Gastroparesis puts a damper on exercising due to the fatigue, nausea, & cramping. Needless to say exercise and the GP symptoms don’t mix. However, there are rare glimmers when you feel well enough to get some exercise in. Thankfully, today was one of those days!
Growing up I was a runner. I still enjoy running and have completed 2 half marathons despite of Gastroparesis! They are 2 of my proudest accomplishments. Both times I was completely overwhelmed with emotion throughout the entire 3 hours of the race to the point of crying off and on. This has now overflowed into any time that I exercise.
I am fortunate enough to have a spin bike at home so that whenever I am feeling well enough, I can go downstairs, hop on the bike, and quite literally go for a spin! I needed to remove all obstacles, because by the time I drive somewhere to exercise I could begin to feel ill. So tonight I was feeling well and was so excited to go for a ride on the spin bike. As usual with exercise, there were several times during the ride that tears would begin to swell.
Tears come frequently with exercise now-a-days. They are tears of joy over being able to get some exercise in. They are tears of sadness over not being able to have exercise as part of my daily routine any more. They are tears of anger over having Gastroparesis rip so much away from me. They are tears of revenge for telling GP what for. They are tears of frustration for there not being a cure. It is an emotional roller coaster. With every push of the pedal it is a different emotion. With every push of the pedal I start to feel a little more “normal”. With every push of the pedal I feel like I am trying to speed far far away from Gastroparesis.
It feels good to pedal away from Gastroparesis for a night and I will celebrate the accomplishment. I’ll hold on to this for as many days as I can, because today I won! Take that GP!
~Millie
Adventures with Gastroparesis 