Disorders/Illnesses?

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bunnyghost
bunnyghost Posts: 142 Member
edited February 2016 in Chit-Chat
does anyone have any mental, physical illnesses, autoimmune diseases, etc that make food, fitness, and exercise tough for you? what do you have to do differently because of it? do you have things you do to stay motivated and on track? please share your stories and experiences :)



i'm diagnosed with bipolar disorder and narcolepsy which gets in the way of things a lot. i dropped out of highschool my senior year and had to do online school because of narcolepsy and this also had a huuuuge weight gain effect from the fatigue it caused me, 30 pounds in a few months. with bipolar disorder, the lows make it tough to work out or exercise at all sometimes because there are days where i'm too depressed to get out of bed. so yeah these two illnesses really work against me lol. i started motivating myself by making a schedule and force myself to exercise/go out even when i'm depressed because i know i always feel better once i'm moving anyway, and if you just sleep all day it becomes an endless cycle.

i wanna hear other people's stories and if anyone's struggling with similar things feel free to add me because we can help each other! c:
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Replies

  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
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    Yes me. I have Crohn's, bipolar 2, anxiety and mostly recovered anorexia binge/purge. Crohn's makes eating painful and I basically can't eat most fruits and vegetables, red meat, seeds, nuts, legumes, spices, carrageenan, lactose, fiber, etc. Along with the chronic pain I have chronic fatigue and I could easily sleep all day, every day. I lift heavy 3 times a week but I need real rest days in-between just to semi function. I don't do any cardio except walking as a form of transportation. It's hard but lifting is important toe and i love it so I force myself to do it.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    behcets, myalgia, gerd, depression, anxiety

    mostly, i just tell myself to suck it up but i also have to realize some days i need breaks. apparently, i needed a month of rest days. ready to get back at my fitness journey
  • emsmomtina
    emsmomtina Posts: 7 Member
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    I'm almost afraid to respond. Okay...here goes. I have Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Chiari Malformation, Antiphospholipid Syndrome, depression, and most recently pre-diabetic Type 2. The pain of the 1st 3 make exercise almost unbearable. I need a knee replacement due to previous softball injuries and I broke my back many years ago and the arthritis is rearing it's head. At this point, I only take walks or ride my bike. hopefully once I get some weight off (newbie only here a week) I hope to get moving. I moved to Florida to have better health and I'm so ready to be able to enjoy this paradise.
  • nitroalley
    nitroalley Posts: 3,599 Member
    edited February 2016
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    Ugh - Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Giant Cell Arteritis. Treated with Prednisone which is tough to battle with weight gain and affects mood. Had a scare with a positive test for Multiple Myeloma. Went through batteries of test and came out ultimately negative thankfully. Back and shoulder pain - more severe when cold or working out. I tell myself suck it up cupcake.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    no... i used to say i was allergic to exercise. but that was proven to be a lie ;)

    i do have situational anxiety but that doesnt affect normal life (as long as im in total control of whats going on, anyways LOLOLOL)
  • TehLaughingDog
    TehLaughingDog Posts: 200 Member
    edited February 2016
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    I have atypical borderline personality disorder, avoidant personality disorder, insomnia, ehlers danlos (hyperflexibility type), PCOS, and endometriosis. =P

    Borderline and avoidant are my biggest struggles. I try to keep things really positive trying to over come the psych stuff and it's very easy for me to lose myself. I still struggle a lot with feeling alien to the human society around me. I struggle a lot with feeling lonely and self-isolating myself. And I have the extreme mood shifts and when I get too stressed I experience auditory, tactile, and (rarely) visual hallucinations. I actually was working with a psychiatric service dog until we found a good med combo (and my SD lives with me happy retired).

    But, honestly, working on myself has really helped me a lot. Self care is important and I had to learn to not feel guilty about that. I'm actually really happy to have my psychiatric disorders because they've exposed me to experiencing life in a completely unique way and I've learned a lot about empathy for others by experiencing these struggles myself. I will always struggle to relate to other people but that's okay - I love my independence and love my detachment from people. Plus it's helped develop my passion for animals and the outdoors. Also I'm really happy to have my fiancée who is my rock and she has supported me for the past seven years.

