A thread for those on the bench for the long term..

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  • ...ah running in the rain...one of my favourite things!

    On a positive note I ran(very, very slowly) 3 miles today and I don't hurt. On a negative I've been here before and the day after it's gone on the travelator in Tesco!

     Let's be positive everyone!!

  • Hi all . I feel the need for this thread.
    Looks like I could end up on the bench permanently!
    Took part in some running research project which involved an ECG. One year later got a phone call suggesting that I see a cardiologist . Looks like I have long QT syndrome ( yup I had never heard of it either).High risk of heart attack!!! Have been told to avoid any activity that gets me near max heart rate. So the hill reps, sprints,circuit training and any serious running are out.
    Have been put on beta blockers which have knocked my heart rate down 20%.
    I can still run sedately but the running I love is mountain marathons and long ultra trail events.

    Perhaps this thread is about the fears of running addicts. Its the unknowns that get you down.

    I feel a bit of an imposter in that I can still run but am not supposed to. What really bugs me is that I have been running in ignorance for years. Now i am told that can,t.

    Due to see the cardiologist again this week and will have to own up that ultra trail running involves mountains. I don,t think he and the race officials will approve.
    On the plus side I have just found out about the Thames Ring 250. I could probably do this keeping my heart rate below 100. Only problem is that I hate running on flat/hard surfaces and the boredom of running 250miles on a tow path would probably kill me anyway!
  • Morning Ian. Sounds like you really have gotten hold of the s**t end of the stick. How incredibly frustrating for you. It is hard to see anything positive in this but at least I suppose you now know - the alternative does not bear thinking about. I too love trails (not quite as adventurous as yourself I hasten to add!) and not being able to get out in the hills really gets me down. I suppose I could go for a gentle walk but it really isn't the same is it? I do hope you get some kind of positive news - do please keep the thread updated.

    Alison - no tips to offer other than unless you have already a seperate thread asking for advice? Sorry you are in the position that you now have the need to let off some steam

    For myself - I had a rather s**tty Christmas and NY but definitely feel better at the moment. Trying to lose some of the kilos amassed over the last 6 or so months and maybe a slow return to regular walking and pilates. Been here before but fingers crossed - I really need to start running again!

    Best wishes to you all!

  • Whew- The rain and grey sky is depressing me and my mood is not improved by the fact that I am going to gym again after work for another boring indoor session because I have been off running for about 2 and half months now!

    It is all a tendon issue that relates to my gait- have had several visits to a foot doctor and now have special inserts for shoes. I have also had many (expensive) physio treatments and acupuncture. Unfortunately there is an element of trial and error with the inserts because it was either the big toe needing support, or the little one. After 3 weeks we have concluded the wrong toe was supported and so of course this has furtehr delayed recovery.

    I keep seeing others out for runs and am very envious and frustrated. I can certainly sympathise with all the angst expressed on this forum!

  • Hi to all

    Hope you are all making a small improvement down the road to recovery and can see light at the end of the tunnel.

    I have managed to get to the gym today, a bit of cycling and walking/jogging on treadmill, so feel that I can say no longer on the bench, just at the beginners stage of my jouney to fitness, but I will still be fairly slow.

    Take care

  • SlugstaSlugsta ✭✭✭

    fingers crossed for everyone!

    I managed a short bike ride on Sunday. My back/leg was painful afterwards but it was sooooo nice to be out in the sunshine image.

  • Oh, I sooooo need this thread.

    I only discovered running a year ago and I absolutely love it. I ran a half marathon in October but managed to get a grade 1 hamstring tear. Loads of physio later and, just before Christmas, I got back up to running 3 miles at my usual pace. Then I had a cold over Christmas so that put pay to any running but last weekend I had a lovely 4 mile run along a canal without any hamstring issues.

    This week I decided to start strengthening my core and hamstring but, in the middle of one exercise, I felt a twinge in the hamstring! I've stopped everything and have a physio appointment tomorrow.

