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More medical foo
Oct. 11th, 2023 12:19 pmI've been working with a personal trainer on strength training for almost 2 years now, and I’ve seen good results. The biggest of which was that before we got sick in Scotland, days of multiple hours on my feet did NOT result in the arthritis in my feet hurting! Three previous trips where my feet would be so painful by the end of the day, and the pain would continue through the night—the pressure of sheets on my feet hurt—and still be there in the morning.
Not this time! Yeah my feet were somewhat sore after walking all day, but if I got off them for a while it would recede, and in the morning the pain was GONE. So yay!
However! My strength is much better now, but my endurance is still crap, mostly because I get so so so bored when doing movement for a long period of time. Especially on the treadmill. This summer, before the temps got to 108F on a regular basis, our trainer was starting to get me to work on endurance, taking walks outside.
Unfortunately I discovered that by the time I got to the top of our local hill when walking, it felt like the base of my rib age was constricting, and like there was an iron bar across the top of my back, and I couldn't get enough air. I had previously been diagnosed with possible exercise-induced asthma, waaaay back in the day when I was doing karate, so I toddled off to the doc, explained all this, and asked for an inhaler.
The doc said, hmm, I’ll give you one but I’d really like you to do cardiac stress testing to rule out heart issues. The inhaler worked perfectly! No chest constriction! I can make it to the top of the hill without feeling like I'm going to pass out!
The doc said, hmmm, I think you should still do the stress test.
Ok fine. So I ended up putting it off because of things like Scotland, Covid, and the more urgent thyroid biopsy, but finally had it today. Cardiac stress testing is pretty much what it sounds like: they wire you up with a bunch of electrode things, ultrasound your cardiac activity to get a resting baseline, stick you on the treadmill until you're at something like 93% of your estimated cardiac max (which is pretty strenuous!), and monitor your cardiac activity and blood pressure. And as soon as it’s done, you roll back into the gurney and they ultrasound you again to compare to pre-exercise.
I did not take my inhaler, although I brought it, because I did not want to screw with their results. The first 3 minutes were fine: they had me walking at 1.7mph on a bit of an incline, which is honestly my warmup on the treadmill (typically 3-5 minutes at that). And my blood pressure was way better than I expected it, even. Woo! And then they cranked it up to 2.5 mph at a 12% incline. I know for those of you with good cardio (and longer legs!) that's nothing, but for me AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Mostly because of the chest-constriction problems. And I was coughing, pretty damn hard, and feeling light-headed. Luckily I hit that 93% heart rate max before I passed out, and was able to roll onto the gurney and get the readings, and then the doc handed me my inhaler.
Results? I spent $100 on a copay and felt like I was going to die, and have a torso covered in adhesive remnants from the electrode thingies to learn that I have…exercise-induced asthma. He said the coughing was characteristic of it, and there were no problems with my cardiac activity.
Ok yeah, it's good to rule out any problems, but I still have to do a bit of internal “I fucking TOLD you!” about the asthma. And wish it had been diagnosed when I was a kid because physical activity would have not had quite such bad associations with it. (Hands up all my peeps who complained of pain and other things when exercising as a kid to be told it was our fault because we didn't exercise enough! I walked on an injured ankle ligament for six years because nobody took me seriously enough to take me to a doctor! I have a lot of baggage about that!)
On the bright side, I now have a solid number for the heart rate range to be aiming for when I exercise! :D
Not this time! Yeah my feet were somewhat sore after walking all day, but if I got off them for a while it would recede, and in the morning the pain was GONE. So yay!
However! My strength is much better now, but my endurance is still crap, mostly because I get so so so bored when doing movement for a long period of time. Especially on the treadmill. This summer, before the temps got to 108F on a regular basis, our trainer was starting to get me to work on endurance, taking walks outside.
Unfortunately I discovered that by the time I got to the top of our local hill when walking, it felt like the base of my rib age was constricting, and like there was an iron bar across the top of my back, and I couldn't get enough air. I had previously been diagnosed with possible exercise-induced asthma, waaaay back in the day when I was doing karate, so I toddled off to the doc, explained all this, and asked for an inhaler.
The doc said, hmm, I’ll give you one but I’d really like you to do cardiac stress testing to rule out heart issues. The inhaler worked perfectly! No chest constriction! I can make it to the top of the hill without feeling like I'm going to pass out!
The doc said, hmmm, I think you should still do the stress test.
Ok fine. So I ended up putting it off because of things like Scotland, Covid, and the more urgent thyroid biopsy, but finally had it today. Cardiac stress testing is pretty much what it sounds like: they wire you up with a bunch of electrode things, ultrasound your cardiac activity to get a resting baseline, stick you on the treadmill until you're at something like 93% of your estimated cardiac max (which is pretty strenuous!), and monitor your cardiac activity and blood pressure. And as soon as it’s done, you roll back into the gurney and they ultrasound you again to compare to pre-exercise.
I did not take my inhaler, although I brought it, because I did not want to screw with their results. The first 3 minutes were fine: they had me walking at 1.7mph on a bit of an incline, which is honestly my warmup on the treadmill (typically 3-5 minutes at that). And my blood pressure was way better than I expected it, even. Woo! And then they cranked it up to 2.5 mph at a 12% incline. I know for those of you with good cardio (and longer legs!) that's nothing, but for me AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. Mostly because of the chest-constriction problems. And I was coughing, pretty damn hard, and feeling light-headed. Luckily I hit that 93% heart rate max before I passed out, and was able to roll onto the gurney and get the readings, and then the doc handed me my inhaler.
Results? I spent $100 on a copay and felt like I was going to die, and have a torso covered in adhesive remnants from the electrode thingies to learn that I have…exercise-induced asthma. He said the coughing was characteristic of it, and there were no problems with my cardiac activity.
Ok yeah, it's good to rule out any problems, but I still have to do a bit of internal “I fucking TOLD you!” about the asthma. And wish it had been diagnosed when I was a kid because physical activity would have not had quite such bad associations with it. (Hands up all my peeps who complained of pain and other things when exercising as a kid to be told it was our fault because we didn't exercise enough! I walked on an injured ankle ligament for six years because nobody took me seriously enough to take me to a doctor! I have a lot of baggage about that!)
On the bright side, I now have a solid number for the heart rate range to be aiming for when I exercise! :D
