Lifting weights with lyme and co-infections?

Dr. B's guidelines on the ILADS website list non-aerobic exercise as huge for recovery, and this would include strength training. It oxygenates the blood and muscles, and raises body temperature.

I think that as we break down muscle, the bacteria are prodded into areas of the body where they might be more susceptible to antibiotics. Just my thoughts on it though.

I very much enjoyed doing weights while being treated, but decided to stop when I started Levaquin as not to risk tendon/ligament damage.

Rikky- this is literally my BIGGEST pain point with this f'in disease. As a former high intensity athlete/amateur body builder- I have my share of injuries. Unfortunately, most of them are in my shoulders. I have had multiple dislocations in my right and surgery in my left. I know...i know...you all are probably thinking what the hell is wrong with this guy ;). I often wish and pray I didn't have both shoulder injuries/they were already healed by now, since it prevents me from doing a lot of strength training. I can barely get myself half way down a pushup position without it hurting.

Girlie- did you find when you were neck-deep in inflammation (sorry to sound so crude), was it difficult for you to do things like pushups or any overhead exercises involving the shoulder joints?

I'm sorry to make this post about me, it did not mean to come off that way. It would be great to know as time goes on and those of us who heal and get better, do our bodies heal aand repair in the sense that we can resume exercising/lifting weights without pain?

Ever since I got my diet in order, at least in terms of how many calories I'm able to take in (still working on getting my gut to a place where I can add some rice, fruits and starchier veggies back in, and get away from the super high fat, super high protein diet that I've been on), I've been doing what's known as a novice 5x5 program. Every M, W, and F.

There are cardio days in between, during the week, but, while I'd like to do those, just to get my blood going, I need the extra rest in between, and I need what little fat I've got on me.

It's all done with a barbell. The squat, bent over row, overhead shoulder press, bicep curl, bench press, tricep extension, and deadlifts. Some are done every workout day, while others are just a couple times a week. The layout of the workout changes every week. Workout A one week, workout B the next.

Granted, I was and still am a skeleton, but I'm hoping that I will start to notice some muscle growth over the next year or so. It's said that around 2.2 lbs of muscle per month is a good number. I'd be happy with even a pound of muscle growth each month.

I worry that my illnesses will keep my body from properly repairing the muscles after each workout and promoting new growth, because it definitely cannot be the intake anymore.

Speaking of which, while it probably goes without saying, make sure you are getting adequate calories as well as protein (I've read anywhere from .8 to 1 gram per pound of body weight). There are calculators online. Also, if you plan on doing specific lifting exercises, make sure you watch videos on proper form, or even go to a gym, if you feel comfortable (I'd like to someday, but not ready for that yet), because you wanna be doing the lifts right.. both so you can make sure you promote muscle gain but also to avoid injury, which is already enough of a risk, just being sick.

Other risks, I've seen some say that it can drive the infections deeper into the body, which could be true. There will be days where I find it worsens my brain inflammation.

I figure screw it though. Much like with a lot of things in my life, I can't just sit and wait to get better before I start making moves. It'd be ideal, but life is too short, and a lot of the paths that we've gotta walk to get to where we wanna be can be so darn long - gotta start today, if you can, of course. Don't go forcing things too hard, but try at least.

I've been doing a lot of things.. knowing how real the possibility of failure is, just because I feel that I can't put them off anymore. It's like, win or lose, take the shot, 'cause now's the opportunity and tomorrow is not promised. I'll tell you guys about that soon. Maybe in my monthly positivity post, which I need to get around to doing - already the 20th, yo!

Anyway, yeah, definitely working out. Screw being a twig forever, right?

I guess I'm fortunate in that I can manage to push myself to do it, and not be broken for a month after (fingers crossed). Plus, that I can still lift a little weight.

Girlie's all excited over doing 5 lbs - if I'm a twig, she's a darn leaf or something (no offense). lol

I'm a 24 year old male though. There are girls who aren't even like obvious athletic types that are bigger than me. It sucks.

Buuuuuutttttt.. best wishes..

Besides my legs and left shoulder that are killing me because of lyme I'm full force at the gym lifting heavy and building muscles like before. I'm not back to the weight that i was before i got sick but its ok. I just want to get well again.

thanks everyone. for those where you have symptoms affecting your muscles this is a trickier question. if you can work out i have to imagine it can only be good for your body given all the benefits one can read about.

my shoulders in particular were very weak and painful after years of this illness

i was able to build strength back up over time just by
-starting with very light exercises - no weights at all - just doing the motion -
-then to gently using the opposing muscles against the shoulders as i did movements like military presses - still no weights
-then finally with light weights and gradually built up

good diet and sleep are also important to recovery - and its the recovery part where the body does the rebuilding and making us stronger - when you have lyme your body is already at a disadvantage in terms of rebuilding itself - so these things become even more important

i have been amazed how my body can still get gradually stronger and stronger - despite movements still feeling painful and uncomfortable and while i still have lyme and bart

i believe building strength in the body also helps restore the immune system ( many LLMD's emphasise this approach as critical for recovery - eg Burrascano) - which is the end goal if we are to live without these illnesses

Ran - i wrote this in a post here some time ago so thought i would post it here in case its of use

Exercising safely with Lyme:


i think exercise has helped my recovery significantly.

obviously exercising with Lyme is not a straightforward proposition
many will feel they cannot possibly exercise at all - and overdoing it is all too easy, and can actually set you back with more fatigue and adverse symptoms.

i didn’t think exercise beyond maybe walking was a possibility for me despite exercising most of my life - due to feeling so ill with Lyme.

however, i have been surprised to find that even when feeling pretty weak and awful - i can not only start to exercise (if done carefully) but actually gain strength and physical capability - despite how uncomfortable exercise feels now - vs before i got Lyme.

not only does this give me all the benefits that exercise normally gives people:
better mood, sleep, overall health, self esteem etc
but it has actually increased what i can get done in a day - vs before i started
in other words it has helped me move my recovery forward in measurable ways

i thought i would post a few words i put together on how to exercise with lyme (as someone who experienced chronic fatigue, PEM etc)
much of it is in line with Dr Burrascano's guideline
but adds a bit more specific guidance.