    Please feel free to add me =]
  • Birkah
    Birkah Posts: 33 Member
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    Rheumatoid arthritis sucks. There are days when I am so exhausted that I can barely function, and days when I hurt so badly that I can barely move. Fortunately, flare ups have been few and far between as of late. Two of my kiddos are celiac (diagnosed by a GI with bloodwork and biopsy, not the internet). They are both tiny for their ages and struggle to gain weight, since their intestinal tracts are damaged by even trace exposure to gluten. I've found that since we're 100% gluten free at the house, I've felt a kazillion times better, so I guess I'm next for testing, since either hubby or myself carry the genetics for celiac. Eating and cooking for gluten-free is so much easier now with a good variety of GF foods, but there are definitely some duds on the market. Some of the GF bread options have the same texture and taste as a dirty kitchen sponge, and are ridiculously expensive and sometimes difficult to find.
  • Sweetnsimpleblond
    Sweetnsimpleblond Posts: 43 Member
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    Graves' disease, Hashimotos disease, endometriosis, addisons and pure laziness! Lol
    I've found having someone to work out with helps. I tend to put others first, so having someone hold me accountable to get up at 5am and work out is what keeps me going. She's literally at my front door 5 mornings a week.
  • sbeangel
    sbeangel Posts: 8 Member
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    Gall Bladder problems... which i am suppose to stay away from dairy, raw veggies, red meat, fried or fatty foods, caffeine , alcohol, red sauce. Sometimes other stuff will set it off too. Will feel like i am having a heart attack. I also have high blood pressure, sinus and migrain problems and many years ago i was thrown down 2 flights of stairs and over a balcony which has cause severe back pain and problems and for my right knee cap to pop oitbof place now and then when it feels like it.
  • charlottemmarks
    charlottemmarks Posts: 61 Member
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    I have issues with my blood sugar, digestion, and endometriosis. Eating to appease one tends to anger the other. For instance, high protein (animal protein) and moderate carbs at every meal is GREAT for my blood sugar and helps keep things stable, but it completely wrecks my endo and stomach. If I eat to appease my stomach, I end up eating a lot of starches and grains, which my blood sugar is none too pleased about. If I go a more nutritarian (by and large plant foods) approach, my blood sugar puts up a great big fuss. I often feel like I can't win, but I soldier on, hoping that as I lose and get healthier, the pieces of the puzzle will start to fit together.
  • ZombieSlayer
    ZombieSlayer Posts: 369 Member
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    Hypothyroidism, depression, and general anxiety.

    The first two make it hard to find the energy to get up and get moving, so my goal is small... 5000 steps a day (I have a sit down job so it's actually a challenge).

    The GAD prevents a gym membership from being a realistic thing, but we have a treadmill in the office and weights that will soon be out again (bought a house, area for weights currently being used for reno construction work)... and my kids love yoga and will ask us to do it as a family; that helps with the motivation too, sometimes.
  • nitroalley
    nitroalley Posts: 3,599 Member
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    138shades wrote: »
    I am Mental Health Therapist. I have all the Mental Illnesses you can think of daily as they are scheduled or reported during ON Call.

    I'm going home to clean.......which is my coping skill after dealing with other peoples' problems all day everyday =).

    Thanks for the work you do. I spent a day on a pyschiatric hospital floor as part of training. It was amazing what the healthcare workers do. I can't imagine doing it on a daily basis. I was drained after one day.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited February 2016
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    138shades wrote: »
    I am Mental Health Therapist. I have all the Mental Illnesses you can think of daily as they are scheduled or reported during ON Call.

    I'm going home to clean.......which is my coping skill after dealing with other peoples' problems all day everyday =).

    LOL.... :):):) I call this a winner! :)
  • AmyOwl73
    AmyOwl73 Posts: 45 Member
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    I'm bipolar. I've recently come out of a major depressive episode (that lasted about 6 months) during which I gained about 35 pounds. I've always said I wouldn't let BP stop me, but this time it did and I didn't realize what was happening until the depression started lifting. I've got a few other challenges, but Bipolar is by far the most disruptive to my overall health and fitness.
  • shadows2424
    shadows2424 Posts: 179 Member
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    Well my depression leads me to eat. I feel like im failing in my weightloss i get depressed then i eat. Vicious cycle. Also I have schizoaffectve disorder which is a mood disorder (depression in my case) and schizophrenic symptoms. The meds I take for that have caused a lot of my forty pound weight gain.
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
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    Atrial fibrillation, which means I have to watch the intake of greens and a variety of other foods because they interfere with the blood thinner. The meds I'm on for afib plus to control hypertension give me occasional gout attacks, so I have to watch things like protein intake (I'm regularly taking sour cherry extract capsules which seems to be helping). I had my gall bladder removed 2.5 years ago so I have to watch fat intake (even good fats) and dairy or they will cause digestive upset. It all make menu planning interesting. On the plus side, losing 60+ lbs has improved the quality of my life considerably. :)
  • sunnybeaches105
    sunnybeaches105 Posts: 2,831 Member
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    The rest of humanity
  • bunnyghost
    bunnyghost Posts: 142 Member
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    nitroalley wrote: »
    138shades wrote: »
    I am Mental Health Therapist. I have all the Mental Illnesses you can think of daily as they are scheduled or reported during ON Call.

    I'm going home to clean.......which is my coping skill after dealing with other peoples' problems all day everyday =).

    Thanks for the work you do. I spent a day on a pyschiatric hospital floor as part of training. It was amazing what the healthcare workers do. I can't imagine doing it on a daily basis. I was drained after one day.

    it's definitely draining and takes a strong person to do it well. i wish more of them were skilled at it though, because where i live they're awful. when i was hospitalized for narcolepsy, during a "sleep attack" the psych nurses restrained me saying i was 'hearing voices' and when i tried to tell them i wasn't they didn't even listen to me lmao. when i was having an allergic reaction to a medication they put me on i was completely dismissed by them. they treated anyone with psychosis like children and couldn't tell even the basic disorders/symptoms apart. lmao.
    this is the reason i'm studying to become a psychiatric nurse! we need experienced ones here who are educated in psychology and won't just assume every mentally ill person is schizophrenic.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,919 Member
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    My depression is mostly under control these days. I know that I will feel better after I exercise, so when I don't feel like exercising, I just force myself to start, giving myself permission to stop if needed.

    We have a good long thread on depression here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10058170/depression-and-weight-loss/p1
  • TheLittleRedHairedGirl
    TheLittleRedHairedGirl Posts: 154 Member
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    I don't feel comfortable sharing my history in such a public forum, but I do have a history. If you would like to add me, feel free.

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