FND - the gym

[LA20]

I have just been diagnosed with FND by a neurologist and told to look at website neurosymptoms.org. Before I was diagnosed I had changed my career and been trying to better my life by going to the gym and was under a well qualified PT. Since I have been diagnosed I feel nervous about going back to the gym having read some posts on here saying it made them worse. I have no-one to ask about it so I thought I would see if anyone has any experience or advice on here. I have not made it back to work yet, although may be back later in the week but it is again quite scary as it is a very physical job. I am thinking of returning to my old type job, less physical. Any suggestions? The worse symptoms are the tingling in the legs and bottom of my feet and the weakness in my legs and knees, feels very difficult to walk sometimes.

[VivienneWaterworth]

I would just take it a little bit at a time and see how you go with it. Wait until you have gone back to work and things have settled a bit, then you could try going back to the gym. I think you would need to be careful not to overdo anything for the first few weeks. In fact, you could probably try doing some very gentle exercises at home before going back to work, just to increase your tolerance to physical activity, but back off at the slightest problem. In the fndhope Facebook page, one of the members runs marathons and does triathlons, but he regularly falls while running. He enjoys the exercise, and training did get him out of his wheelchair and walking again!

[starlingwatcher]

I was unable to exercise when first dx'd without triggering muscle contractions and dystonia. I agree with Vivian - exercise lightly. It may take time to learn what your current limits are. And remember that with FND what your current limitations are may change. I couldn't walk at one point - I was bedridden for nearly two months. Lately I've been hiking. My symptoms are worse if I am over stimulated. Low blood sugar can be another trigger. So a handful of almonds before exercise might help you. Unfortunately there are no one size fits all solutions for living well with FND, but you will figure things out! And people do get better!

[kotovasv]

FND patients mostly get better, not worse, with exercizing, the only key is to learn how to pace yourself and not overdo it. Then, you should expect that the way back to physical activities will not be short, it will take some time. As for your job, you can try, if you feel you are unable to do it, you can return to your old job. Getting back to work is not an easy process, you can not predict how it goes until you try. Good luck