MS, Exercise, Fatigue and Pain
So I'm a pretty chubby guy. I've been aware of it and I'm trying to take better care of myself. I'm watching what I eat and making sure I'm walking every day. Over the last 9 months I lost 15 pounds, which I'm aware isn't a lot, but for me it's something.
I want to get stronger, and I want to be better, but working out for extended periods of time results in literal headache, and I'm not sure how to combat this. I've been splitting my exercises into really small chunks with some breaks in between, but it still results in pain. I guess what I'm trying to get insight into is whether anybody else finds themselves in pain doing workouts or if they've managed to build up some endurance.
I want to be able to work out like anybody else, but I have to really look into modified versions of exercises that are done as well in shorter time. Pain has been a recurring problem, particularly when I just tried to go at the pace I used to before developing MS. Are there people with MS out there making serious gains? Are there bodybuilders with MS??
@paradoxic , moderation is the keyword and I fear that you're trying too hard. MS just doesn't like to be ignored, although those headaches seem to be a bit of a severe reaction. Have you had a word with your medical team about this. Weight loss is a balance of energy intake and energy expenditure. If MS makes us less active, we need to adjust our intake.
@paradoxic - I have found that my MS doesn’t act up if the room is cool. I recently learned that I don’t have any flare-ups if I work up a sweat as long as the room that I’m in is cool. I now hardly ever do much outside. Summer will just be starting & you see everyone outside running, walking, whatever. But I’m inside on the treadmill. Now just because that’s my situation doesn’t mean it’s the same for you. But I would start out looking at temperatures - the room’s as well as your own body heat. If you figure out that your own body heat is a big factor for you, then at least you’ll know to try breaking your workouts down to many more short concentrated workouts. You also might want to try drinking ice water while working out. The ice water might cool down your core temperature enough to let you workout longer in each set. But I’ve gotten to where I eat a lot of ice (which is very bad for your teeth.) I have found that eating ice is one of the quickest ways I can cool myself down. (I actually have an ice maker on the counter in my kitchen. I’m hoping that pellet ice won’t be as hard on my teeth as cubes.) But everyone has to figure out what works for them. I wish you luck.