Increased parasthesia with increased exercise??
 

I have really upped my exercise routine at the Y lately. Some of it may be just because it invigorates me, some may be because I find I can do things I previously didn't realize I could. But most of it because I am sick and tired of this flab. Until the manager of the Y gets a routine set for me she told me to do whatever I want on the recumbent bike. So I have made it a personal goal to get to 10 miles before the bike shuts itself off at 60 minutes. Well today I finally did it!!! But the parasthesia in my lower legs seems to be worse. I have to untie my shoes when I am home to make my feet more comfortable. Anyone have any idea whether the two things could be related??

It may be due to increased temperature when exercising. I notice the same symptoms/problem after leg training or even just walking from A to B.

It could be the hyperventilation/open mouth syndrome?
Which can cause your symptoms.

Exercise causes slight tissue inflammation. I am learning from my massage therapist that I have some adhesions in my legs from when used to work out, hike, and climb. She said they just happen from use, but in my case they compound the issues presented by TM. She is working them out with the hopes that, once freed, some of the nerve function will return in the tittues that are now "glued together." We will see. By the way, the massages are anything but relaxing!

You may want to back off, and then increase your workout intensities more gradually.

Read more about inflammation from exercise: link

I work out pretty heavily and fwiw I haven't found much of a coorelation between the course of my workout and an increase in parasthesia.

Sometimes it bothers me, sometimes it doesn't I can't seem to find any pattern, yet anyway. :confused:

Even though I really, really liked my night time walks because they were in the cool crisp evening air under the stars I decided that I really wasn't burning that many calories with them since I could only walk a mile. And my legs and feet are more comfortable not doing them with the same kind of intensity. So I think if I do take some night time walks they will just be that, walks and not trying to do as much.

Another possibility is lumbar nerve root irritation from exerting in the recumbant position over a longer period of time; especially if the numbness follows your exercise sessions. Exertion in that position can increase intrabdominal pressure which can put pressure on the discs.
You might try putting a small folded towel in the small of your back to maintain the normal lumbar curve to see if it helps.

With love, Erika

Hmmm....I think Erika might have insight into your problem. You do suffer from back issues, right? I wonder if the recumbent position is impinging a nerve.
I don't get parasthesia after I work out-several hours later I get severe leg spasms, even after stretching. But immediately after my work out, I feel like I used to before MS-energetic, a bit looser (except my legs-that is permanent:().

Then as I cool down, the stiffness gets worse and I spend the afternoon lying back in my recliner stiff and exhausted. Everyone tells me to back off a bit on the strenuous nature of my workouts, but I have so much energy in the morning, and I have turned into a blob over the last year, that I am trying to eat less and work out more to lose the blob. So far, no luck:(

Maybe try an elliptical at a low level of resistance...that's my preferred mode of aerobic exercise. And don't forget to stretch out [U]after[U] you work out.

Debbie,
What you describe is pretty much how this body's symptoms go as well. Things are worse toward the end of the day, but during and right after exercise things seems to be better...then first the weakness, then the spasms set in.

Getting exercise on recumbent or even regular bikes are out for me because they irritate my lower back discs; although I can still ride a regular bike for pleasure when balance issues aren't a problem. I try not to become depressed over the fact that I used mountain bike regularly and even competed in equestrian sports (3-day eventing, cutting and endurance racing) just a few years ago:(.

Three discs in my lower back have varying levels of prolapse and two have been herniated, and 3 in my neck are also prolapsed now...all from falls due to MS. This makes exercise of the para spinal muscles absolutely necessary to keep the supporting musculature of the spine as strong as possible. I really don't want to have surgery; although that was recommended a couple of years ago.

I get some back exercise from my work as a massage therapist and through walking, gardening etc, but since my participation in those things has been on a steady decline because of MS fatigue and other symptoms, I use a cross country ski machine to round things out and to get some cardio in the relative safety of the indoors.

The treadmills and elliptical trainers tend to irritate my legs and I think that it is because full extension of the knees and hips doesn't happen with them. The cross country ski machine allows for more full extension of the knee, nearly full flexion and extension of the ankle and more full range of motion of the hips as well.
I bought my second hand Nordic-track for $25.00 through the want ads a few years ago and I often see them up for sale for around the same price, where they can run in the hundreds of dollars new :winky:.

With love, Erika

I have been exercising since my diagnosis and have always had an increase of symptoms afterwards, although sometimes I can feel it during.

