Lifting weights with Lyme

Lifting weights is recommended in Dr B's Lyme treatment guidelines. Just don't overdo it, I think he recommends every other day. I've had a lot of muscle loss due to Lyme, and try to use light dumbbells often.

Ice your joints after working out and maybe take Advil. If anything is going to cause damage it's the inflammation. Before I knew it was Lyme I thought I had tennis elbow. I did exercises everyday for months to cure it and iced my elbows after. No damage done.

I have dual shoulder injuries...one surgery and multiple injuries to my other shoulder...on top of lyme...it pisses me off to no end to think i have both shoulder injuries on top of lyme when most people here have lyme but probably not a lot of injuries...am i wrong to think this because it makes me feel like i am completely broken and totally alone in this area, I consistently think back about how dumb I was when I was younger and should have been smarter and prevented these injuries...

Anyway sorry, I had to vent. I think light weight lifting with really good form is good for lyme, like others have said don't overdo it. I think as we get better we can ramp up the intensity, weights, etc. I want to be able to lift, even light weights a few times a week. That's my goal.

DaveNJ41 said...
I have dual shoulder injuries...one surgery and multiple injuries to my other shoulder...on top of lyme...it pisses me off to no end to think i have both shoulder injuries on top of lyme when most people here have lyme but probably not a lot of injuries...am i wrong to think this because it makes me feel like i am completely broken and totally alone in this area, I consistently think back about how dumb I was when I was younger and should have been smarter and prevented these injuries...

Dave, you're not alone. I'm in that group as well. I have broken almost every bone in both of my feet, have multiple muscle/tendon injuries and many surgeries - and these infections remind me of them all the time.

While the damage from injuries and such will remain, they won't be aggravated as much once you heal.

Yes, I did heal even with having these infections, but without these infections, I can be quite active without any "extra" pain or issues. Now, I just have to heal again and not get reinfected and I'll be good to go! LOL!

Ha ha ha! You're right about it not being my first rodeo, but I'd also like to make it my last!!

Thank you for your kind words. You made me smile on a difficult day.

Kirky, as I read through this thread, I was also thinking dead weights are probably harder to do when your muscles aren't up to par. My daughter recently asked her chiro for a suggestion on some exercises for her shoulders and back and he suggested resistance bands, so that's what she'll start with. He sent a video of himself, showing the proper form for her shoulders and back.

We have an older model Boflex that my hubby mainly uses, but she might start using it after she builds up more upper body strength. When we went to look at them, he tried it out and told me it would probably be fine for me, but he thought it wasn't enough for him. Guess who woke up stiff the next morning! He uses it several days a week.

Vibration machines are another option, but take your time looking into them since there are so many on the market, many of which come out of China. I think some are just thrown together without any concern for safety. I've tried a couple at home shows and one I tried didn't feel good at all, especially on my head, so I think it was one of the cheaply made ones. Mercola.com has videos of the brand he has, but it's one of the expensive ones.

DaveNJ41 said...
Hang in there Trav, tomorrow will be a better day!

Thank you, Dave! And same for you I hope!!

Fortunately, we know that we all have issues and no comparisons are needed. There's always someone worse off than us.

Need help trav dave,...to quote babe ruth if i knew i would live this long i woulda taken better care of my body...torn acl ,cut achilles, broken wrist 2x ,broken collar bone and good ol back falling appart...some lyme some injuries. ..lyme loves cartalige,shoulders and hip are what i call audibly crunchy...captian oh captian

I lost 20 lbs and would love to add weight, but my digestion is still screwed up. I need to build legs, skinny as all get out, and my back and arms suffered too. I dont have the stamina I once had, so with the warming weather coming, swimming is on the agenda. Should help tone and get the ticker ready for something harder.

I apologize to anyone I may have offended, it was wrong to assume that people on this forum don't have injuries/other stuff going on besides lyme. When I wrote that post I was having a bad day and I let my thoughts get the best of me. I know we all ahve our own stuff, and it's not fair to assume anyones story. I think what I was trying to say was, Lyme in itself is enough to deal with, without having previous injuries, healed or still in the process of healing. Like many of us here, I want to get back to an active lifestyle, lifting weights, running, etc. What scares me is because I have dual shoulder injuries, I'm not sure if my body is capable of doing that...are those that just my thoughts taking control?

Thanks PeteZa, that's wonderful. You turned bad news into a good thing! So you are still able to do activities and exercises!

Others have told me the same. I'm 30 years old and I've had people tell me, well, you should find something else to do besides weight lifting...hmmm...no. Not to sound rude, but I just won't do that. I love to weight lift and work out in the gym, so doing something else, while it is still exercise, won't fill the gap of weight lifting. I've had people tell me well you can do other stuff like biking. Yes, I can, but I'm not going to just give up on the fact that I want to get back to my workout lifestyle just because I am not able to right now.