Exercise Despite Pain

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culo97
culo97 Posts: 256 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I know what I think but I'm curious to see what other folks have to say. Every time I bring this up to my doctor or other medical person, the answer is always "lose weight and the problem will go away." Needless to say, this advice doesn't help me today, right now. Some background:

Over 5 years ago, I was diagnosed with a blood clot in my left leg. The condition got so bad, it included a hospital stay and at least one incident of passing out. Even though the my health has improved, the lingering symptoms on the leg include poor circulation, occasional loss of power and swelling caused by extra fluid. The pain in the blood clot leg varies from low level throbbing to bright red, intense pain, especially to the touch. To make up for the shortcoming, my "normal" leg has constant achilles tendon/ankle area and hip pain. I'm taking joint mobility and pain improvement type supplements but they only dial down the pain intensity a notch or two.

My goal is to maximize calories burned in an effort to lose weight. Current exercises include bicycling, walking and weight lifting/resistance training with some stretching thrown in. Occasionally workout videos. Sometimes it can take up to 4 days or more for the pain level to get back to tolerable after exercising.


Questions:
When my body is in pain after a workout session, should I continue exercising at a lower intensity? Or stop any activity that's not necessary for daily life until the pain is more bearable?

Replies

  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    Given your medical condition taking advice from random strangers on the Internet may not be appropriate.........have you talked to a physio familiar with your situation about designing a program that may help you reach your fitness & health goals while keeping acute pain within tolerable limits?

    I know I'm not qualified to do anything other than wish you success.
  • scarletrayne19
    scarletrayne19 Posts: 35 Member
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    Sorry to hear that you're in such pain :-(

    Is there a pool available to you? I know from experience with my parents being obese and trying to work out despite knee pain that swimming or even just doing movement exercises in the water takes the pressure off the joints and makes working out a bit easier. You can do anything to classify as exercise as long as you get your heart rate up.

    Also I would say never to exercise when you can hurt yourself. Your doctor should be able to tell you whether exercising with a history of painful blood clots is advisable or not. You know your body better than anyone else so just listen in and decide whether you're just a little sore or if you need to stop. Hurting yourself will only make you feel worse and hinder your weight loss even more.

    Some of the best advice I've read on this forum is that doing exercises that hurt will make you not want to do them and keep you from sticking with your game plan. Look into some alternatives for cardio. Get advice from your doctor and other health professionals. Seek a second opinion if you feel you need to. And keep your chin up :-)

    Hope you feel better soon!
  • culo97
    culo97 Posts: 256 Member
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    Given your medical condition taking advice from random strangers on the Internet may not be appropriate.........have you talked to a physio familiar with your situation about designing a program that may help you reach your fitness & health goals while keeping acute pain within tolerable limits?

    I know I'm not qualified to do anything other than wish you success.
    Hmm. What is a physio? What can this person do for me?

    See, taking advice from random strangers on the internet does work sometimes.
  • culo97
    culo97 Posts: 256 Member
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    Some of the best advice I've read on this forum is that doing exercises that hurt will make you not want to do them and keep you from sticking with your game plan. Look into some alternatives for cardio. Get advice from your doctor and other health professionals. Seek a second opinion if you feel you need to. And keep your chin up :-)

    Hope you feel better soon!
    I'm kinda weird because I like to move around. I want to exercise more but not while sacrificing my overall well being.

    Since the only suggestions from my doctor and other medical advisors were "lose weight", I'm at a loss at where else I can get effective, relevant advice. I already tried changing doctors. The last one always acted disappointed that I hadn't significantly shrunk myself since my last visit. Like I need that attitude with everything else going on.
  • suejoker
    suejoker Posts: 317 Member
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    Hey, Culo! I'm so sorry to hear that you are in pain so often. Do you currently have a blood clot? If so, I'd be concerned about exercising too much, since it could dislodge and go somewhere more dangerous. If you don't, I think you should consult a physical therapist, since doctors don't know much about pain and exercise, in general.
  • culo97
    culo97 Posts: 256 Member
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    Hey, Culo! I'm so sorry to hear that you are in pain so often. Do you currently have a blood clot? If so, I'd be concerned about exercising too much, since it could dislodge and go somewhere more dangerous. If you don't, I think you should consult a physical therapist, since doctors don't know much about pain and exercise, in general.
    I honestly don't know if they blood clot is still there. They took me off the blood clot reduction medicine years ago, saying it's small enough to disperse or be absorbed back into my body. I haven't been scanned since the initial diagnosis so I don't know if that actually happened.