I deal with an increase in vibrations/buzzing, sometimes one or more of my toes go numb, foot drop (both feet) and leg weakness. I figured out early on that if I took a cool shower after working out the symptoms went back to what is normal for me and I felt better sooner.

I cannot recline after working out as this tends to cause more stiffness and pain once I try and get up again. If I sit upright I have less stiffness and pain, no idea why :Dunno::Scratch-Head:

Maybe the "recumbent position" is the cause of my spasms and jerking in my low back and legs when I am in bed. But it I stretch ( a lot) before bedtime, this happens less, much less, I must say.
I used to have more parathesias after exercise, but since I have become more active lately, the parathesias (tingling, burning) are less, much less. What happened to cause me to be more active is this. I am having tooth trouble and this has caused eating to be less of a good time for me, therefore I automatically cut back on portions. I lost 11 pounds in the past two months, gradually. My ankle swelling ceased. I feel lighter and easier to move. So I have been more active. Only my erythromelalgia in my feet holds me back from exercising more. But I realize there is a limit to this spurt. If I had no foot pain and walked for miles, well, I'd be in the same situation some of you are, weak and then stiff and then in spasm. So it's all a matter of building up and knowing how far you can push it. I was a dancer in my youth, very athletic, so what I am doing now is nothing compared to that.

I edited this post to re-emphasize how important stretching is. I got my stretches from several sources, several PT's over the years and several chiropractors. I have increased my arm and hand strength by self-massaging the stubborn knots in my legs, a never-ending task.

At our age Mariel, if we don't stretch it and use it, we lose it.
Thanks for the tip.:)

Doydie,

A couple weeks ago I went for a walk on my lunch at work, it was a 20 minute walk across the highway over to a store to pick something up then back to work. That night I had the worst ever leg spasms when resting and they woke me up all night. Then the MS symptoms started to flare up each day.

I used to be able to take a 30 minute walk almost every day. One thing that was always essential for me was starting out very slow and building up speed gradually, then stretching afterward. Each stretch should be held for 45 seconds to get the full benefit, according to my past MS neurologist. So maybe if you do this it will decrease the ill effects for your next workout.

I am very proud of you for losing weight and getting in shape. You're an inspiration to me. :hug:

I've been researching online for like an hour now, idk why I never did it before (i was a mere 18 year-old then i suppose...).

I know the feeling having ppl doubt your condition (this is basically the story of my life :/). I've met countless doctors over the years, some of the most informative and influential docs I've met with are Dr. Lee at Seattle Children's (for pain management), Dr Elliot Krane is a pure genius about EM too. I went to this pain management program at LPCH (Lucille Packard Children's Hospital) a little over a year ago, and they did a lot to help. It was pretty intense: all day every week day, PT, OT, Psych, and of course school at the hospital. You learn a lot about PT you can do once you get home, how to go about life (cooking, cleaning, etc), and everything else you can think of. It really helped, I just need to make sure I keep up with the PT exercises on my own... :eek:.

But aaanyways, I've been having really bad, sporadic spasms recently. Some days I wont have any, then for hours another day, they're practically endless, It makes it so I can't focus on a thing! Idk if it's muscle spasms, nerve spasms, or some other thing. I just know it hurts like a *****. I have noticed they stat if one of my feet (in my toes usually) are really cold; i wrap it in a sock or a warm towel to help, but i usually son't catch it before it escalates. Hopefully I'm not alone in this. After reading all of your guys' posts, I'm gonna give Magnesium a shot.

I find it really hard to do exercise normally. I'm limited to non weight-bearing things like lifting weights while seated, crunch/planks; that sort of thing, and mainly swimming. I can do this cause the water feel good on my feet, and it's non weight bearing.

Oh! and one more thing: On here some people mentioned how they have a mix of EM pain and nerve numbness. There's a crazy place in Bellevue, WA called Bellevue Health Center I think or something like that, where they use these red lights to help with the redness and numbness of you have any. It's pretty expensive so I could go for very long, but I WAS slowly seeing results over the maybe month and a half I was there (twice a week).

~Kelsey:)

Hello larson_kelseym and welcome to NeuroTalk :)

You have mentioned ME several time in your post, are you referencing Erythromelalgia? Or ME/CFS?

This forum is the Multiple Sclerosis(MS) forum. If you have Multiple Sclerosis this is the forum you want.

If you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS/ME) this is the link to that forum
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum12.html

There is also a General Health Conditions & Rare Disorders forum:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum2.html

Best wishes!