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Unfit, or more?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
For people that don't know, bit of background: I've had some kind of mystery illness for the last 2 years that no one can figure out, despite a week as an inpatient just before Christmas this year. Have had a whole caboodle of symptoms, including arthritis, rhinitis, optic neuritis, general aches and pains, weight loss, nose & mouth ulcers, rashes, headaches, memory and concentration symptoms, gut symptoms, low blood pressure, low body temperature, chest problems, shadows in my lungs (still unexplained) and on and on and on.

The doctors are baffled, but while I wait for my next appointment, they have suggested I might want to try to exercise a bit, and get my strength up. I'm not against that suggestion, so I have been having a go.

The problem is that even after a normal amount of exercise, it is taking me aaaages to recover. The first thing I tried was a beginners dance class with a mate, and after each weekly class, it would take me up until the next class for my muscles and joints to work properly again. This was after about an hour of moderate exercise, including warming up and cooling down.

The classes have finished for summer, so I'm trying something else. I'm not a gym girl, and never will be, but I used to ride when I was younger and loved it. So I had a riding lesson on Saturday, and the same problem. Today my legs are still so stiff I can't cross my legs or walk normally. This is after a half-hour class, of which 10 minutes was spent warming up and cooling down. Sunday I wasn't so bad, but I woke up Monday morning and literally had to be hoisted out of bed.

Annnyway, my question is this. Is this just a sign of me being really out of condition, or is it out of the ordinary? If it is just unfitness, then that's fine, and if I stick with it, I would expect to get better with time. But if it isn't, I'm worried I might do more damage by pushing my body when all it really wants to do it rest.

Any thoughts?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I highly doubt this is just down to 'unfitness', more than likely a problem that the doctors havent found yet.
    It really could be anything, i know somebody not long ago had all sorts of problems (head-aches, feeling sick all the time, Constantly tired + a lot more symptomns) and it turned out to be an ovarian cyst - something you would never have thought would be able to affect all those other body parts.
    She too had all sorts of tests and had doctors baffled but it is worth keeping on at the doctors until its sorted and dont let them fob you off.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I would expect aches for say 2 days no more.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What you need is to restore your bodys natural pH, we're meant to be alkaline but because of our crap lifestyle we usually end up acidic, which is where illness and disease thrive. Alkalinity kills such things. So, first off, you need to restore that. Secondly, you need to look up johanna budwig and take the mixture
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    icey wrote:
    She too had all sorts of tests and had doctors baffled but it is worth keeping on at the doctors until its sorted and dont let them fob you off.

    Easier said than done with my specialist! He seems to think that a good healthy diet and regular exercise will cure all my ills, and I really wish he was right, but so far it's having the opposite effect. And I'm sick of people just thinking I'm a lazy bastard :grump:

    And Tweety - That's how it always used to be when I started getting fit after a lazy patch. I'd wake up the next morning feeling a bit worse for wear, and then gradually feel better over the next day or two.

    Part of the reason I'm asking is cause I know it's not normal for me in general terms, but then I've never tried to get fit after being ill for a long time, and losing loads of weight, so I wondered if that might be a reason.

    I don't know really. I'm a little bit at the end of my tether with this now, and I'm really conscious that I sometimes attach real significance to the tiniest symptom, cause I'm hoping that it might be THE symptom that finally leads to a diagnosis, and then to to them fixing me, and not having to feel like this anymore.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    To be honest if you're not into exercise and then you suddenly take up an hour a week, it will take its toll. If I got on a horse for half an hour, I wouldn't be able to walk for 3 days after - because I'm ridiculously unfit.

    Maybe because of your constant health problems you've become less fit than you have been previously?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think it is probably gonna take you longer that the average person because of your health problems to be honest. You have been unwell for a long time now and although exercise is a good idea i would say start off with half of what you are doing tbh. An hours class would stuff me up and i am of better health than you. Try doing say 10-15 mins of some moderate exercise to start with and see how you feel.
    Did/do you feel at the time that you are doing too much?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Tweety wrote:
    Did/do you feel at the time that you are doing too much?

    No, that's the odd thing. I mean, a beginners dance class is not exactly hard work - mostly it was just a lot of walking around and tapping out steps, with a little bit of stretching. And my riding lesson I was in with the beginners, so again, pretty much the
    equivalent of sitting on a dead uncomfortable chair for half an hour.

    I barely broke a sweat in either, and as I'm always not too bad the day after, I fall into the trap of thinking 'man, I'm fitter than I thought' and then the day after that I need Mr. K to help lower me onto the toilet :(
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sounds the all the problems you are having are causing it then :(
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    suggesting only "eat sensibly and get plenty of exercise" seems a little crappy for your specialist to say as the 'cure' for all your problems... its usually suggested as a way of avoiding problems not as the sole treatment option. he / she probably just doesn't want to admit what an incompetant oaf they are.
    tho' i would say start taking exercise slowely... or slower than you are doing... then build it up very gradually - if it doesn't get easier after a bit of practice, then there is something wrong. i had a mate who couldn't handle running - she was asthematic; general aches and pains usually last about 3 days.
    my advice: get another specialist. - if they are still baffled, get another one.
    i mean, what good is your specialist actually doing for you atm?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    maybe you should try swimming?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lipsy wrote:
    maybe you should try swimming?
    if you cannot cope with dancing, i wuldn't reccomend swimming - its a lot more vigerous (sp?) than dancing. its good tho' because it exercises all muscle groups... but you don't want to drown or need to get the lifeguard... :p
    may be look to swimming as a goal to do later.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I thikn lipsy's point was that swimming might be good as it doesn't put any (gravitational) pressure on the joints.