    I'm at higher risk for a stroke or brain aneurysm anyway, just from the fact that I've had a blood clot. Not sure whether exercising raises the chances of dying those ways even more.

    Now that I think of it, going to a physical therapist makes more sense than a general practitioner doctor. After all specialists tend to be better at their focus areas. I'll look into it today.

    Thanks @suejoker
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    Given your medical condition taking advice from random strangers on the Internet may not be appropriate.........have you talked to a physio familiar with your situation about designing a program that may help you reach your fitness & health goals while keeping acute pain within tolerable limits?

    I know I'm not qualified to do anything other than wish you success.
    Hmm. What is a physio? What can this person do for me?

    See, taking advice from random strangers on the internet does work sometimes.

    Physiotherapist. Someone who is trained in the remediation of impairments and disabilities and the promotion of mobility, functional ability, quality of life and movement potential through examination, evaluation, diagnosis and physical intervention.

    These are the people you talk to when you're recovering from injury or disease and need to get back as much physical ability as you can. There is likely someone you can find who is experienced with thrombosis-related issues.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    I think a sports medicine doctor would be the best to help you work with this situation so you don't either harm yourself or totally derail your progress.
  • culo97
    culo97 Posts: 256 Member
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    Physiotherapist. Someone who is trained in the remediation of impairments and disabilities and the promotion of mobility, functional ability, quality of life and movement potential through examination, evaluation, diagnosis and physical intervention.

    These are the people you talk to when you're recovering from injury or disease and need to get back as much physical ability as you can. There is likely someone you can find who is experienced with thrombosis-related issues.
    Sounds exactly like what I need. Good idea to ask about thrombosis-related experience.

    It's kind of hard to explain what I feel because it's not like a break or a sprain. There's nothing really external about it except some discolored skin. Most people have never experienced anything similar.

    Thanks
  • culo97
    culo97 Posts: 256 Member
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    I think a sports medicine doctor would be the best to help you work with this situation so you don't either harm yourself or totally derail your progress.
    I want to start with a physical therapist who can recommend me to a specialist if necessary.

    I have a request in to my doctor for a physical therapist referral (healthcare bureaucracy FTW) so hopefully I'll get an appointment soon. In the meantime, I'll keep biking and walking as much as I can stand.
  • culo97
    culo97 Posts: 256 Member
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    Thanks everyone who took the time to read my post and offer suggestions. I appreciate your wisdom.

    Yesterday, I asked the Dr. for a referral to a physical therapist. She asked me to come in so she could have a look at the leg. After an ultrasound, she determined that there's either a new blood clot in leg or blood vessel scarring from the old blood clot. The result is the same, I have a blockage in my blood circulation system.

    Searching on Google, I found out that the official name is post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS), a complication from a blood clot in the leg which results in long-term swelling and pain. Unfortunately, it's not a rare condition, I'm part of a minority of people who just don't heal after getting a blood clot. For whatever genetic reason, my body may be prone to generating them. Looks like the pain and swelling are here to stay. The next step is to try to reduce the impact. In the meantime, I've been ordered to reduce extra leg activities.

    So basically my attempt to figure out how to exercise more has led to orders to exercise less. :huh: :ohwell:

    http://www.stoptheclot.org/article130.htm
    http://www.clotconnect.org/patients/faq-frequently-asked-questions/when-will-my-clot-and-pain-go-away
  • 1911JR
    1911JR Posts: 276
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    Given your medical condition taking advice from random strangers on the Internet may not be appropriate.........have you talked to a physio familiar with your situation about designing a program that may help you reach your fitness & health goals while keeping acute pain within tolerable limits?

    I know I'm not qualified to do anything other than wish you success.

    I`m sure not what you were wanting to hear, but the above is the best advice you will find.

    Good luck........

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