Anyone know of an exercise program that's working for them? I know Lupus make you weak and have joint problems, but it got to be a way to beat the weight gain of prednisone.
I just lost 20 lbs, the old fashion way–jogging EVERY day and reduce calories. It took me 6 months (1 lb a week). When I started I did not have the strength a or stamina to jog past my neighbors house but now I jog 2 miles and walk the remaining 2 miles back.
Since Lupus does not cause joint damage, I found I hd to push thru the pain and just do it. Now I do not ache as much and experience a better night 's rest. On days I have flares, I don 't jog or should I say I can’t jog.
To reduce calorie intake to (1,500 per day) I cut out soft drinks, bread at meals and desserts. Replaced desserts with fruit or yogurt. Also, would cut portions in half by sharing meals with my husband.
Still have cravings but will drink 8 oz water first and then wait 15 min and get busy doing something. If I still have craving I will eat 1 mini bite size chocolate and it will usually satisfy craving.
Not easy but so worth it!!!
Rachel, that sounds like a good exercise. I will try that. Thank you.
TN Mom thanks for your response. I tried jogging, but I didn't last long with the swollen feet and joint pain. You are truly lucky to be able to jog. I know it helps you a lot.
TN Mom said:
I just lost 20 lbs, the old fashion way--jogging EVERY day and reduce calories. It took me 6 months (1 lb a week). When I started I did not have the strength a or stamina to jog past my neighbors house but now I jog 2 miles and walk the remaining 2 miles back.
Since Lupus does not cause joint damage, I found I hd to push thru the pain and just do it. Now I do not ache as much and experience a better night 's rest. On days I have flares, I don 't jog or should I say I can't jog.
To reduce calorie intake to (1,500 per day) I cut out soft drinks, bread at meals and desserts. Replaced desserts with fruit or yogurt. Also, would cut portions in half by sharing meals with my husband.
Still have cravings but will drink 8 oz water first and then wait 15 min and get busy doing something. If I still have craving I will eat 1 mini bite size chocolate and it will usually satisfy craving.
Not easy but so worth it!!!!
Hi. I swear by yoga and diaphragmatic breathing to maintain and improve joint pain and range of motion.. It may seem impossible at first but don't worry about anyone but yourself in class. Start with your own range of motion and don't push too far. You will improve and get better in time with good and bad days. I have been doing it for years now and I have no joint pain and it lets me turn off electronics and focus on myself. I meditate now and do deep breathing during yoga.
As far as maintaining weight on prednisone, again...be careful. This is highly individual as each one of us have different levels of endurance, strength and weaknesses. It has to be safe and controlled. If you can walk, walking is a great way to slowly work up to a brisk walk which if you are able to do it regularly would help maintain weight during and after prednisone treatment. Everybody is diffferent so be careful and good luck.
Rachel Sara said:
I do water aerobics 6 days a week 2 hours day between my schedule. Im in chronic pain and this dont taken pain away but burns calories and less pressure on your joints . Now ive been dedicated to this for a year. The first month I felt like giving up because of fatique, persistence and having my sister who has MS in the pool struggling with me, we have come along way
yes. I agree. Water aerobics is a great idea.
yogi said:
Rachel Sara said:I do water aerobics 6 days a week 2 hours day between my schedule. Im in chronic pain and this dont taken pain away but burns calories and less pressure on your joints . Now ive been dedicated to this for a year. The first month I felt like giving up because of fatique, persistence and having my sister who has MS in the pool struggling with me, we have come along way
Yoga! It is the only thing I am able to do right now. There are tons of videos avail online if u don’t want to go to a class
I bought a Pilate machine off craigslist and I love it! It helps with flexability and also provides light resistance. Because I can do it at home I don’t have to worry about doing the things that drain me of the energy I need to exercise ie. showering, driving, worrying about what to wear etc. and I can stop and rest if I need to. The only issue is having a place to workout. I have a full house right now (9 people!) and it is too heavy for me to pull out every day. Yoga is a great place to start and there are also pilates videos on YouTube that do not require equipment. Find something that works for you and hang in there. You may be sore and fatigued at first but soon
you will start to see results and that will motivate you to stick with it!
I do water aerobics and walking fast at high incline on the treadmill at the gym! These two activities seem to be the only things that I can do that don’t stress my joints!
Yoga sounds good too, I might give that a try!
I think yoga is very good exercise as it is not very abrasive to your joints and can relax you --take your stress out-- as much as possible. You dont have to very flexible to start yoga.
I am trying that for my daughter and that is really relaxing her.
My dr. Is reducing my prednisone from 5 mg to 4G daily but I’ve started taking 4 one day and 3 the next. I seem to be okay so far. I do take imuran and paquenel as prescribed. I’ve also started walking again I also cut out the sweets. I’m struggling with increased appitite at night due to an anti depressant by the name of remron. I’m going to lose some weight because I’mdetermined. Oh yeah has anyone having increased hair growth. My doctor c said it wwasn’t the prednisone. Please give me some feedback.
I go to Zumba 3x a week. Walk & ride bike outdoors and stretch on my Total Gym. I have SLE w/severe Lupus Nephritis, anemia, hashimotos, discoid, low iron. I’m exhausted all the time but I force myself to go. I do what I can, some days I can give 100% and some days less. I made permanent dietary changes. No milk, bread, pastas. More veggies raw and organic when possible. More soups and salads. My husband and I are in our early forties and will share meals when out and reduced volume by more then half and Lost 25 lbs. weight loss was not my goal. Took me 6 months. I feel better in my new normal of Lupus and will continue pushing through. I took one month off from my exercise after regularly exercising for two years and I felt much worse not exercising on top of going back was horrible. I’m looking into water aerobics for the winter but not crazy about going into a pool of chemicals and absorbing it systemically.