    I'm scared to death I'm back to the beginning with my hamstring and it'll be another month or so before I'm running which would definitely rule out the Bath Half Marathon in March. I feel guilty moaning to my hubby all the time - there are people with much bigger problems - but he studied psychology and says it's all to do with Maslow (I'm apparently trying to satisfy my self esteem needs) and therefore it's justifiable for it to be so important to me.

    At least I'm not looking at a permanent end to runnning - for those of you who are, I hope you can find something else to take it's place.

    All the best everyone.

  • Hello everyone and a happy new year. Christ its good to have a place to vent  my frustration to fellow benchwarmers.

    Im a keen as mustard 37 year old amateur whos only forrays into 'competiton' so far have been 10ks and halfs. Was signed up for the kilomathon last october as a steppingstone for first marathon and all looked peachy. Then frikking twisted knee playing beach volleyball on hols

    .Mri revealed damaged medial cartilege and also potential damage to joint cartilege too. Consultant said something about cartilege plugs? Sounds ominous eh. On waiting list for arothscopy at the mo.Still go to gym for core exercise/weights etc and on the cyclepath with the bike. Suppose im just finding it hard to stay positive at the mo.

    Running helped me quit smoking 5 years ago,gave me something to focus on when my resolve waivered. Since then its always been a friend for me when needing to de-stress. Took up mountain biking too which i love but reckon that could also be going the way of the dodo.AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

    Ahem! Thanks for that hehe

  • Firstly, I hope that all of those with injuries etc make a speedy recovery and those of you with longer term problems can find ways to live without/with less running...sorry to hear of all the problems.

     I have a mini whinge!  I'm not much of a runner, not much more consistently than 3/4 5km a week, but I still love getting out there.  I haven't been able to run at all for  about 3 months and I'm beginning to get a little stir crazy!

    I have a dodgy knee, I think it's the same problem I've suffered from on and off for years.  I saw a physio about it years ago and because of congenital weaknesses in the muscles around the knee cap, the knee cap skews, rubs on other parts and causes some pain under my knee cap.  Exercises to strengthen the muscles worked but I was told I may need to do them now and again to keep it strengthened....obviously I didn't!  

     I have been doing the exercises regularly, but only really for the last few weeks - it's so hard to know if I should do them when it irritates the problem a little afterwards.  I should probably take ibuprofen more regularly for it, but I don't want to be taking them all the time.

    I have weak muscles at the side of my hips too - I'm basically a complete weakling, aren't I - so I'm doing some exercises for them too.  It hurts to walk up and downstairs, but is mostly OK when walking.....so tempted to run and see what happens!

    To make matters worse, I've done something to my Achilles tendon (on the other leg) and that's really tight.

    Could be much worse though.  I feel better now!

    Clare

  • SlugstaSlugsta ✭✭✭

    Hi guys, how is everyone?

    I had my epidural yesterday so am feeling pretty sore today - apparantly that's because the volume of steroid injected puts added pressure on the affected nerve. It can take up to 2 weeks for this to start to work, if I've had no benefit after that time it will be back to the drawing board.

  • Hi Slugsta. That sounds uncomfortable - I do hope it will be all worthwhile.

    I've got an appointment to see a consultant in 10 days so hopefully that will be the start of going somewhere positive. 7 months now so getting very fed up. Feel ill in some way most days and generally tired. Was feeling quite good a couple of weeks ago so went for a walk on 2 consecutive days and have felt pretty s**tty since although improving now. Can't even go to my pilates classes and I used to really enjoy them! And to cap it all off, I've gone off my beer!!! Don't know what happened, but since feeling rough before Christmas I have just stopped (with a couple of exceptions). Still having a few glasses of wine now and then but not really enjoying them. Mind you we did meet some friends for a meal on Sunday and I did have a drop or two!

    Best wishes to all fellow bench warmers!

  • SlugstaSlugsta ✭✭✭
    ((Peter)), sorry you're feeling so carp, let's hope you get some answers soon.
  • AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

    In process of stretching and strenghtening. Nice session all ok. Felt blooming knee crunch when I stood up to get up at end. OW! Can cope with that. Been there before. Couple of days/week it will settle back down.

