Too much rehab?? Am I pushing too hard?

    • Anonymous
      October 8, 2006 at 4:29 pm

      I read a recent thread which said basically that when they send you to rehab you are treated as a stroke patient and this is NOT good asthey push you too hard
      could someone Please explain this to me again
      I am pushing my brother daily and now I am afraid I am doing more harm than good
      help me please before I make him worse
      Hope

    • Anonymous
      October 8, 2006 at 4:57 pm

      Hope,

      Gene and I think Lee have a good answer on how much is too much, it has to do with time it takes to recover from the excercise.
      I was pushed very hard when i was in hospital, and when going to PT afterward. It wasnt for long periods at a time, but they were intense sessions, and it was extremely difficult. I broke a mean sweat and was exhausted at the end of the session, almost cried during some. I really believe if my PT wasnt as good as it was, I may possibly have more visible signs now.
      Just thinking about it now, lots of my sessions were things like, learning to roll over, which took a number of sessions to achieve, concentrating only on that. So I guess it also has to do with what kind of therapy is being done.

    • Anonymous
      October 8, 2006 at 10:44 pm

      i have been through various pt programs, and being treated as a stroke patient wasn’t one of them. gbs people need to be treated like gbs people, yes somethings are similar, but too much is easily reached in a stroke therapy session. repettative motions should be limited in gbs people, no weights until well after walking is recovered well enough. i am the type to push the limits myself and i have /am still learning it won’t make for a faster recovery the more reps or more weight you do. easy does it and if you don’t recover within 8-14 hours afterwards then it is too much. no pain no gain is not good, if there is pain then stop. alot of rest is good. recovery is different for everyone, and it can’t be rushed to fit into a schedule. there might be days when no therapy can be tolerated, that is ok, there will be days where you might want to do 10 reps more, not always good, little increases are good, when ready for them. take care.:)

    • Anonymous
      October 9, 2006 at 12:23 pm

      I am not a doctor but a recovering/recovered GBSer. Prior to having GBS, I worked out 5-7 days per week including lifting weights and jogging.

      As such, after coming out of the hospital, I was very focussed on getting back to the gym and working out.

      What I learned what that no matter how much I worked out, my muscles needed a long time to regenerate/recover, literally months.

      So in hindsight, I would recommend working out, but not too much as (i) possible to get too drained and relapse and (ii) initially the muscles will take a long time to regenerate, so there is not much point in working out a lot.

    • Anonymous
      October 10, 2006 at 10:33 am

      Dear Hope:

      As a general rule, if you think you are wondering whether you are working out too much, you are probably working out too much.

      GBS is a nerve problem, not a muscle problem. If you exercise your muscles until your nerves are depleted of the energy required to have them function, then there isn’t any actual progress. As a matter of fact, exercising to the point of exhausting the nerves of the energy they require to function may make thing worse.

      With a stroke, the PT is trying to get the patient to connect alternate neuro pathways. The harder you work at it, the better it gets.

      When you work out post GBS, you should work up to the point of pain, but never past it. You should workout until you are tired, and everything after that is counter productive. You should drink water before you are thirsty. You should eat before you get hungry. You should go to sleep before you feel the need for sleep. GBS seriously depletes the amount of energy you have for proper nerve functioning. If you learn good energy management, you can reduce your pain levels, reduce residual effects, and increase strength and coordination.

      Lee

    • Anonymous
      October 10, 2006 at 1:48 pm

      As you can see, every case is different. My son (age 16) had mild GBS in June. He lost the use of his legs and has pretty severe facial paralysis and high blood pressure.

      He just medaled in a 3.1 mile cross country conference race yesterday (10/10).

      He was in great shape before onset, and worked very hard to get back. He never had a day that was worse than the last in his recovery – but then he experienced no pain with GBS whatsoever.

    • Anonymous
      October 11, 2006 at 4:28 am

      my father got GBS last year, as a nurse, I think rehab program should be different to one and others.
      my father said that, he did a bit more when he started to feel hard.

    • Anonymous
      October 12, 2006 at 12:46 pm

      thank you all for the information
      Hope