I am currently in an exercise/therapy class. I notice that after each class I am more dizzy and my pain is increased. Is this experience unique to me? Yet again something so normal in my life is becoming un-normal and painful. It has been a really rough week for me. I am extremely emotional and keenly aware of how much “work” I am. My amazing husband and family have reassured me that now it is my turn to be cared for but I do not do this role well. Exercise has been a way for me to keep doing something normal and now it is becoming a scary thing as well. Could it be increased heart rate cause this increase in pain?
Hmmm, maybe so. I have wondered before if when your blood pressure goes up, that maybe the blood vessel pulses on the nerve, therefore increasing pain. You are lucky that your family will help you. My ungrateful hateful daughter doesn't give a crap. My house would look like a hoarders home if I didn't do it. My hubby would help if it got bad, but bless his heart, he has so much other stuff to do on top of working 10 hour days. My other daughter would too, but she isn't living here and she is about to move to Iowa :-(
yes pulsing blood thru your veins can make the pain happen with each heartbeat ---- perhaps you should tone it down to yoga, some low impact dancing - walking - until you feel better.
I am very new to TN, just 10 days but I will tell you my experience thus far. I am a fitness instructor and teach spin classes. My severe pain came out of nowhere 10 days ago and I was so very lucky to have a sharp doctor that immediately referred me to a neurologist for a quick diagnosis. I'm already on Trileptal and while it is not perfect by any means, it is so much better than my first days of the worse pain that I could ever imagine - as I know you all know well. I have taught 3 classes since my pain started. The first one was very rough because my regular doctor put me on a pain medicine that just really didn't do the trick. I told my class I was under the weather so I went super easy but it was definitely tough and painful. My next two classes (one today), I found that when my heart rate went way up (as it always does in a spin class), I felt that nice euphoric effect that intense workouts bring. For that hour of spinning, I didn't even think about my illness, it was like I was back to me. But when I came down from that high and led the class through our few minutes of stretching, it hurt to even talk. That part was very rough. I am going to tell my classes next week about my diagnosis so they will understand when my energy is not always there or that I am few words at the end of class. There is another instructor in our gym that has MS. She teaches the strength conditioning class. She inspires me! I am determined to live my life despite the pain. Fitness is so much a part of my life and I will never give that up. I'm convinced that it has to be good for TN. I will be adding in more Yoga though now. I always new that I should do more Yoga to balance out my intense workouts and now I have a very good reason.
Another thing to add . . Try a spin class. It is low impact but you get the same, if not more, intensity as running. Be sure to drop that heart rate slowly after class and throughout the class, take deep long, deep breathes and relax your upper body, especially your face. Spin class is a close relative to Yoga as there is a lot of mind/body work. Your instructor may not lead you through that but you can on your own. Close your eyes on those long fast flats and "escape". Also, swimming would be a great workout I would think for TN. I also managed to lift some weights this week, always focusing on relaxing my jaw and face and easy, deep breathes. Hope this helps!