How to conquer weakness?

[Hannah Leah]

RRMS diagnosed in 2001. So I've been living with it a long time, for the most part doing well and able to walk unassisted. But now I use a cane and have real trouble walking. Two years ago a bad-horrible nightmare relapse and it left me pretty weak even still. Overall weakness but mostly, of course, legs and walking are affected. So I want to get better. I can do 5 minutes on "1" on the treadmill and that's it for now. If I do this every day, is there a chance I'll be able to get better, stronger, improve? I've been down this low before in the past but never for such a sustained length of time, and I'm praying and hoping and looking for glimmers of hope that this is not the new normal and that I will be able to improve. Does anyone have experience to share?

[Veronica]

Hannah, Boy have you asked the right people this question!! There are so many detailed, great posts throughout this forum on what has helped several of us improve our walking. I'd suggest you read thru the Walking thread, read several of the articles that Dave has posted and just BELIEVE that you can train some of your nerves to react again.... I was taught by my MS PT to use intermittent training, which basically is to break down the period of time you are exercising..in your case walking...into small manageable segments, take a break of a few minutes...stretch.... and do it again. My experience with this is that it really helps. Hasn't turned me into a Marathon walker, but has improved my walking and strength. And even when I goof off and don't do as much as I should, and then resume, I am able to feel the improvement. It is hard work, as many will attest to, and it take perseverance and belief that there will be improvement, but it works. I'd suggest that if you can find a PT who knows about MS, it could be helpful. But even without that connection, you can make progress. Might take a long time, might come quicker.... I am expecting that you will hear from several more of us here who can cheer you on, and give you some advise. Don't forget to get into stretching if you are not doing it now....makes a big difference for me....My guess is that if you can do 5 minutes on "1", you can build that up with regular sessions to more time, and a bit quicker. Just make sure that you start this knowing that you are in it for the long haul.... I'm rooting for you!

[teena marie]

Hi Hannah and welcome,

I am sure you will get your walking back on track. Keep up what you are doing and follow Veronica's excellent advice. It sounds like you are heading in the right direction and will succeed. If you are already on your treadmill, keep it up and there may be times that are less productive, but in life everyone has ups and downs. By the way, when you say a speed of 1, is that 1 mph? I would love to know what make of treadmill as I can not find one that goes slow enough for me.

Take good care and keep us posted. We have a walking thread that may be of interest to you.

Teena Marie

[mvargas]

Teena, I have recently been looking for a new treadmill that can go slow and did some research. I learned that most have .5 MPH as the slowest speed with .1 MPH increments up from there. Landice is the brand name. They are pricey so I kept my old one, a ProForm that has a sliding button to adjust the speed, not very precise but I can usually set it within .1 MPH of my desired speed. It starts operating at .5 MPH as well.

Mark

[ActiveMSers]

Hey Hannah, I agree with folks. Slow and steady, train in bursts, patience. But if it is trending toward the new normal (I can't promise you it's not), a more powerful walking aid like forearm crutches could make life infinitely easier, helping you walk much farther than a single cane. We are lucky to have many helpful tools in our arsenal.