    BUT

    Now non-affected knee has a niggle. Only v. slight but in exactly same place as the other knee that has sidelined me for 2 years+.

    Not funny now.

  • Over 2 years Ra-Ra? So sorry to hear that. Got any good tips for sanity maintenance?
  • Two years is a long time to be off running- I don't know how you can cope mentally!

    How is everyone else going? I managed a 25 minute road run on Saturday morning (very carefully and gingerly) and all seems ok, but did get some ache in lower ankle of other foot. The endorphins were just kicking in but I made myself go home and did not push things. Luckily I was going to the chiropodist anyway, so he has adjusted insoles accordingly and we will review the situation in two weeks. I am now proceeding with caution and will try another short road run on Tuesday, all being well after a gym visit on Monday. 

    Alarmingly, it seems my left leg is ever so slightly shorter than the right (apparently quite normal!), which is likely to account for the problems I have been experiencing.

    I

  • Sanity maintenance? Shout at kids. Cry when husband races. Be really unsupportive of friends who take up running. Is that what you mean? Lol.

    Just thrown last years running diary in the bin cos I can't bear to keep it. though to be fair I could have recycled it for this year it was so empty.

    Read in RW about Halle Gebreselaisse's triumphant return after a yr of injury and I'm banking on doing the same. The longer I'm sidelined the more I want to do a mara where I was v happy with halfs before.

    Oh and keep having to catch myself when talk of being a runner in the past tense...

  • I know exactly what you mean: 'when I used to go running'. 

     I signed up to Runner's World a few weeks ago to try and keep my spirits up and somehow pretend I was getting closer to being able to run again...  I've been out of action since August 2010 but nobody really seems to know why.  I sustained some sort of thigh injury that virtually stopped me from being able to walk but x-ray and mri scan both showed nothing.  Just as that was starting to recover all the other muscles in my legs and then my arms started to get very painful and weak and I became very tired.  I saw a physio and she said that I had very little stamina in my muscles and queried whether I had had a virus, but she is unable to continue seeing me until I know what's wrong.  All blood tests normal.  GP isn't interested and says that he thinks there's nothing wrong with me and it's all in my head.  Rheumatologist suggested stress fracture and 'post viral fatigue' and that I should have begun to improve by December (I haven't) and then I've had to wait 3 months to see him again.

     I bought an automatic car so that I could get back to work, only to discover that my calf muscles aren't up to driving that far, and I can't walk more than a few hundred metres without having muscles aches for days afterwards.  Feeling abandoned by the medical profession and frustrated at the lack of improvement I self-medicated with magnesium, making myself ill in the process.  I've now decided that I must have candidiasis, so am going to a private allergy clinic later this week to discuss. 

     I'm determined to be able to run again by the end of the year, but that seems like a long time away...

  • Robinson-

    This does sound very serious and frustrating for you- I cannot believe that you are still without a definitive answer as to what has caused the muscle fatigue. I hope that the allergy clinic can give you some answers.

    I know that in some countries there are specialist physicians who specialise in diagnosis- not sure if such people exist in the UK?

    It does sound viral but then blood tests should have showed something.

    Good luck with it all

  • Jacqui, that sounds 'cautiously optimistic', fingers crossed for your continuing recovery. Try not to worry too much about the leg length discrepancy, most of us have it to some degree.

    Robinson, this must all be sooooo frustrating for you! It does sound as if this might be post viral fatigue/chronic fatigue in which case it would be important to listen to your body and not try to push too hard. Private allergy tests don't really have a good reputation so I would counsel caution.

    FromBBC website"Controversial tests

    Some practitioners perform tests that haven't been shown to have an acceptable degree of diagnostic reliability. They shouldn't be relied on for allergy diagnostic purposes as they're of an inferior nature, according to the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology and the Royal College of Pathologists.

