Running and MS

[TheNizzer]

Hi Folks,

Has anyone ever almost fully recovered from a relapse enough to run like they used to? I never lost ability to run or walk completely, but I was finding my right leg was not totally working properly. I'm about a year out from that relapse, and I seem to have recovered some of my abilities, but that darn right foot doesn't quite pick up like it used to after 10-12 minutes. I also find that although my cardio is still quite good, my lungs are blowing up wayyyy more than they used to. I absolutely struggle on runs that used to be a joke to me.

If you have recovered and regained a good amount of your ability, what did you do? I found pelvic floor therapy to be helpful, but curious as to what others have worked on.

Thanks in advance!

[celia]

I got abilities back, but there are some caveats: 1)I have "benign" MS; 2)I'm not an endurance athlete; 3)Doing different activities helps. My one-legged balance came back, but I had to practice - ping pong stunts (under the leg) and tai chi sword forms, while holding on to counters or leaning against walls to start; and learning to "spot" on dance turns. Plus, it took months. Still, retraining does help.

[JTHrider]

Running is long gone, hiking is a struggle now. Can get about a mile to two before the leg starts dragging. Found going early in the day helps. Stretching and strength exersize to keep the endurance up, I also find riding a bike easier. This helps with the leg strength. Sorry I couldn't give you a better answer.

[cl3me]

I thought I had recovered or kept enough ability to run .....used to be a soccer player but that went kaput when the vision in my left eye went. I focused instead on riding my horse, cycling, and kayaking, and swimming in winter (indoors of course) to stay active. In 2018 I got it in my head i wanted to do a mini triathlon, so I downloaded a couch to 5km app and started a running program. I could still run for short time, but I would get discombobulated after about a 2 minutes of continuous run/jog and just couldn't progress, my left foot and leg just wouldn't keep pace and was worried about tripping, I just couldn't relax and maintain a rhythm. my attempt at a mini triathlon was an epic fail....I have gone back to focusing on the bike, horse, kayak....

I did come across the Galloway method which is an intentional run walk system that some proponents use for running marathons, I did try this and it definitely helped, and kept it in the doable realm for me as long as I kept my run/walk intrerval in the 1min/1min range.....I enjoyed being able to go for a "run" right out my front door and could do 5k this way, but I didn't "love" running like I do cycling, so the comfy new New Balance runners are collecting dust in the closet now....

Exercises for drop foot helped as well, talk to a phsio experienced with it to get some exercises, I found walking on a treadmill at max incline the best for strengthening my left foot/ankle so I at least don't drag my toe as bad/often as I did before, now just struggle with that leg feeling more sluggish.

Karen

[Tom Riddle]

I thought I had recovered or kept enough ability to run .....used to be a soccer player but that went kaput when the vision in my left eye went. I focused instead on riding my horse, cycling, and kayaking, and swimming in winter (indoors of course) to stay active. In 2018 I got it in my head i wanted to do a mini triathlon, so I downloaded a couch to 5km app and started a running program. I could still run for short time, but I would get discombobulated after about a 2 minutes of continuous run/jog and just couldn't progress, my left foot and leg just wouldn't keep pace and was worried about tripping, I just couldn't relax and maintain a rhythm. my attempt at a mini triathlon was an epic fail....I have gone back to focusing on the bike, horse, kayak....

I did come across the Galloway method which is an intentional run walk system that some proponents use for running marathons, I did try this and it definitely helped, and kept it in the doable realm for me as long as I kept my run/walk intrerval in the 1min/1min range.....I enjoyed being able to go for a "run" right out my front door and could do 5k this way, but I didn't "love" running like I do cycling, so the comfy new New Balance runners are collecting dust in the closet now....

Exercises for drop foot helped as well, talk to a phsio experienced with it to get some exercises, I found walking on a treadmill at max incline the best for strengthening my left foot/ankle so I at least don't drag my toe as bad/often as I did before, now just struggle with that leg feeling more sluggish.

Karen

Enjoy to read your story of first 5k.
Last year i was fat and can not even run for 100 meters. After I run few meters i feel breathing problem. I start working on my diet and set short goals like run 300 meters then 500 meters then 1000 meters and then slowly i reached to my first 5k. The best part is until reaching 5k goal i lose 27 pounds of weight.