On the plus side, this is an old symptom coming back rather than a new relapse. I have a bit of a sore throat (hopefully not covid round 2, as I’m pretty sure I had it back in March) and I know often viral infections can trigger old MS symptoms to reoccur. Whilst I’m normally good with prioritising my health, the last few weeks have been intense. I’ve been working 16 hour days and struggling with finding time to run, with juggling working from home and spending time with my family and our twins who are at home whilst their nursery summer school is closed due to covid-19. I normally aim to get 8 hours sleep a night but the last couple of weeks it’s been more like 6 hours if I’m lucky!
Anyway, this morning I was desperate to run. I had the “use it or lose it” mantra in my head, and I needed to check that my legs would still let me run! As I was running I was reflecting on my priorities and reminding myself the importance of making time for sleep and exercise. Running has been so good for my physical health, and my mental health too. I think my legs might even feel stronger now I sit here after my post-run shower! That might be in my head, but it’s certainly given me a mental boost! I’m now wondering is there anything else I can do to help with muscle weakness?
My weaker left leg is now a few cm smaller around the thigh than my other leg and I've lost a lot of flexibility in that ankle and drop my foot a bit on that side. I should probably be doing specific weight training or something to help minimise the muscle loss, but truth be told, I'm a runner and I just like to run. I ran 4 marathons in 12 months across 2018/19 and, although I fall over a bit when tired and drop that side and scuff my foot, the the thing that I actually noticed the most was the transferred issues. This is where the stronger side of my body was compensating for the weaker side and I started to get issues there. For me, this was in my abs and groin and glutes, where the strong muscles there were carrying the load of a running gait that saw my left side collapsing a bit as I run. It hurt, but I ran through the pain (at marathon pace and on marathon mileage, your brain tends to tune out those sorts of niggles, as I'm sure you've discovered). It took a long time for a physio to nail it (most just weren't able to convincingly diagnose it and just fell into their standard runner solutions). Basically, I was given some bridging, lifting exercises to strengthen my strong side (ironically) as well as help with my weaker side. Of course, I stopped doing them as soon as things stopped hurting as much. And so I run. And I fall over a bit. Your strongest asset will be your determination not to stop. I sure this is true of MS generally, and of running generally.... but when combined, I've found it very powerful. My wife despairs of my stubborn streak, but it's what keeps me going. My neurologist calls me "the patient that runs" and has also said that my mileage is probably what's causing me the problems. He's encouraging generally, but I suppose it's understandable that, when I complain of leg spasms, his first port of call is to tell me to run less. Which, obviously, I'm resisting.
ReplyDeleteHow are you coping with London being postponed? All set to go virtual and run next year too?
I tried FES last month. It's helpful to a point, but isn't really designed for running and I ultimately gave it back. I can't justify having it when running feels like a top-end activity and it could be better used to help someone walk.
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