    Immunoglobulin G (IgG) - this can be measured in a blood sample and will be raised to specific foods we eat on a regular basis. This rise has no relationship to allergy. In fact, IgG may have some protective effect against allergies. The Royal College of Pathologists doesn't recommend this test as it usually implicates harmless foods , such as wheat, cow’s milk and yeast. Avoidance of these foods in adults has no health benefits and can lead to malnutrition in children.

    VEGA testing – this involves measuring disordered electromagnetic currents in the body to certain substances. The test substances are kept in glass vials connected to a device while a probe measures 'disordered' readings on the patient's hand. According to a survey in the British Medical Journal, the results are unreliable.

    Applied kinesiology – this tests muscle strength in the presence of various allergens held by the patient. A loss of muscle strength in the arm allegedly indicates an allergy or intolerance. The allergy antidote allows muscle strength to return. This test is unreliable and the public should be discouraged from using it, according to the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

    Hair analysis - a sample is analysed for trace element deficiencies or heavy metal toxicity. It has no allergy diagnostic value.

    Provocation-neutralisation testing (Miller technique) and pulse tests - have both been found to be unreliable for diagnosing allergies.

    Leucocytotoxic tests - first advocated in 1956, newer versions include Nutron and ALCAT tests, which measure changes in the blood cell size after the introduction of various food allergens (in a test tube). These tests are unreliable for diagnosing allergies or intolerances according to the European Academy for Allergology and Clinical Immunology.

    Popular 'diagnoses' - usually advanced by alternative practitioners with no medical allergy training - include leaky gut syndrome, intestinal dysbiosis, chronic candidiasis, multiple chemical sensitivities and histaminosis. None of these disputed conditions has any link to allergic diseases."

     If it seems that you are 'allergic' to many different foods you should see a dietician to ensure that you are still getting an adequate intake of essential nutrients. I wish you good luck and good health.

  • Wish I'd found this before!  Another one on the bench with heart problems.

    I caught a virus which has caused myocarditis.  This happened over 3 months ago but  (thanks largely to my GP who insisted that it was asthmaimage ) was only diagnosed last week. I had a scan which showed damage to the heart, the result of the virus and (thank you GP for telling me that it was OK to continue), training on a "damaged" heart. 

    Luckily I do HR training, so was able to use common sense and stop, but thanks to his misdiagnosis, lack of treatment and my not resting,  I developed congestive heart failure over Christmas which was most unpleasant.

    I'm still now no further forward, in fact I got more information from the BHF than my bliddy GP's surgery.  I'm trying to get an appointment to review the results from last week, to find out whether the damage is permanent or will disappear over time, what treatment if any is recommended and whether I can get back to running.  I'm better, but still affected by this every day.  The slightest form of exertion causes me to be breathless whereas the week before I was ill, I was doing my  20 miler LSR in prep for a marathon in December.

    I am livid with my GP's surgery for fobbing me off like this, as I do HR training, I had details of my HRs which had increased massively as my heart was struggling to work.  I didn't know what was wrong but I knew that it was heart-related, but my GP dismissed this information as being irrelevant (I even passed out in the surgery due to lack of oxygen just the result of walking in from the car park, he put it down to "nerves").

    When I spoke to the radiographer at the hospital last week, she was furious that I'd been messed around, said that if I'd been a male presenting with these symptoms, I'd have been taken in immediately and, when she checked the referral form, they'd made no mention of these symptoms, which is why I was put on the "non-urgent" pile.  Only my persistent ringing got me seen last week.

    Such a relief to be able to vent in a quiet way - I have to be careful not to get too stressed, otherwise. . .image

  • ((Jeepers)), I'm not surprised you're feeling more than a little annoyed with your GP - with good cause, I would say! Do you have an appointment arranged with a cardiologist?
  • Thanks Slugsta, no, that's what I'm trying to get sorted today.  Apparently (!) as my GP referred me for tests, the results have to go back to them and I need to see them for the details.  I think that I need to see a cardiologist (in fact the radiographer last week felt that I'd need to go back for possibly stress tests amongst others) but I don't know what the waiting time will be.

