day after exercising especially. I think it raises the endorphins.

I really need to do some today. Maybe a bike ride, because those muscles aren't sore and it's cool outside for August. I'll check back later to report my activity.

By the way, I feel extremely fortunate that I can exercise. There have been times when the MS wouldn't allow it or made it extremely difficult. :mad:

For all of you who struggle with this, I hope it's a passing thing. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

The fancy hotel in the next city up has pool passes for residents. I always wondered if it would be worth my time. They run a pretty clean ship, but it always worried me about the clean or dirty habits of others. I dont want to swim in a pee pee pool. I dont want to swim after diapered babies have been splashing about with a diaper that isnt checked.

I think I am turning into a germophob in my old age. I was bullet proof before MS, now I dont want to touch things. I carry handwipes and such, but the tought of climbing onto a work out machine after someone else sweated it up...yuck! I am so cautious since starting on DMDs.

anyone else worry about stuff like that in public work out places?

It's a beautiful morning here today (81) and lots of clouds so I got out and went for a walk. I saw several people out walking and we are all enjoying the cold spell. :p

I missed my water class today because I forgot to set the alarm and DH left early with friends on an ATV run.

I'll go to the gym after church tomorrow and work on the eliptical and swim laps afterward. :)

Hi Wiz, Yes, I am lucky. Five months of the year I can swim in my backyard. In the winter, I buy passes to my public pool about 5 miles away. Its reasonable, actually very cheap. The pool is as big as a football field and its heated all winter. In the winter, little kids dont seem to be in the pool. But in the summer its loaded with kids and so, I prefer the cleanliness of my backyard pool. I'm lucky.

How much is your Y membership?

Hi Dejibo, I'm also germo-conscious too.

See you in teh pool tomorrow AZJanie.

Hurricane Bill whipped up huge waves at our local beach today so DH and I went to watch. I couldnt help myself: I went into the surf and it was so fun: I felt like a little kid playing in the waves :)

I swam a mile and an extra 1/8 today-- the water was so great, it was hard to get out of the pool, but I figured an hour was too much radiation already ;)

BBS,

Way to go on the extra distance. :)

Our local Y charges $45.50 a month plus a $75.00 registration for one adult. That price includes the locker fee but not towels. I'd have to have a locker if I joined.

You get access to everything and a reduced (but not free) admission in classes.

You can get a one day pass for $10.00 which I should probably do once or twice then decide if I can justify (or afford) that much money.

I used the elliptical yesterday for 20 minutes. :) I'm up to a high resistance so it really gives me a workout. My heart rate gets up to the 130-145 range. I need to do it more often, but it's so hard to get myself up and moving a lot of the time.

Maybe I'll make it a point to try a day at the Y in the next week or two. I could maybe get DH to go with me, but I doubt he'll want to go.

Better day today. Back to doing my full regimine of morning stretches and exercises...Yeaaaaaaaaa!! :D

Our next door neighbor had a yard sale and we got a recumbant bike at least I think that's what it's called?

Anyhow it is so comfortable for me as it has a nice seat with a tall backrest so I can lean back and pedal away.

It measures pulse, heartbeat, and calories burned and I have already burned 10 calories!! :rolleyes:

It's a really fancy one and he was using it as a clothes hanger?

DH tried it and he really likes it too and I know Mom will enjoy it when she comes to visit.

Way to go Sally dear. :hug:

I used to have one AZJanie, and I got a lot of use out of it. They are so comfy, aren't they? :)

I want to find a nice, but used, rowing machine. I like getting an upper body workout too. I should start watching the classified ads in the paper, or look on craigslist for one.

I'm glad you felt well enough to stretch today Sallyc!

Azjanie, I have often thought about a rowing machine too. They look comfortable and more fun than other machines.

Ewiz: Its a lot of money if you dont think you will use it much, or if you really do not like to be in the water. But, if you think you would go 4 or 5 times a week, then its not so bad. Its more than my public pool though. Mine is $15 per month, or $30 per three months. The public pool near work, though is like yours, $45 per month.

For me its worth it. Not only do I enjoy it, but moneywise, it controls my asthma so well, that I think I save on doc visits and inhalers by swimming :)