Clawing My Way Out of the Pit

Training
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Hi people… I’m hoping to get a little advice before I start back into the active “gym going” lifestyle. I’m 36, female, and the “short and round” variety. Although I’ve always loved competitive sports and excelled way better than my unimpressive physique would indicate, I’ve had a few years layoff after being diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, and having a complete meltdown.

(for those of you not familiar with FMS, every single waking day feels like the worst case of flu-body aches.)

Exercise helps, but since I’m achy and sore, and can easily overdo it, I realize I’m going to be walking a finer line now, that I was before… torn between getting the right kind of exercise to be effective as a work out and not getting so much that I end up locking up with muscle spasms, knots and the associated migrane or two.

Anyone out there have fibromyalgia and have worked around it?
Anyone out there have some good suggestions for the formerly athletic chicks who want to kick some ass again?

My goals: I want to ride the hell out of my horses, and get back to playing in Amtgard again (medieval/fantasy padded weapons combat… way too fun!) I want to play soccer again!

I’ve done really well with Body for Life. I was in the best shape of my adult life when my FMS symptoms went acute… I went from being able to sling 80 lb hay bales to the horses like they were nothing, to needing 2 hands on a gallon of milk to pour it practically overnight.

It was heartbreaking and very frightening. But, I’m used to the idea now, and ready to rock and roll and play the hand of cards I’ve been dealt. I’m happy to hear any tips and or constructive criticism.

I’d really like to rediscover my waist again, and get back to being able to chase down college kids and beat them with a stick.

Any thoughts?
Chel Young, Iowa

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Hey Chel,

Welcome to The Nation!!! BFL is a fantastic program (I lost my first 60lbs by doing it) so you have an excellent start!! Way to go girl.

You will learn so much on this site, it’s unbelievable. The women on here are tremendous and know how to kick ass in the gym and will not be afraid to kick your bootie if you are not living up to your potential.

Dive right in and show us what youre made of girly, we are all rootin’ for ya!!

B-3

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I’m rooting for ya!

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Welcome to T-Nation. Good luck with your goals. Happy Holidays!

Claire

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Have you checked into Dr. Lowe’s work with Fibromyalgia and the use of T3? You can easily google the info and I think it will be quite eye-opening!
All the best!

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I haven’t heard of Dr. Lowe’s work. I’ll definately look into it. As a person with FMS, other well-meaning people are always approaching me with “cures”… I treat them all as potential leads, but most of them end up being someone trying to hawk some untested “supplement” with no clinical results to back it up.

I had excellent results with a new med this summer, for a while, before the side effects became unlivable. (Read “unlivable” as “reducing the sex drive to an absolute zero”… NOT the plan for the happily married!) My husband even made the galant gesture of suggesting I stay on it, if it helped that much. I’ve really got a keeper. :slight_smile: Of course I ditched the meds and am now on the look out again.

Thanks for the tip… I will check it out!

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Oh, Nikki suggested I update you guys on my progress…

I’ve been “at it” for about a week and a half now, using a program similar to Body for Life, with a little bit of tweaking. I realized with glee that I’m already seeing some major muscle development, especially in my legs… I’ve always been a fast muscle gainer, but it was nice to see that some things haven’t changed.

I don’t have a scale, so I haven’t weighed… likely, that number’s kind of irrelevant anyway, but the big news is that I have been able to chuck my heartburn medication completely! That’s one less pill in this daily regime, so that’s good news.

As far as supplementation, I’m not doing much. I’m on an herbal called Drenamine, for my metabolism (I have NO thyroid gland) and flax and fish oil. I love the Biotest supplements, but haven’t been able to afford to spring for them, yet.

I’m thinking about submitting to the Physique Clinic and seeing if they’d want to feature me… it seems that you rarely see women that have a long way to go represented in anything fitness related… they seem to always feature women who are in relatively good shape to start off with. Maybe these guys are different and would be interested in a “starting from scratch” project?

Thanks again, all of you, for your support. More updates to follow. :slight_smile: -Chel

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I read that V-Diet thread, Chel and they want one ‘normal overweight’ woman and one who is in shape but wants to take it to the next level. Won’t hurt to apply!

Thanks for the update and glad to hear you are making progress!

:slight_smile:

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While I am tempted to tell you my story, I’ll tell you my husband’s instead.

In April 2004, my husband was diagnosed with cancer (N-HL). It was a surprise as he had not been ill at all. We were at an antique motorcycle meet when he began to have abdominal pains. They thought he had kidney stones and did X-rays and a CT scan. He had a cancerous mass about the size of a grapefruit beginning to block his intestinal track.

He was 275 (6’6") going into his biopsy and dropped to 235 due to the intestinal blockage (ever get an NG tube put in, or watched one put in? I guarantee you won’t forget it). He went through the 8 weeks of CHOP chemo and then a stem cell transplant where they killed off his immune system and his bone marrow and then rebuilt it. He was in the hospital bone marrow transplant ward for three weeks.

