This is my main complication with exercising right now. Before it became a complication I had a fairly good routine going on with walks and my exercise bike. I was doing pretty good for chronic pain wise and my exercise. Then, well, vertigo happened. Then drop foot happened. Then fatigue. Then temperature intolerance. Then insane stiffness. And not so much on the exercising front. It is difficult and complicated.
But with MS everyone is different and everyone is at a different place. I was recently diagnosed and have few traditional symptoms at this time. I thought it would be a great time to get an exercise routine in place. But, man, my body doesn’t agree with this plan at all.
Specifically for Multiple Sclerosis exercise helps with:
- Bladder and bowel function
- Bone density
- Cardiovascular fitness
- Cognitive function
- Energy levels
- Flexibility
- Mood
- Strength
Source: https://www.nationalmssociety.org
And one would think it would make you more fatigued. Short term, maybe it does. But regular exercise I think helps with fatigue overall. It is just really hard to keep that motivation and get up and go, with the fatigue that is already present.
Specifically, for me, I exercise to help with strength and mobility
- My right leg has drop foot which at times can be quite bad, while other times not so much. More notable when I exhaust myself or when I have a flare. But the goal is to strengthen my other leg and to strengthen the muscles of that leg as best I can to compensate for the existing weakness. This involves leg exercises and core exercises.
- Vestibular exercises for my balance because that is not longer as severe as it was but never actually went away. And sometimes flares up. Balance is just an issue.
- Then there is the pain and stiffness I try to exercise for with stretches. No luck with this really. Not yet. I do do a lot of hand exercises for the hand pain and stiffness that help modestly. So far no luck with the severe stiffness and pain in my shoulders, arms and legs. I say stiffness like it isn’t bad but it is quite painful and I can’t quite figure out what to do about it or how to get some range of motion back in those areas..
The problems I have when exercising are:
- One main problem is the routine, because fatigue can be such a beast
- Another problem is the more I do the less my leg wants to be a leg and walk. So if it is acting up, and I exercise too much, I can’t go out and walk about because I won’t get far. But this varies. It was a real problem with mobility. Now not so much. So I assume it is a real problem when it flares, when it is really hot and when I exceed my limits too much.
- I do have a lot of heat intolerance so I have to try and keep cool when exercising and drink cold water afterwards. This can also mean pacing my exercises.
- Poor balance means I have to be careful when doing some of them and where I do them so I don’t fall or injure myself. This is also variable. Sometimes severe. Other times just there and randomly swings in to spin me around.
- The pain and stiffness resist a lot of range of motion. A lot of stretches are very painful and I don’t want to injure myself. So I try to be gentle. This is literally always a problem.
- Limb weakness can be a real issue as well once you exercise and I have to watch out for balance issues, fatigue and what I am doing after because of it. Rest a bit to recover.
Some reminders with MS
- Be careful: ensure you exercise in a way to limit the possibility to injury.
- Exercise in the cooler times of the day or in cooler rooms. Wearing cooler clothing.
- Go slow. Sometimes I take breaks between my assigned activities for the day which works for me.
- Hydrate after. This was a big one in my physio and I always remind myself at home to do so.
- Stretch after.
One tip I have so far:
I have just started in this MS journey and exercising with it so not much to go on. But I know it is difficult for me to do it in one lump sum.
I do my exercise bike in the morning and sometimes that is all I do that day, depending. And it varies how I can do on that. I aim to do it three times a week.
And I do my larger core exercises in the afternoon. They are more exhausting and take more effort. So I do them later. Again, the aim is three times a week.
But for smaller exercises, I break them up in the day. Often when I am doing other tasks. Like waiting for my toast I am doing these lifts where I stand on my tippy toes on one foot (obviously better on my good leg). And while cooking, I balance on one leg, then the other. Or during the day I do vestibular exercises where I do a pacing walk and turn, with or without head lifts. Things like that. Spread them out. If I do them all in one go, it can be way too exhausting on my legs and body.
So my pace is pretty slow at this point. Trying to balance days where I do things with days where I exercise. Trying to build a consistent routine. And stick within my limitations but gently push them as I go. It has to be slow and steady.
I have seen progress with my leg strength and walking. So that is good. It could improve more. I hope that more time on the exercise bike might help with that. I just got started on an exercise bike routine so it is at the basic stage (level 1 10-15 minutes 3 X a week). I will work up to 20 minutes on that and then slowly increase the resistance.
It’s a process.
Sources to check out:
https://mscanada.ca/exercise-and-physical-activity-ms
https://www.healthline.com/health/multiple-sclerosis/exercises-activities-for-ms
Chronically Nikki 