0 voters
Note that Iāve purposefully limited this poll to Trust Level 2 members only who will likely have had more experience with a vestibular condition.
Iāve consistently walked for up to 3 miles a day and it actually helps my symptoms. Itās not a crazy fast as I can go walk, and I usually have my cane just in case.
Studies show that walking 30 minutes a day helps prevent cardiovascular disease, dementia and a host of other ailments. Walking 60-90 minutes actually extends life expectancy.
When Iām having a particularly bad episode, I will walk on the treadmill since it gives me two bars to hold on to.
Having said all that, you canāt just recommend a walking regimen in general to everyone. Everyoneās MAV is different. You can recommend walking, but how long depends on the person.
I believe that for some people, 15 minutes might be a stretch goal. For others, they might be able to walk for hours on end.
Right after my bypass surgery, I could only manage a walk to the end of my driveway and back. Thatās about 50 feet for you metric folks, thatās just over 15 meters. A year later I was walking 4 miles a day and could have walked further if I had the time.
Once the MAV set in, I let it be an excuse for not walking. The next thing I knew, walking at a slow pace for 30 minutes was a struggle. But, I pushed myself and now Iām back to being able to walk as far as I have the time.
This is truly a mileage may vary issue.
Iād argue you should walk as much as you feasibly can. Follow the simple rule of slowing down when your symptoms are 20% worse than when you started. If you recover quickly, keep going. If not, come back tomorrow. Dance the line and youāll expand your limits.
I followed this advice from my VRT and found my hard limits increased almost exponentially.
I went chronic in 2017. Today I walked a 3.5 mile alpine loop with 600ā elevation gain. MAV wasnāt a limiting factor, though Iāll give Botox credit where itās due. We could have gone for miles more if the arthritis in my hips was calmer. You can reclaim your life but not without braving a little discomfort and being persistent.
Incentive.
Iām with Flutters on this one, Iād say walk as far as is comfortable for you. The duration will increase if you do it regularly, without causing too much fatigue/triggering.
Personally, I canāt even look at my hubby on the treadmill without feeling dizzy - but then Iām not an āathleticā person!
Same old song - āEveryone is differentā!!
I try to do 3 - 5 miles a day most days because it is the activity which helps the most. I think of it as mild Vestibular Therapy. BUT, walking in the deep woods where there is no horizon makes me sometimes worse. Try and find open meadows, walk along water, anywhere you can see a flat horizon helps, just as it does for seasickness.
Still in a bit of a relapse but getting better daily, thanks in part to walking.
@shazam What is the App you posted? Iāve been looking for something that would track my walking. I assume it uses the accelerometers imbedded in our smartphones.
I wish so much I could walk further. Before my latest relapse I was doing 10-14k steps each day for a month. I think that may have contributed to the relapse. Now walking is the biggest trigger and Iāve started getting weird sensations in my legs, like theyāre really heavy. I can manage 30min to 1hour on a good day. On a bad day, a short walk round the block. Always best in the morning, when I go in the evening I often feel terrible.
Fitbit Inspire. Finally a Fitbit app that works! Iāve been struggling with them for 8 years!
I donāt go very fast.
I was hoping it was something that worked directly with an iPhone without a third part device.
Whatās wrong with the native Health app? Any reasonably modern iPhone captures steps out of the box and the steps are shown in the integral Health app.
I need to capture calories burned and the native app doesnāt do that.
So yesterday was a hard day for my husband (who is a āthru-hikerā walking sometimes on trail 25 miles a day.) And he just crashed and we spent the day reading instead of our usual getting out into the woods for 1.5 - 3 hrs. And by evening I was relapsed. Walking is the same as medicine for me: absolutely essential to recovery. Itās not an issue when Iām stable (like eating anything, drinking wine, etc.) But when Iām relapsed, Itās crucial to recovery.