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I think that while you can get as strong as possible, I went to a gym for years when my mobility was decent, got my arms and legs stronger than at any time in my life and although my legs are beat I still think getting my arms stronger in the early years has kept me in a manual chair and not an electric one. I still do some arm curls from my chair on good days. Having some body strength going into ms can only help.

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Lyon wrote:

Wendigo wrote: My left hand is weaker than my right and can't pick up a dime with my left hand fingers. I may never be able to get normal function back but have never tried consistently to "improve" function - isn't it logical to say that until every effort has been made to improve function it's not correct to call my deficits nonreversible?

Hi Wendigo,

With what you're saying in mind, It's SO important to be mindful that the damage caused by MS and symptoms of MS aren't synonymous.

I get the idea that you are thinking "non reversible symptoms" when the researchers are actually referring to "non reversible damage"?
Bob

Lyons, I must have read your reply 25 times and it doesn't sink it.

I have another example of play and pay - took some pictures which were equivalent altogether to about 50 deep knee bends. The next day my legs hurt horribly, plus I had healing shot sites on both legs which hurt. This wasn't the normal muscle overuse I remember - this was pain. The following day, yesterday, pain went away but legs were so weak they would barely support my weight. The fatigue overall is bad. I was considering a walker for safety and seeing the neurologist to maybe go on a different drug if it wasn't any better today. I spent most of yesterday in bed, most of this morning. I'm still wobbly but better. Of course I was concerned it was another attack - did I do permanent damage by overusing my legs that day? Time will tell I guess.

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I push the limit daily of what I still can do. My whole approach has been use it or loose it. So far it has been working. May start everyday walking and finish crawling, but the cycle continues. I will walk til I drop crawl home and do it again. Still hope to use the ski poles that are now walk aids on the slopes again. Pushing onward... Mark

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Lyon wrote:
Not to be a naysayer but even in the best case "stem cell cerebral damage repair" scenario, I have a hard time believing that symptom improvement is going to come without effort.

I seem to remember from medical terminology a condition called "disuse arthritis." Even before the MS, every time I typed that term it made me stop and think about what it seemed to imply. Now that would be a bear of a hole to climb out of but I can imagine that even in that scenario stem cells could fix the joint problems and enable movement but it would not fix the atrophy of the muscles from disuse.

skydog wrote:I push the limit daily of what I still can do. My whole approach has been use it or loose it. So far it has been working. May start everyday walking and finish crawling, but the cycle continues. I will walk til I drop crawl home and do it again. Still hope to use the ski poles that are now walk aids on the slopes again. Pushing onward... Mark

That "push the limit daily" makes me cringe Was there not a gradual approach to this at first or did you just haul off at full speed from the beginning? I seem to have a semi-predictable "recovery" phase of a few days from your approach, feeling fine the day of and the following few days are hell.

skydog wrote:I push the limit daily of what I still can do. My whole approach has been use it or loose it. So far it has been working. May start everyday walking and finish crawling, but the cycle continues. I will walk til I drop crawl home and do it again. Still hope to use the ski poles that are now walk aids on the slopes again. Pushing onward... Mark

I guess even those without MS who haven't been super physically active pay a price for sudden heavy physical activity. I remember sore muscles which would heal quickly, but not the pain and whole body weakness experienced with MS - I am also not getting any younger either and that may be a factor also but minimally I think. I'm only 52, no chronic medical conditions other than the MS, and no reason why I shouldn't be able to do most of what I did at 30 or 40 years of age.

I'm wondering if a good physical therapist could be of benefit in helping me figure out what exercise I can do and increasing it without being almost bedridden for days recovering.