I appreciated your excercizing tips and advices, and would like to say THANKS.
Reading your responses, my understanding is that there are (2) indicators, hemoglobin and potassium, which i must monitor carefully and adjust my level of activities accordingly. During treatment, both indicators will drop and fluctuate significantly.
My current results are 14.4 for hemo and 3.8 for potass, and i weigh 135lbs. Assuming both indicators drop 30% under tx, i am not quite clear how much i should adjust my workout routine's heart rate and activities with such drop. should i just go by how if feel, or is there a good rule of thumb to balance excercizing against the blood count?
Alagirl,
you mentioned to check the electrolyte panel regularly. what should i be looking for in the resutls? thanks!
Again thanks for all your advice. it was very helpful.
fyi,
i have both B and C. just got my lab results back today, and the viral counts are much higher this time, almost double. 3M for B, and 7M for C. yikes......
on the other hand, the good news is i am HbeAg negative, and HbeAb possitive.
All the best to all.
Rode 75m and climbed 7K ft today. it was cold.
This is my opinion. Movement helps (a lot) aching and stiff bones and joints. HOWEVER, you must balance how much you exercise and move around against your blood count at that time. If you are running very anemic or very low in potassium (particularly that last one, get it checked frequently if you're exercising, these drugs seem to be able to strip it right out of you) if you are running low on red blood cells or potassium you can damage your heart if you put too much stress on it. So just keep regular checks that include a cbc and electrolyte panel (an anemia b profile will include all of that) and if its within normal ranges, I would talk to your doc, of course, but I would think you should be good.
Also, know that on treatment your blood count can change DRASTICALLY within just a few days. Its a good idea to get bloodwork often at first until you know how you are affected by the tx drugs, ESPECIALLY if you're exercising. If you are feeling fatigued, listen to your body and go in for bloodwork. Your body really will try to warn you about what's going on, I believe anyway, if you just pay attention.
Moderate excercise is a good idea. I'm in week 14 of tx and I find that taking a long walk at least every other day helps me feel better. I cannot jog while on tx because I get short of breath.
Vik
Before Tx started I used to Jog on my treadmill for 2 miles twice a week and work out with weights vigorously 3 times a week for an hour. Well after the first week I stopped jogging all together. I felt lite headed and got too out of breath.
I forced myself to keep doing the weight workouts for 3 months and then I got scared and had to stop. I was carrying a Dresser that was still in a box (made of that heavy compressed wood) up a flight and a half of stairs and when I put it down I thought I was going to have a heart attack my heart was beating so fast.
It depends on how much your hemoglobin drops. Mine dropped from a pre treatment level of 17 to 11.7 during treatment which is a significant drop. It all depends. If yours is nomally 14 and drops to 11.5 you may be ok. You will have to wait and see.
generally, only light exercise is recommended. its easy to over do it.
in that case, it does do more harm than good. most of us completely
lose our ability to run but we can still walk or cycle lightly. ive been afraid to swim because of susceptabilty to infection.