~donna
I’m on the recumbent bike with my O2 tank on right now ! Im not allowed to do any thing besides water, plalitie, yoga or this bike because i will tear joints and tendons if i sneeze too hard. … SERIOUSLY!! i don’t need to lose weight ,im 5’3 100-105lbs but because im physically disabled now and have to use a walker and wheelchair to get around i have to exercise to maintain muscles tone and memory. . Prednisone never worked enough for me so iv been doing the route of heavy duty immunosuppressive for most of my couple of years being ill. I do remember it making me loose weight though, it made me sooo high strung i had zero appetite. I go to a university base program for most of my specialist and it has a few good intagrative (dite,exercise, holistic ) options for chronily ill patients. .maybe look into if there’s any programs like this in your area?? Always try to remember you’re calories in VS calories worked off is what will make or break your weight loss journey…but most important is putting good, healthy foods in your body! Good luck xo
Thanks Dvdom3 for the information. I tried Zumba but couldn't keep up. I realize now I have to go at my own paste. I do pretty good with my eating. I have SLE with stage 3 Lupus Nephritis, anemia, iron deficiency, hypertension, Diabetes, acid reflux , bipolar disorder and a host of other illnesses. I was going to try water aerobics but I had not thought about the chemicals and absorbing it systemically. God Bless You!
Dvdom3 said:
I go to Zumba 3x a week. Walk & ride bike outdoors and stretch on my Total Gym. I have SLE w/severe Lupus Nephritis, anemia, hashimotos, discoid, low iron. I'm exhausted all the time but I force myself to go. I do what I can, some days I can give 100% and some days less. I made permanent dietary changes. No milk, bread, pastas. More veggies raw and organic when possible. More soups and salads. My husband and I are in our early forties and will share meals when out and reduced volume by more then half and Lost 25 lbs. weight loss was not my goal. Took me 6 months. I feel better in my new normal of Lupus and will continue pushing through. I took one month off from my exercise after regularly exercising for two years and I felt much worse not exercising on top of going back was horrible. I'm looking into water aerobics for the winter but not crazy about going into a pool of chemicals and absorbing it systemically.
~donna
Dawncelest thanks for your reply. My doctor want take me off of prednisone. I'm on 10mg a day. I'm sure the doctor will increase that if he knew I was taking such a low dose. But prednisone makes me so hungry. I'm 5'' 5' and 220lbs. If I could lose 50lbs I would be happy. I will never be your size. I can't do nothing but be encourage because if you are in a wheelchair and exercising, I know I can exercise too.
dawncelest said:
I'm on the recumbent bike with my O2 tank on right now ! Im not allowed to do any thing besides water, plalitie, yoga or this bike because i will tear joints and tendons if i sneeze too hard. .. SERIOUSLY!! i don't need to lose weight ,im 5'3 100-105lbs but because im physically disabled now and have to use a walker and wheelchair to get around i have to exercise to maintain muscles tone and memory. . Prednisone never worked enough for me so iv been doing the route of heavy duty immunosuppressive for most of my couple of years being ill. I do remember it making me loose weight though, it made me sooo high strung i had zero appetite. I go to a university base program for most of my specialist and it has a few good intagrative (dite,exercise, holistic ) options for chronily ill patients. .maybe look into if there's any programs like this in your area?? Always try to remember you're calories in VS calories worked off is what will make or break your weight loss journey...but most important is putting good, healthy foods in your body! Good luck xo
I have been less concerned about weight loss than I have muscle strength. I notice that I am much weaker than I used to be (pre-pain), and that has bothered me. We have an eliptical, but the energy I had to exert to do it made it not feasible for a while. (I may be picking it back up again though, cause my energy levels have been increasing, YAY!) I tried some yoga with the Wii, but my trouble there is having the muscle strength to hold the odd positions. I just couldn't do it! However, I found that tai chi was the right fit for helping me gain muscle strength and endurance.
The positions were easier to mimic than yoga, and since it is about continuing to move, I didn't have to waver as I tried to hold a pose. The movements were easy to manage, even with painful joints, and were easily adapted if something DID hurt. I have been very happy with my tai chi video. It lets me do it on my time, at home, at my pace. If I tire too quickly, I can stop it without inconveniencing anyone. There also are ways to make the poses more challenging, if I need something more. My video was aimed at those with arthritis, so it was nice to have the "take it easy, stop if it hurts" kind of thing worked in.
Truthfully, I haven't been doing my tai chi, and I really should be. Bad Tal! If I can find the time with how crazy things have been here, I will be attempting to work it back into my schedule again. Thanks for the reminder to make sure I'm taking care of my need for exercise, even when I'm not feeling so great. ::hugs!::
Find a good Pilates mat class. Also gentle yoga and when in remission, try zumba.
I think gentle exercise like yoga and stretching is good when starting out. If you can build up to jogging, great! But, just walking can help a lot. Also know that "normal" exercise won't help a lot with weight loss. You have to really cut the calories for that to happen.
i love pilates/yoga light tension resistance bands ! i cant do any type of impact exercising because my joints,tendons and cartilage are as fragile as tissue paper and tear all the time.. im already very petite and weigh between 100 -105 lbs but its important to keep my muscle tone strong to compensate for my failing joints and now osteopinnia soon to be osteoporosis. You can use the bands for every part of your body .i do at least 10 reps a day on my core,arms ,hips and back .. some days its as little as 5 reps because my bone pain is too overwhelming but something is better than nothing :) if you really want to lose weight i would strongly suggest reevauluating your present diet and eating habits . maybe ask your rheumatologist if he/she recommends a good dietitian that understands patients with auto immune disease. good luck:)