Ok ellie I’ll apologise for apologising :)blame my parents. They drummed manners in lol. Yes my son does keep me on my toes. He’s a little charmer blue eyes blonde hair with a liking for hair gel and his dad Chanel bleu aftershave he left he kept going on about a girl in nursery. When I asked the teacher who the ‘girl’ was turned out to be the 17 year old assistant after a few weeks I said I haven’t heard you talking her for a while the reply oh I’m so over her came as a shock didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. With the thought I dread when your 16. His next crash was his hairdresser. I was like they’re a bit old. He’s like girls my age are babies oh well ok. I will try and take it easy. There a gym in the place I get my massage. Might not take a friend I’ll just look at the hot guys instead. Well a girl can dream x
It didn’t like my sticky out tongue face . Oh well
Ha, only luck I’ve had at the gym is the costa coffee girlie gave me a large and said ‘shhhh don’t tell anyone’
Haha yeah ill prob be 10 years older than the young punks who go there x
I think that you have to be stable to push yourself. If you know what your MS is likely to do and you aren’t progressing, then exercise is definitely worth it.
It is really hard at first. Really, really hard.
I had to wait until I felt great - which I did after the diet experiment. I still have relapses, but they aren’t as bad as they were before diagnosis. I have one about every 3 years.
The most important thing is to not take risks with MS. If you have RRMS or PRMS, then do try a drug therapy. See what you are offered. You never know if what you choose is going to work, but Rebif has worked for me and still does. But…but, I am lucky - 14 years later, I haven’t progressed.
You can’t know this at diagnosis. It takes about ten years to realise that the residual damage from the relapses is still there and not getting worse. I still could go into progression, but I really hope I don’t and that’s all I can do, hope and do my best to stay strong.
Em - I salute you. You are doing the best you can under awful and stressful conditions and when you get into a stable condition (which I truly hope you do) then try exercise.
I was really ill after diagnosis and it took months to recover. I was numb from the waist down, incontinent, couldn’t read as my brain just couldn’t process the words. I couldn’t play any instruments or sing. It got better though.
10 years later, I got my life back. (touch wood, offer prayers, cross everything). I most certainly didn’t expect that.
abrazos (hugs)
K
Going to the gym is not just about building muscle mass and strength, there have been a few studies published that exercise
will improve not just mobility but the brain and one even suggested a increase in grey matter.
I do believe in pushing one example is I use to suffer from chronic fatigue and if I sat in my chair spamming the internet all day
the fatigue would last all day, if I said sod it and went to the gym after 10 mins of being there the fatigue fades and though I get physically tired at the end of the hour session I feel so much better an hour after that. Saying that it don’t always happen thay way maybe 7 times out of 10.
Kessler researchers find aerobic exercise benefits memory in persons with multiple sclerosis### Collaborative study reveals novel finding that aerobic exercise results in increased hippocampal vol####
West Orange, NJ. November 1, 2013. A research study headed by Victoria Leavitt, Ph.D. and James Sumowski, Ph.D., of Kessler Foundation, provides the first evidence for beneficial effects of aerobic exercise on brain and memory in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). The article, “Aerobic exercise increases hippocampal volume and improves memory in multiple sclerosis: Preliminary findings,” was released as an epub ahead of print on October 4 by Neurocase: The Neural Basis of Cognition. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13554794.2013.841951. The study was funded by Kessler Foundation.
Hippocampal atrophy seen in MS is linked to the memory deficits that affect approximately 50% of individuals with MS. Despite the prevalence of this disabling symptom, there are no effective pharmacological or behavioral treatments. “Aerobic exercise may be the first effective treatment for MS patients with memory problems,” noted Dr. Leavitt, research scientist in Neuropsychology & Neuroscience Research at Kessler Foundation. “Moreover, aerobic exercise has the advantages of being readily available, low cost, self-administered, and lacking in side effects.” No beneficial effects were seen with non-aerobic exercise. Dr. Leavitt noted that the positive effects of aerobic exercise were specific to memory; other cognitive functions such as executive functioning and processing speed were unaffected.
The study’s participants were two MS patients with memory deficits who were randomized to non-aerobic (stretching) and aerobic (stationary cycling) conditions. Baseline and follow-up measurements were recorded before and after the treatment protocol of 30-minute exercise sessions 3 times per week for 3 months. Data were collected by high-resolution MRI (neuroanatomical volumes), fMRI (functional connectivity), and memory assessment. Aerobic exercise resulted in a 16.5% increase in hippocampal volume, a 53.7% increase in memory, and increased hippocampal resting-state functional connectivity. Non-aerobic exercise resulted in minimal change in hippocampal volume and no changes in memory or functional connectivity.
“These findings clearly warrant large-scale clinical trials of aerobic exercise for the treatment of memory deficits in the MS population,” said James Sumowski, Ph.D., research scientist in Neuropsychology & Neuroscience Research at Kessler Foundation.
Co-authors are Christopher Cirnigliaro, M.S., of Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation and James J. Peters VA Medical Center; Amanda Faraq, M.D. and Monifa Brooks, M.D., of Kessler Institute and Jill M. Wecht, Ed.D., of James J. Peters VA Medical Center. From Kessler Foundation: Amanda Cohen,Glenn Wylie, D.Phil., associate director of Neuroscience Research and the Center for Neuroimaging Research @ Kessler Foundation, Nancy Chiaravalloti, Ph.D., director of Neuropsychology & Neuroscience Research, John DeLuca, Ph.D., vice president for Research & Training, and James F. Sumowski, Ph.D., research scientist. Kessler scientists and clinicians have faculty appointments at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.
Thank you so much everyone for your inspirational comments! Here’s what I’ve been up to lately… I’ve been feeling a bit better, taking care with diet and vitamins. I then decided to force myself to walk every day as far as I can. I have been putting myself in a lot of pain, walking a tiny bit for me is like bodybuilding or something haha. However, I have been doing a few more steps each day and after about a month or so I am noticing a small improvement to how far I can walk. I don’t need as many rests, it doesn’t take me as long to recover. I have slightly more energy… I am discipling myself to do this every single day.