Hope your all doing well, i have a question for you all…
Since last year my SPMS has been getting worse and worse day by day, week by week and as my mobility is getting worse, i’m not exercising as much and some new meds i have been taking aswell as steroids mean i have put a lot of weight on. (Just to give you an idea i’m 6’ 1" and use to weigh 11stone but now i have swelled to 17stones!!)
The weight is making me feel very self concious and as everyone i see says “have you put some weight on?” which isn’t helping its making me feel worse. Anyway what i would like to know is what excercise do you do to try and keep in some kind of fittness? I would like to join the gym but every day you see benefit cheats in the paper, not that i’m a benefit cheat but as you know on the DLA form you have to put down what you are like on the worse possible day. I just don’t want to do too much and for it to look like i’m not being honest but if i don’t push myself to do something soon then i feel this extra weight will put even more strain on my already limited mobility. It’s such a catch 22 situation and at the moment evrything seems to be pushing me further and further down that downwards spiral.
What do you think i should do??? Should i join the gym so i can have some regular excercise i.e; swimming, and trying to keep my lower limbs/muscles working…
My wife would be with me at all times as i need her to help me get changed, swim etc but if the job centre see’s on my bank statements that i have a gym membership payment i am worried that they will get the wrong idea and stop my income support etc…
Anyway i just wanted your take on the matter…
So thank you in advance for any advice/replies, because your opinions do real matter to me.
I think you should go for it and join the Gym, gentle excersise like swimming would be a great way to keep fit. The water would support your body and work all your muscles inc cardio…I believe Pilates is also meant to be a good form of gentle excersise that strenghtens.
My Dr. sent me to gym on passport to leisure, it was at a swimming pool with gym and and someone from gym watched me to make sure I wasn’t doing it wrong or too much. It was a few years ago and it lasted a year, very very cheap about £2.00 then went up a bit after year. Not sure if they still do it but well worth asking
Definitely join the gym. Lots of disabled people use the one I go to - being disabled doesn’t mean we can’t exercise. It’s not like you’d be running marathons!
Btw, your wife should be able to accompany you for free, as your carer.
the idea behind all this hassle from the government is to get us back to work.
well if you want to get back to work you would have to make sure that you are fit enough, so go for it.
solve any hassle when it arises.
sheesh! as if it isnt enough having ms and seeing yourself going downhill!
you should be congratulated on having the sense to know what your body needs, not penalised.
as others have said, ask your gp if there is a gym run by your local authority that he can refer you to. it will be cheaper to join.
i have put on a stone recently and it’s a worry because if i dont get it under control it is only going to get worse, but what with fatigue, pain and wobbly legs… how?
On my physio’s suggestion my GP referred me to the local authority gym on the ’ exercise for health’ scheme.
It’s been brilliant, I get my own personal trainer who is qualified to work with people with complex medical conditions. The gym have really gone out of their way to help me.
I also know at the leisure centre that there is a disabled swimming club. Somebody I know really recommended them.
Do investigate what is available locally, I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised.
morning James, I think this thing with weight is something most of us have an issue with, like the other replies, I say join the gym, but just so you’re not paying a fortune why not ask you’re GP to refer you through PALS, this way you wont be spending too much, I go through this scheme, I do sit down circuit traing, nice and gentle, can do it at my own pace, it I want to stand to it I can, but if not just sit, they do swimming, and you can even go in the gym, go for it, it also lifts the mmod, so that can only be a good thing, Jean
I once started to recognise that I wasn’t exercising as much as I really should, and have little freedom of time to subscribe to a gym, nor did I really want that. But, I like my food.
So off I went and bought myself an exercise bike, a rowing machine and an abs machine, and I do some time every day on one or all of these. It helps me to feel toned. I’m 48, 6ft and 12 stone.
Now the gym is upstairs in a spare room. If friends or guests stay it is not a problem as none of them take up too much space.
Hi I know how u feel about benefit cheat if go gym etc as I felt like that. However now I tell myself stuff other ppl or there thoughts (to put it in polite terms) I say to my self let them think what they want if exercise benefit me n my health who cares as they aren’t the ones who see me on my worse days. Also I think if they want to judge Put themself in my shoes and half of them wouldn’t be able to carry on. Sorry to rant on.
I do weight watchers and yoga to shift the lard I put on after dx. 3 and a half stone now only another stone to go. I find yoga helps with my balance and keeps me moving. I also walk alot with my daughter.
I know exactly how you feel. I put on a lot of weight when I was on steroids a while ago.
I tried the gym but I really suffer badly when the temperature goes up so my sight deteriorated while I was at the gym due to the optic neuritis so I bought an exercise bike and I use it for 30mins per day when there is a good thing on the telly, I put it in front of the tv and my air cond machine and off I go. I have lost 3,1/2 stone in 12mths.
I also follow a stringent low fat diet. I don’t count calories just eat when I am hungry anything as long as it is 5% fat per 100 grams or less.