I Hate Exercise. And Here's the Big Reason Why.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My Dad had Muscular Dystrophy.

My chances of inheriting it are small, but still there.

When he was diagnosed the Hospital said it was Facio-scapuro-humeral (spelling wrong but I don’t care) which is Dominant. If this diagnosis was correct, I have a fifty percent chance of inheriting, period.

Well, this freaked me out a good bit, so I went to my Dad’s doctor, who told me by the way my Dad’s weakness was presenting he had Limb-Girdle instead. Limb-Girdle has too many different strains to specify but with most, it’s recessive. Which means I have a twenty-five percent chance of inheriting if my Mom has the same defective gene, which I doubt. Or there are some rarer strains that are Dominant. Fifty-percent. Or my dad, jerk that he was, might’ve developed a whole new mutation, and then who knows?

I’m not showing any signs, thank god. But I’m forty-six, and my dad was fifty when he was diagnosed. I get nervous about this.

What does this have to do with exersize?

Every small muscle weakness, every muscular hesitation, every slight strain sends a chill through my soul. All I can do is tell myself, “Hey, there’s no cure, you either have it or you don’t. So all you can do is wait and see, and get on with your life.
Don’t dwell on it.” I do this as best I can for life’s little muscular aches and pains.

I went to Curves for two years, and every stumble, every wince made me wonder, “Maybe…maybe…”

I’m one of those who exersize is NOT enjoyable. I don’t get a runner’s high. I get athsma, and the lingering fear that haunts me regardless of what I do.

So, no, I’m not exersizing now. I know I should. But I hate it. I have my reasons.

2

Are you the one who started that thread about how obesity may not be that bad?

3

If you mean the “Chicken of Tomorrow” thread, yes I am.

4

I do get what you mean. (As I probably mention too often) I have had several stomach operations. When I exercise every single little pain in the stomach triggers an *OMG did something break in there? Do I need another operation? Please dear god don’t let it be! *

However, for me, exercise also helps contribute to not having to go back. So I exercise anyway. (At least, when my joints let me.)

5

What an awful thing to have hanging over your head. Is it something that can come on at any time?

6

Yes, depending on my mood. A good deal of the time I don’t think about it. I also have periodic depressions that make it worse. (like now).

7

I can see why you would dread exercise. I’m not really a natural exercise-enjoyer either, except for a small range of activities. But I find my parents’ health problems to be a good motivator. My mom’s obesity, sleep apnea, arthritis, and my dad’s high-blood pressure/cholesterol/cancer are all things I know are hereditary, but can all be avoided or at least ameliorated with routine exercise/healthy diet/blah blah blah.

Think of it this way; muscular dystrophy is a pretty horrible affliction, but there are other health problems almost or just as bad, that you can reduce your risk of by exercising.

I also realize that fear is a fairly crappy motivator. I usually just use it to get me going, and then use the momentum to carry me. YMMV.

8

My family history pegs me as ready to die from cancer yesterday. All the more reason to run bi-athalons today.

When I am drained, I don’t think “Uh oh, I’ve got luekemia” or “I’d better get checked for lymphoma”.

I drink a lot to keep hydrated, and pee a bunch, but don’t think “Damn, it’s prostate cancer coming to kill me”.

9

I understand that having a genetic disease in the family leads to anxiety. However, what you’re doing, basically, is letting this disease limit you before you even have it.
I’ve sometimes found that dreading something is frequently worse than actually having it happen is. So my suggestion would be rather than to live in fear of getting MD, try to think of it like this: ok, what if you do have MD? How are you going to cope with that? How has your dad coped with it?

If you did find out that you had this sort of muscular dystrophy, it wouldn’t mean your life is over. People with those forms of MD can still live a normal life span, fortunately. It would just mean life would be different and harder in some ways - but you could adapt and learn to live with it.
In fact, if you did in fact have muscular dystrophy, exercise would actually probably help you. Here’s a journal abstract about having MD patients in an exercise program that mentions Patients with “limb-girdle” and facioscapulohumeral dystrophy derived the greatest physical and functional benefit from the program.

Maybe trying gentle forms of exercise like swimming would be a good way to start. Wouldn’t you feel silly if you were dreading getting MD at 50 only to die of a heart attack at 49 because you had not been exercising?
(After all, even without a genetic susceptibility, most of us are going to die of either heart disease or cancer).

10

You seemed really defensive about being overweight in that thread…are you sure this isn’t just a way of trying to trot out more excuses for why weight loss is impossible for you?