    I've made some enquiries re private consultation, if necessary, I'll pay for it myself, time being more important at the moment.  If so, I could be seen (by the same people as at the NHS hospital, obviously!) this week.

    The BHF seemed to think that I could and should be taking medication already.

    *rolls sleeves up*!!!

  • A young, otherwise fit, person with myocarditis and CCF has not been referred to a cardiologist?? FFS!
  • Ah, thank you for the young! (over 50!)

    PS Has your foot injury definitely ruled you out?  I've read your posts, and I remember seeing comments last year, but is there absolutely no chance that you could undergo rehab of some kind? Or if you can't run, is walking an option?

  • Jeepers - that's terrible - I'd say you may need the services of a solicitor too! That with Robinson's account of his NHS assistance doesn't instill confidence. Hope you both get good news soon.
  • I''m 7 months into a bad case of Plantar Fasciitis - have gone from up to 50 miles a week to 20 miles in the last 6 months, no idea when it will go, have been swimming and cycling but to be honest both bore me stupid!!!

    Have got an MRI scan on 30th December and I'm hoping that they find something they can treat - but to be honest I think I am just clinging to any positive I can think of.

    This has got to be the most frustrating period of my sporting life.....................................

    update - I have recently been able to go out once a week for a gentle run - first runs since May 2010 (no real distance or no speed) with my foot taped up (found PF taping technique on youtube).  Foot is not right but is no worse following this type of run.  Have not tried running more than once a week yet, and I am not going to attempt anything more "exciting" than this until I get my MRI results (15th Feb) trying to keep my enthusiasm in check - possible chink of light at the end of the tunnel..........................

  • Wow, great thread!

    I can have my self indulgent moan here and leave me other thread to rest in peace.

    I broke my effing lef before xmas, on 21st december. broke my fib in 2 places and displaced my ankle. have been in cast since then, it comes on on monday 7th and i cant bloody wait, although, GP reckons i wont run again until june. Dr at the hospital says maybe march. Wont know until cast comes off and i try to stand. Personally i think the bones are ok, they feel alright, although i am staring to feel the screws and the muscle wastage is insane.

    My ankle doesnt feel stable, quack reckons ligaments tore when ankle displced, so they will probably take longer to heal than the bones.

    I have been going mental at home, thankfully i can swim in my cast, so have been able to go once per week and catch up with the lads from water polo (my other sport). The worst thing of all is the libido disappearing, i dont know where it has gone, but it has gone somewhere. I hadnt realised how much those type of urges were related to exercise.

    so shuffle up the bench, i'll sitting on it for a while yet........

  • Goodness, having speedread this thread, my ankle injury seems positively pathetic!! I don't know whether to feel mightily cheered up or desperately sorry for you all. I wish you all speedy recoveries.
    Anyway, my point was really only going to be to ask how many of your non runner/exerciser friends have said the phrase "See, I told you running was bad for you!!!"? I find myself actually wanting to slap them!!! (It's ok, I'm a pacifist really) They don't get it that I didn't hurt my ankle running, (I twisted it jumping off a high curb at work) and poo poo me when I try to defend myself.
    But, I'm not going to sit on the bench if you don't mind, I have a good friend who is a sports therapist and I'm very, very lucky that he hasn't charged me for the sessions he's given me including ultra sound. I think I would have given up running had I had to pay full whack!!! I went for a 4 mile run yesterday and was pain free for the first time in weeks.... just as well really, I'm entered in the Chichester 10k on Sunday, wish me luck!!
  • I'm not sure I'm going to wish good luck to someone named 'Slugbait'! image

    Jeepers - the foot surgeon told me to give up all idea of weightbearing exercise. I've tried various orthotics with no success and physios can't offer any help. I wear MBT's to help take the pressure off the sore area and can manage about half a mile without discomfort. Fortunately, the sciatica that has plagued me more recently stops me from walking much so that keeps the trotters more comfortable!

  • Sounds awful Slugsta - any idea where all these problems came from?

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