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Dr Burrascano talks about this in his 2008 guidelines for lyme treatment (see the sticky post at the top for a copy of this very useful publication )its in there somewhere - its well worth a read

basically we each have an ideal window to exercise in - whether we are sick or elite athletes

the bottom of the window is defined by the minimum amount we need to do to send a signal to our system to repair itself stronger in preparation for the next challenge.
the upper end of the window is defined by the level beyond which we do more harm than good

the issue is that with lyme, especially in the beginning the lower end of the window is very close to the top end of the window- and such is a very narrow margin between doing enough and doing too much

also aerobic activities ( activities like jogging or HIT) seem to trigger much worse responses than anaerobic ones like resistance training. Dr Burrascano highlights this also - and it has been my experience too.

he also says its the strength exercises that are the most important for the immune system and essential to get better from lyme - so its good that you are looking into it.

as an example, I can walk 3-4 miles at a fast clip and be fine the next day - but if i try to run for even 100yards i will have ill feelings and extra fatigue the next day. yet I can do resistance exercises - like press-ups and dumbbells as long as i am careful. i had to build up very gradually at first though.

my advice:
-keep up the walking - its a great basic form of exercise and doesn't seem to trigger PEM unless you overdo it

-add in gradually some form of resistance training
- so weights, isometric etc - whatever works for you

-work out where you tolerance is - deliberately do too little to begin with and work up to find your limit - then back off a little.

-be systematic - keep records and have a target for each workout - make only v small increments each workout to avoid PEM reactions

-you will likely need longer recovery periods to begin with - so - esp if you have issues with PEM maybe only exercise 1x per 5-7 days

-later aim to gradually bring this down to 2-3 days in-between - and eventually every other day

-it will be slow at first - do not be discouraged - momentum will build

- focus on recovery as much as the actual exercise part

---diet ( your body needs good nutrition when fighting this thing and exercising) to recover well

---sleep - this when your body rebuilds itself best - the better you sleep, the better you will recover from exercise and the faster you will progress

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i am following the above plan and am now able to workout 45mins every 3rd day and am getting stronger almost every workout ( something that hasn't really happened consistently since my mid 20's) - despite also treating lyme with antimicrobials at the same time.

i'm not saying exercise will feel good - it will not to begin with - but stick at it - be systematic - increment slowly - and you will be surprised how much you can do.

good luck!!

Ran74 said...
Trying to rebuild muscles after 7 months of treatment. My left shoulder is completely frozen. Girlie….I believe you posted a few years back that you experienced this? Any suggestions for me as I start rebuilding? I can barely hold a one pound weight right now. Lifting my left arm above my head is impossible. I am able to lift my right arm but it’s very weak. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thank you!

Sounds like your left arm is weak - and your shoulder is frozen too.

Suggestions - I tried to do the excercises daily. But not push it. Keep at the 1 lb until it’s ‘easy’ to lift before upping it to 2lbs.
Try to be patient - you don’t want to hurt yourself by lifting too heavy

Ran- I injured both of my shoulders at different times. The right one was more painful but had more range. The left one had less pain but only about 25% range of motion left.

Note; I tried treating these before lyme treatment, and it didn’t go so well so the left one ended up being kind of chronic, but still improved after lyme treatment. And depending on the day, and what I did before , one can still be bothersome sometimes - mostly just a heavy feeling.

Since you’re a carpenter, you probably did some repetitive motion to your shoulders, which can complicate things with these tick infections.

There’s a lot of good YouTube videos on frozen shoulder and rotator cuff. It’s a lot to go through, but it’ll help you figure out which muscles are responsible for which direction you have a lack of motion in.

You might want to try myofascial release and learn the parts, muscles and tendons of your shoulder - that is also on YouTube. They will probably use a lacrosse ball or start out with a tennis ball which is softer in the beginning. Object here in the beginning is to apply slight pressure for a prolong time starting from from 10 or 15 seconds up to a couple minutes once you’re used to it, which upon release allows new blood flow to rush in and begin the healing process. You’ll notice an immediate increase in motion after you do this. Proceed with baby steps and improvements, you can’t rush this.

And if this seems like too much to figure out in your own, which it’s still good to learn about it - a newer age chiropractor, who combines chiropractic with physical therapy, knowing what I just told you above can sometimes more beneficial than just going to regular physical therapy.

(edited some words and spelling)

I find that when I exercise my muscles are not sore at all afterwards which is really unusual for me. So yesterday I biked 7 miles for the first time in years and my legs are not sore at all. Is my body not building muscle?

That’s interesting. So I experienced DOMS before getting Lyme but now I don’t really get it. I was wondering if my muscles are not breaking down and rebuilding correctly now.