11

I’m not familiar with MD - does exercise make it worse? Is there a medical professional you can talk to about your fears? If MD isn’t made worse by exercise, wouldn’t being in really good condition actually help your chances of surviving a debilitating condition?

12

Any port in a storm huh?

Let me tell you a story. My father died when I was 11. I remember my mum teaching me all sorts of things, like how to balance a checkbook, ride the train, do the wash, etc. She said “No one’s gonna take care of you if I die, so you have to learn.” I worried about what would happen if she died, what would happen to me."

When I was 16 she had a heart attack and died, and well she was right I had no one to take care of me, BUT she had prepared me to take care of myself.

See my point? All that worrying didn’t stop her from dying.

Don’t use worry to keep you from living, use it to make better use of your time, for as the saying goes “Even in the best of times, your days are still numbered.”

13

I never said in that thread that weight loss was impossible for me. I simply said that I think I am naturally a large person.

Unwanted thoughts intruding on my mind is something I have always had to contend with. I deal with it as best I can, but I can’t deny that I have them.

No, muscular dystrophy would not be the end of my life, but you must understand. My dad had my Mom and myself to help him through the last nine years of his life. I, single with no marriage prospects, no children and no siblings would not have the same options. I guess you’re all hearing the violin in the background now. Sorry, but this is the possible reality that I am looking at.

I know exercise is good, and that I need to do it. But I don’t expect to enjoy it.

14

Maybe I shouldn’t mention this, but if your dad had a recessive version, that meant he had two copies of the mutation, so he definitely passed it on to you. That means that you have a 50% chance of getting it, if your mom has the same mutation, which is highly unlikely.

Unless there’s some aspect of MD genetics of which I am unaware.

15

That’s one word for them.

16

The literature I read said twenty-five percent, I’m not sure of the math. I highly doubt my mom has the gene.

17

Exercise isn’t just working out at a gym. Someone else mentioned swimming. You can take up riding a bike, or skating, or how about dancing lessons? That would be a lot of fun! Just try walking – even if you’re just going shopping.

18

Let’s assume that Dad has both recessive genes (rr) and Mom has it once (rD).

Possible combos are only two, rr and rD. What’s very low is the probability that your mother has it, plus you really need to read up on the difference between phenotype and genotype.

Even if you happen to have the genes, those genes still need to be triggered; there may be other genes which protect you from the deleterious effect of that one; there may be environmental factors without which the disease won’t happen.

Seriously, you need to learn to focus on the positives of your present, because the path you’re on leads to not getting out of bed in case you misstep and break an ankle.

19

Then find something, anything, to do that you can enjoy and will get out and actually DO. Seriously. Even an easy Sat or Sunday of moderate exercise will do wonders, for your mind and your body.

20

Well I doubt if very many people enjoy it, I am sure there are some that do. My wife and I go, can’t say I enjoy the exercise itself, but I enjoy the fruits of that exercise.

My wife has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and used to be very overweight–this was all before I met her. When she was first diagnosed with MS, she naturally read up on it and of course scared the shit out of herself. She was overweight and one day she decided that if she was going to have MS she should do what she could. And hauling around an extra 75-80 pounds wasn’t going to help the situation, especially if she had to get a nurse to assist her. Rolling someone over who is HWP is much easier I imagine then assisting someone overweight. So she set out to lose that weight and she has kept the weight off now for over six years.

She just started really watching her diet, and walked, eventually got to the point where she could go to the gym and started yoga and pilates. By the time I met her, she had lost the weight (and she is one hot chick let me tell you!) and her MS is in remission. She has had a couple of episodes (they are called something else but I can’t remember the name), but her doctor firmly believes her attitude and fitness play into the remission. But she doesn’t enjoy the exercise, but it is important for her health–both physical and mental. She has the same concerns you have. We all get little tingles now and then, but with her she wonders if it is normal or MS. But she can’t live her life worrying about it…life goes on. I didn’t hesitate to marry her, if she develops full blown MS well then we will deal with it, I can’t change it, but I can and do go exercise with her to support her and for my own health as well.

She just refuses to give in and play the victim. She qualifies for a HC sticker for her car but I know she won’t ever get one. She doesn’t need it and if she accepts it then she is accepting the inevitable. Fight it is what you have to do. Even if you didn’t have MD, it sounds like you need to lose weight. Don’t let the MD decide for you is my advice. Good Luck.