Throughout all of this he continued to train when he could. After them taking core samples from the bone in his hips (both sides - I was there observing) to check for cancer, he was in the gym, training the next day, ignoring the pain because he knew how important it was to keep his strength up. During the transplant stay, he would go into the patient lounge and walk on the treadmill or ride the bike to keep his strength up.

Because he continued to train and be his own advocate, he overcame his disease and his pain. The stem cell transplant for him was, as he puts it, “just a bump in the road”. The doctors were astounded at how well he tolerated it and bounced back. It was a walk in the park for him. Christmas 2007, and at 57, he’s still in remission and still training. He’s back up to 275 and was benching 8 sets of triples at 225 this morning.

What is important is that you learn to overcome the pain the fatigue, the discomfort. This will not only help you manage your disease, but will will boost your spirits, determination and mental toughness.

You have to just do it.

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gojira,

Your husband’s story brought tears to my eyes… and I don’t think I can blame it on pregnancy hormones. What an incredibly driven, strong, and down to earth man! I hope that things continue to go well for both of you (healthwise).

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[quote]gojira wrote:
While I am tempted to tell you my story, I’ll tell you my husband’s instead.

In April 2004, my husband was diagnosed with cancer (N-HL). It was a surprise as he had not been ill at all. We were at an antique motorcycle meet when he began to have abdominal pains. They thought he had kidney stones and did X-rays and a CT scan. He had a cancerous mass about the size of a grapefruit beginning to block his intestinal track.

He was 275 (6’6") going into his biopsy and dropped to 235 due to the intestinal blockage (ever get an NG tube put in, or watched one put in? I guarantee you won’t forget it). He went through the 8 weeks of CHOP chemo and then a stem cell transplant where they killed off his immune system and his bone marrow and then rebuilt it. He was in the hospital bone marrow transplant ward for three weeks.

Throughout all of this he continued to train when he could. After them taking core samples from the bone in his hips (both sides - I was there observing) to check for cancer, he was in the gym, training the next day, ignoring the pain because he knew how important it was to keep his strength up. During the transplant stay, he would go into the patient lounge and walk on the treadmill or ride the bike to keep his strength up.

Because he continued to train and be his own advocate, he overcame his disease and his pain. The stem cell transplant for him was, as he puts it, “just a bump in the road”. The doctors were astounded at how well he tolerated it and bounced back. It was a walk in the park for him. Christmas 2007, and at 57, he’s still in remission and still training. He’s back up to 275 and was benching 8 sets of triples at 225 this morning.

What is important is that you learn to overcome the pain the fatigue, the discomfort. This will not only help you manage your disease, but will will boost your spirits, determination and mental toughness.

You have to just do it. [/quote]

I love hearing stories of real fighters. I hope your husband continues to win all his battles.

You both have a lot of moxi, in my book.

c.

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[quote]sic wrote:
gojira,

Your husband’s story brought tears to my eyes… and I don’t think I can blame it on pregnancy hormones. What an incredibly driven, strong, and down to earth man! I hope that things continue to go well for both of you (healthwise).[/quote]

He’s a helluva tough guy…

And I’m a lucky girl.

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So…not to hijack this thread from the OP.

If you think you can do it, you probably can.

80% of all of this, life, work, training is dependent on your drive and will to persist.

Be strong in mind and body.

Gojira

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[quote]gojira wrote:
So…not to hijack this thread from the OP.

If you think you can do it, you probably can.

80% of all of this, life, work, training is dependent on your drive and will to persist.

Be strong in mind and body.

Gojira

[/quote]

Thanks for sharing the inspiration, Gojira. I wish both you and your husband the best.

It is very hard to work through constant searing pain, extreme nausea and debilitating fatigue. But it is not impossible to do so.

When I hear stories like yours, it just reinforces my belief that in order to succeed (or stay ALIVE) there can be NO excuses. None.

Watch this video, and see how many of these excuses you have used to keep you from your workout or from going to the gym.

Nice.

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[quote]gojira wrote:
So…not to hijack this thread from the OP.

If you think you can do it, you probably can.

80% of all of this, life, work, training is dependent on your drive and will to persist.

Be strong in mind and body.

Gojira

[/quote]

Well-said and what an inspiring story. And even if you DON’T think you can do it, you probably still can!

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[quote]gojira wrote:
If you think you can do it, you probably can.
[/quote]

I’ve been living by this for a while, just never put it into words.
Thanks for that.

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gojira
Thanks so much for sharing your story.
Diana

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[quote]Yo Momma wrote:
gojira wrote:
So…not to hijack this thread from the OP.

If you think you can do it, you probably can.

80% of all of this, life, work, training is dependent on your drive and will to persist.

Be strong in mind and body.

Gojira

Thanks for sharing the inspiration, Gojira. I wish both you and your husband the best.

It is very hard to work through constant searing pain, extreme nausea and debilitating fatigue. But it is not impossible to do so.

When I hear stories like yours, it just reinforces my belief that in order to succeed (or stay ALIVE) there can be NO excuses. None.

Watch this video, and see how many of these excuses you have used to keep you from your workout or from going to the gym.

Nice.
[/quote]

Thanks, Momma.

Here’s one for when you think the odds are stacked against you:

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