Disabled fitness/health advice please? =)

5stonetolose91

Hi,

To give you a bit of background so we're all on the same page, I am 21 years old and female. In November last year I went to bed one evening as normal and woke up the next day struggling to move my arms and legs properly. Many more symptoms have appeared as time has gone on but this is the overall picture:

I am in a wheelchair and can only stagger very short distances (with great difficulty as this is very painful and my balance is very poor).

At present I have no diagnosis whatsoever although ME or Parkinsons are both potential causes. Due to this I have been advised to rest as much as possible, advised I am unfit to work and been advised not to do any exercise whatsoever as there is a risk this could make the illness worse.

I am constantly exhausted and in pain and moving around leaves me very short of breath. 4 weeks ago I was smoking 60 cigarettes a day. Today I have smoked one, so I'm trying my hardest, believe me.

I have changed my diet, sticking to 1200 calories a day or thereabouts, high protein, medium carbs and am also factoring in a lot more fruit and vegetables than I ever have. Overall my diet and bad habits are in better check than they have been in a long time.

Since being ill I have put on so much weight. The doctors say this is partially medication, partially weight redistributing due to being mostly seated or lying down and have told me they don't feel there is much I can do right now and also that they don't feel it's a priority considering my other health problems are of a higher importance.

I'm really miserable being so large however. Readjusting to life as a severely disabled person without my self confidence affected by my weight... I want to learn to walk again eventually and I don't want to be so overweight by the time I have a diagnosis that I have another battle altogether to face.

If anyone has any recommendations/tips/advice on how many calories you think I should be consuming per day based on the level of activity (or complete lack of it). If anyone has any advice on foods that speed up the metabolism I would also be really grateful... Any advice would be gladly received!

Thanks!

RoadsterGirlie

I don't have any advice, but you are in my thoughts and prayers. I wish you a full recovery, whatever it is that is plaguing you.

*hugs*

HRLaurie614

I'm so sorry you're going through this. No suggestions, but good thoughts for a diagnosis and recovery.

5stonetolose91

Many thanks

Good luck whatever stage in your journey you're at. xx

marinatan1982

As the nature of your illness is unknown, it would be irresponsible to give you any nutrition advice, really no one here would want to make things worse by suggesting something that can interfere with your doctors efforts to get you better... any way you can get an advice from a licensed dietitian who would be able to take into account all your information, such as test results and current medication?

May be you can talk to your doctor about low-impact exercising, such as water-based physical therapy?

Best wishes to you.

5stonetolose91

Thanks for the comments.

It really wouldn't be interfering believe me! It's not that it would be going against his advice, I'm just looking for general nutrition advice and usually people with limited mobility need far less calories than upwardly mobile but none of this has been explained to me. There is no reason for me not to change my diet, however my doctor doesn't feel it is enough of a priority to advise on and deal with at the moment, he says it is a 'bridge to cross when you are well.' But I've put on over 3 stone since this started in November... I'm not willing to let myself continue to put on weight at that rate otherwise being in a wheelchair won't be half as important as the heart attack and further conditions the obesity will cause.

PS... Not allowed any exercise whatsoever inclusive of low impact and physio. I am unable to control my movements enough to be allowed to do anything like this because I could cause further injury to myself and the exercise could potentially make the illness (whatever it may be) worse.

Vune

I see that your doctors are say no exercise whatsoever, but what about working with both your doctor and a physical therapist that can guide you through yoga? I know a few people with spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's, and other movement disorders that do yoga. And working with someone would decrease your chances of injury or overuse.

On the other side of things, I have a friend who was diagnosed with MS and sent from the hospital with a bag of medications. He promptly threw them all out and started meditating. 3 hours in the morning, 3 at night. He also adopted a raw, vegan, food combining diet or sorts. He manages his MS without medications. He has cut the meditation down to 3 hours, and he's not as strict with his diet as he used to be, but it's still the most effective treatment for MS that I've seen.

Disclaimer: I don't recommend everyone just drop their western medicine and do what my friend did. I'd be dead or back on dialysis if I took his path. But it's something to consider in conjunction to working with your doctor.