    And surely how vigourous it is depends on how fast you swim?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ha, I was going to say, swimming needs loads more stamina than I have. I can do about a length before I need to rest. Plus it makes my cough worse :( In theory it would be good for me though - less stress on my joints and stuff.

    And yeah, the consultant is not doing a reet lot of good at the mo. They have tested and tested and tested me, and just not found much, apart from the lung business, but they're ignoring that, for whatever reason. Very frustrating.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    is there anyway that you could ask to be referred to a different specialist or for you specialist to consult another one? just because they might have different ideas/experiences.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If I was in your position kaffrin I'd be tempted to go back to my GP and ask to be referred to a different specialist.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've seen 4 different specialists in the last year. They keep sending me back to Rheumatology cause of the arthritis, but all my tests for it keep coming back negative and I don't think they know what to do with me now.

    I've been advised by someone to ask if I can be referred to Harrogate hospital instead of the LGI, as it's about 300 times better, but am worried they'd just do the same 8 or so blood tests I always have done, they'll be normal, like they always are, and they'll tell me I'm a timewaster :/
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Before you started feeling ill, did you always have a low body temperature? I have this and it's not (that much, anyway) a problem for me.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i'm not a doctor or anything but has anyone suggested that you could have this? http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=449&sectionId=6546
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lipsy wrote:
    i'm not a doctor or anything but has anyone suggested that you could have this? http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=449&sectionId=6546

    Yup, but they decided it probably wasn't as my joints swell. They told me they don't diagnose people with Fibro (or CFS) unless they have ruled out inflammatory arthritis, and in my case they can't rule it out. However, they also can't confirm it as my blood tests, signs and symptoms are all at odds. :shocking:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    To me, it sounds like a bit more than just being unfit, but it's not completely out there. It's entirely possible for you to ache for quite a while after taking up exercise that you've not done before / for a while.

    However, I wouldn't expect the ache to last all week necessarily, and I'd expect it to start tailing off after a few sessions. Of course if you're only doing that exercise once a week then it could take a while to become conditioned to it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote:
    Before you started feeling ill, did you always have a low body temperature? I have this and it's not (that much, anyway) a problem for me.

    Nope, this is a recent development. I used to be fit as a fiddle. It's the least of my worries symptom-wise though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    kaffrin wrote:
    I've been advised by someone to ask if I can be referred to Harrogate hospital instead of the LGI, as it's about 300 times better, but am worried they'd just do the same 8 or so blood tests I always have done, they'll be normal, like they always are, and they'll tell me I'm a timewaster :/

    You may as well do that - referral to a hospital in another Health authority might mean that they do things differently so they could pick up something the folks in Leeds haven't.

    So ask your GP if you can be referred elsewhere, whether to Harrogate, Bradford, Keighley, wherever.

    But don't accept an offer of referral to one of the other Leeds hospitals (which might not be an option these days anyway) as it'll probably be a case of same consultants, different day.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    kaffrin wrote:
    Yup, but they decided it probably wasn't as my joints swell. They told me they don't diagnose people with Fibro (or CFS) unless they have ruled out inflammatory arthritis, and in my case they can't rule it out. However, they also can't confirm it as my blood tests, signs and symptoms are all at odds. :shocking:
    aw rubbish. have they actually blood-tested you for fibro though?

    definitly try a new specialist; 2 yars is a long time to be ill.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    LeedsLad wrote:
    referral to a hospital in another Health authority
    are you allowed to do that?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Honest answer - don't really know and/or it depends.

    Until recently I think it was a case of PCTs 'only refer out of the area if we have to'. Now, though, there's supposedly a 'choice of 4 hospitals' available, which by my reckoning would include a couple outside Leeds.

    Ultimately it comes down to the GP and how forceful he/she's prepared to be.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    lipsy wrote:
    aw rubbish. have they actually blood-tested you for fibro though?

    There isn't a blood test - it doesn't show up at all in your blood. It's diagnosed by ruling out everything else it could possibly be.


    One of my mum's friends lives in my area and has recently been referred to York Hospital after getting exactly nowhere with the LGI, so I assume it is possible? I need to see my GP anyway so may as well ask.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    In that case it ought to be doable (but be prepared to argue if you have to).

    Best of luck.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Check the dates, this is an old thread!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Check the dates, this is an old thread!

    Yup.

    Still not sorted, however, so the advice is still useful. Thanks! :)

    Although I do now have two awesome doctors championing my cause, so hopefully we'll get some progress at some point.
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