Exercising With Lupus

Happy Holidays!  Hoping everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.  As with any celebration, eating tons of food goes along with the territory.  Anyone with lupus or any other chronic autoimmune disease can attest to the fact that weight is almost always on the mind.  Steroids and other chronic medications can make it extremely difficult to maintain or lose weight.  Additionally, arthritis, fatigue and many other ailments with lupus can inhibit people from wanting to exercise.  So, like millions of other Americans I've decided to begin an exercise regimen to combat this weighty issue. Again.  Yes, I have been here several times before.  My lupus usually rears its ugly head sometime during my exercise schedule leaving me with flu-like symptoms, fevers and severe arthritic pain, but I know heart disease is something that I want to avoid since it is especially prevalent in lupus. 

Let me begin by saying that I am always careful to start slowly and work my way into a more moderate form of exercise.  Unfortunately, my childhood pastime of running is completely out of the question.  As a result of lupus, I have arthritis that has gotten much worse over the last couple of years.  So, having already discussed forms of exercise with my rheumatologist, I have settled on a regimen of walking using a wonderful walking DVD that I can do in the home.  As a side note, I always like to do exercise videos because I can shut them off if I start to feel poorly.

Day One is especially exhilarating as I love feeling my muscles work and building up a sweat.  I have always loved to exercise.  Consequently, not being able to do exercises that I have always loved to do has been extremely difficult for me to overcome mentally.  Denial is inherent and initially present in most everything I try to do physically.  However, I have learned over the last several years that believing I can exercise the same way my friends do will only end in pain, tears and many months of recuperation.   So, I was very excited to begin my walking routine last night consisting of forty minutes of low impact walking activities.  The burst of endorphins kept spirits high well into Day Two of my exercise routine.  Tonight's routine consisted of just 30 minutes of moderate walking which left me feeling elated, but fatigued.  Arthritis symptoms are worse, and flu-like symptoms have reappeared.  Yet, I am not defeated.  A day of rest will hopefully do the trick since I have an easy going and flexible regimen which is the key to any lupus exercise routine.  I look forward to posting further updates on my exercise adventure as well as information on Revlimid^® which is a new medication being tested for cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE).  It is a drug similar to thalidomide that has been shown to significantly improve CLE in people unresponsive to other medications. 

Again, I wish everyone a Happy New Year, and will post again soon!

Hello to everyone in the lupus world, including loved ones touched by this disease.  I've been living with lupus for over a decade and have a unique perspective on the disease as a licensed pharmacist.  Friends and family alike have encouraged me along the way to continue my efforts in bringing clarity and awareness to everyone affected by this disease.  My goal is to reduce anxiety when I can as well as arm people with the best lupus information possible in order to make great healthcare decisions. 

Most people take a backseat approach to healthcare, following doctor's orders unquestioningly.  While understandable, my approach encourages everyone, regardless of disease state whether it's lupus, diabetes or hypertension, to walk into their doctor's office with the most up-to-date information in order to discuss options of care, putting control back into the "patient's" hands. 

This blog has been created to give lupus information to those who are in need or just curious as well as an outlet for me to catalog my life's adventure with lupus.  I thank you for your interest and look forward to this new journey!

(This blog is for informational purposes only.  Always seek your doctor's advice.)