This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Hello all.
I would be interesred in knowing all your tricks to save enegy. As you know, this DISEASE is all about saving energy as you go tbrough the day.

I have a few of my own and a few that the physiotherapist showed me:

1. I sit down slowly becaue it makes my quadriceps contract and get stronger
2. I drive a standard car to make my weak left leg work everyday.
3. At the supermarket, I park beside the carts: I use them as a walker to get in the store and I can always leave the cart where it belongs after
4. when I stand to listen or observe something, I alternate legs, like the hockey players waiting to start the game. It is alot less efforts for the small stationary muscles.
5. I sit at the counter or the table to cut my vegetables
6. sit down everytime you have a chance
7. never miss a chance to go to the washroom
8. exercise everyday but not too much, you need the energy for later
9. walking with a cane permits you to walk further


I am sure you have tons of them and I would love to hear them

thanks

Carole

P.S. I realize that the tricks will vary according to one's EDSS score.

Re exercising, I used to find I either did too much and got exhausted or forgot to do any. Now, I do a steady amount by pacing myself through the day. My rule is to do 10-20 of something every time before I sit down. Eg. I move to the dining table, I exercise and then sit down, move to the couch, exercise and then sit down. The only exception is when going to the loo for obvious reasons although I exercise after. So far, so good...this system seems to work in terms of enabling better flexibility and walking without exhaustion.

Regards,
Phil.

John has upped his activity although if he eats poorly I've noted he does need to nap and I encourage him to take it. His energy level had been low for several years prior to a DX but within a few months of knowing it was MS we corrected that problem with diet as well as supplements. The conserve energy theory has never made to much sense to us as it is hard to believe that by sitting around your condition could improve. Now when we saw Dr. O'Connor in June of 2006 and we explained our regime he did say you can't exercise your way out of this one. That was just prior to Johns improvement so we are unsure if the vitamin D3 that O'Connor prescribed was the major factor in the improvement. It is a shame these neuro's don't really do follow ups although to be fair he felt John was PPMS so didn't feel the need to see us again unless we had another episode. We switched neuro's at that point as Dr. O'Connor was a little to abrupt in our opinion and we are extremely happy to be working with Dr. Lee at Sunnybrook as he seems to share our hopes and is interested in our approach.

Thanks Phil and Melody.


I thought I would learn more tricks from all those affected. I guess we all live through this ordeal differently.


Thanks, Carole.

This doesn't save me energy but allows me to exercise my calf muscles.

When standing next to a counter, like brushing my teeth, I do heel raises. This works those muscles without wearing me out.

Every little bit helps.

Absolutely AJ! .. Carole