Victory Thread!

Thank you. I have been lucky in that I have always been able to do some lighter weight training.

I made a complete Thanksgiving dinner that was safe for my strict Lyme diet - Whole30/Paleo and it wasn't just tolerable, it was AMAZING!

A few weeks ago I had a burst of nervous energy and used it to run 5k. Personal best of under 50 minutes. Terrible for a runner (which I am NOT and never have been) but a miracle for a Lymie!

Back when i was between 55 and 60 i took up marathons. My best time for it was 5.5 hours. I had to quit for a while because i slipped on ice while running at xmas time in Edmonton, canada and i had difficulty getting back into running after shoulder was re-injured in a massive way at 65. Lyme hit my right knee about 6 years and ago and at its worst, about a year ago i could barely get around using 2 hiking sticks as canes to move from one room to another in the house. I would say max distance i can go is about 100 yards now but there is some improvement. The last few weeks, i am trying to put the canes aside in the house and maneuver around without them, sometimes using handy walls for support. It is no fun. I feel like crying sometimes, but i note that in the last few weeks, there is a faster, steadier spring in my feet and i hope that this is a start of a trend to throw those canes away. Long range, at 76 now i still have this dream to be able to run again in say a 10 k race or less or hike up the local mountain here. I look at that mountain and i am telling it to get ready for me as i will try to get to the top of it literally a year or so from now. Smiles. I am sure wife will say "No " to this plan but i can be persistent too. I admit that dreaming of doing a marathon may be a bit too much for this old body of mine. xfmlg

Just finishing up week 5 of Dr. J Lyme Induction protocol. Was able to take a little walk up and down my street today. That was certainly something I hadn't done in a long while. Seems to indicate some improvement. When you've been couped up in the house for so long, you don't want to come back inside! Thank you, Jesus.

I recently changed up my self workout / PT routine, and its finally going great now that my body adapted, as I got out of bed in the morning this whole week with minimal to no body tension. By mid day some is back, but its nice not to hate getting out of bed. Shoveling snow too (make it stop please lol).

This summer/fall I really concentrated on breaking up some abductor, adductor adhesion or maybe classifications. I worked on them with aggressive self cross friction on my studded roller followed by topicals driven in with DMSO. It was very uncomfortable at first. When the bumpyness stared to fade (a couple months), I used the aductor and abductor muscle gym machines (most guys think these are "too girlie" , ha ha.....WRONG). This made my pelvis tension more even, and lower back better.

Started doing more core and spine work too - avoiding spine compression. A new weight assisted pull up and dip rack makes getting back into this a lot easier. Its helps strengthen my upper /mid back without pulling /twisting ribs like heavy rows do. Started using a manual lumbar extension (45 degree bench) for back strength way more often and now it feels good to do.

I walk normal most days last week. Both legs had "gate" affecting issues.

Ive been gaining strength/muscle while maintaining weight for three years now post ABX while being close to mid 50's. I didnt think this would be possible. Ive watched body fat go from upper teen % three years ago to 8 or 10% now, @6 ft 175, with almost no cardio the last two months. For comparison, I was 6-8% body fat in my competitive prime of the 1990's. I dont aim for that or anything today, it was just an after affect measurement for comparison, an interesting one too.

With my legs and pelvis better balanced, Im thinking of getting some better instruction on ski skate x-country skiing classes maybe in later winter (and better skis) as I couldn't do it efficiently in the past from muscle imbalances. Traditional x-c skiing (just properly timed "push off"), pretty easy and ...no where as fast or efficient. It takes me a while to get out into winter mode though; im still in fall mode and my skis and fat/snow bike have a lot of dust on them, I'm usually mental into winter mode after xmas- have to be..... or go crazy.

And......I stopped medium to heavy squats. Light ones only, and rarely now. They cant be good for anyone's spine unless your as wide as you are tall and built of steel. . I dont understand the recent gym obsession with squats and over head lifts. I did those way more years ago as a young man, no real reason to do them If your not a competitive body builder. Yet, average Joes and Janes are way into it for some reason today...new fitness fad?. Hope they have good spines. Squat racks (once almost vacant) now have lines to use them lol.

This all seems good for my twisted spine. I made a scoliosis post last week, could have put this there I suppose. Think Illl still visit a specialty NUCCA "atlas" adjusting chiro in the near future though.

Its 10F,... but no wind and 1/2 hr of actual sun left (rare). Time for a quick walk along the creek,... with ticks well under the snow cover. (yay).

Its obviously pretty depressing to not be able to do things you once were good at and took for granted. My SI joint hit an all time pain height in 2005, the tension was building up for years up to that point. Then it felt like a deep knife into my upper tail bone. Of course I was also ill with the array of lyme symptoms - not knowing what was going on, same story as many here.

My first rehab for that was a lot of the floor exercises your mentioning - a lot of "bridging" too. And non stop chiro hip / SI adjustments that would not hold for long, but did offer relief. It got better but It was easy to go backwards from working out or too much cycling, walking, hiking ect. - which wasn't too much for "normal" people.

Like you said, working out became a painful chore. And the stumbling and tripping you mention, from a "lazy" leg not working right or just the hip pain. It was crazy.

By 2010 It was better yet, but still not right. Herxing in 2015, I could not ride a bike at all from hip issues and general all over body pain.

Last three years I vastly improved, but this now is just on a whole new level it seems , like I broke thru another barrier which was holding me back.

This afternoon, during my snow hike down along the creek, I did a little snow jogging in small field before the forest, and yes, my hips and movement do feel different without that range of motion limitation. Ill have to play it by ear as the muscles redevelop correctly. My left tight foot is 90% better, now my right knee feels different, "free-er". My right leg was sometimes shorter, and now it much closer. Had a lift in my right shoe since 2005.

If we get deep snow again this year (so far yes), and not to cold, I plan to snowshoe more, it does wonders for the hips as each step is different in any snow more than 8".

Just wish I were younger. Lyme steals time from us in a big way. My 40's pretty much completely sucked thanks to clueless western medicine. How did modern western medicine ever become the norm? What a waste.

Good to hear your improving too logmoss. Like the odd name. Reminds me of some close-up lichen/moss photos I took on fallen birch logs in the woods. Always found nature quite amusing.

Post Edited (astroman) : 12/14/2019 11:51:56 PM (GMT-7)

My diet has been worse than ever since the week before Christmas. However, in spite of that, I have experienced improvements in a number of areas for 2 weeks now. Two weeks is about the longest good streak I ever had in the past.

I have been able to walk farther and at brisker pace than I have in a really long time, and without noticeable setbacks.

I have felt better physically - less joint, muscle, tissue, toxin pain and a mostly comfortable feeling in my gut.

I really don’t know why I have had these improvements. The only change that coincides exactly is the addition of TUDCA Plus. I replaced milk thistle with TUDCA 2 weeks ago after finishing my last bottle of milk thistle.

I have had flares of certain symptoms off and on during this time period, but they didn’t last too long, and I still have felt better overall.