I’m 57F and have lifted consistently for about 40 years. Training has always been HUGE part of my life, but over the past few years (the worst this last year) I’ve been pretty sick with ongoing gut/nervous-system issues. At times I’ve been almost bed-bound, so compared with my old self, I’m extremely sedentary right now. (LIKE 3-5K per day)

I’m trying to look at this period as rehab/maintenance rather than training for progress.

I have a treadmill, dumbbells/weights, and a bench at home. Right now, on days I can tolerate it, I’m doing things like:

• 5–10 minute easy treadmill walks every few hours
• 1–2 sets of something like a 20-lb goblet squat or Bulgarian split squats (even body weight)
• A couple sets of upper-body work, rotating exercises/body parts
• Basically little “movement snacks” spread throughout the day rather than an actual workout

Nutrition-wise, I’m doing my best to eat around my body weight in grams of protein daily.

I’m not trying to gain muscle right now. I just desperately want to maintain as much muscle and strength as possible until my health improves and I can train normally again. (I MISS IT SO MUCH)

For someone with a long lifting history, what would you consider the minimum effective dose of resistance training to maintain muscle during a period like this?

Are these little sets throughout the day enough to give my body a “keep this muscle” signal?

This has been mentally really hard after being active for so many years, so I’d especially love to hear from anyone who has had to drastically reduce training for months because of illness/injury and eventually made their way back.

57F. I’m considering restarting very low-dose nortriptyline and would really appreciate hearing from people with similar symptoms.

I have a complicated GI/motility picture with documented rapid intestinal transit. My worst days usually start before I eat: I wake up profoundly fatigued/woozy with heavy or burning legs, nausea/upper abdominal pressure, multiple bowel movements, and then my intestines can develop hours of very strong cramping/spasms and trapped-gas pressure.

My doctors have discussed a gut-brain/nerve-signaling component, and I’m now also pursuing neurology because of the burning/heavy leg symptoms. I’ve tried antispasmodics and peppermint products, but they don’t reliably prevent these all-day flares.

I have nortriptyline at home and am wondering whether a very low dose could calm the GI nerve signaling/cramping and possibly help the nerve-type leg pain too. I’m sensitive to medications and worried about fatigue, constipation, and feeling drugged.

For anyone using it for IBS, visceral pain, functional dyspepsia, neuropathic pain, or similar symptoms:

• What dose did you start with?
• How long before you noticed improvement?
• Did it help nausea, abdominal cramping/spasms, gas pressure, or diarrhea/rapid transit?
• Did it help any nerve pain or whole-body symptoms?
• Were the first couple of weeks rough?
• If nortriptyline wasn’t the right medication, what neuromodulator worked better for you?

I’m especially interested in success stories from people who started very low and slowly increased. I’m not looking for a diagnosis...just real experiences before deciding whether to try it again.

I'm a 57-year-old woman who was previously very active and lifted weights 5–6 days a week. Over the past few years, my health has steadily declined, and over the last several weeks I've become much worse. I'm now spending many days in bed and struggling just to eat enough calories.

Main symptoms:

• Severe morning fatigue (can barely function)
• Burning/aching legs
• Morning bowel movements that often end with a liquid stool
• Upper abdominal nausea/fullness after eating
• Lower abdominal cramping, bloating, and trapped gas
• Difficulty eating enough without symptoms flaring
• Some days I can function almost normally, other days I'm essentially bedridden
• Wore a CGM..NO hypoglycemia

What I've already had:

• Mayo GI Motility workup
• Whole-gut transit study: rapid transit
• Endoscopy/colonoscopy
• Gastric emptying study (normal)
• CT angiogram (normal)
• Autonomic testing (essentially normal)
• Extensive blood work
• No evidence of inflammatory bowel disease or an obvious structural problem

I've also been diagnosed over the years with IBS, visceral hypersensitivity, SIBO, microscopic colitis (historically), eosinophilic esophagitis (now in remission), and GERD.

The autonomic symptoms are worse and this is playing with my brain because it started as GI stuff. I'm wondering what came first? GI or ANS?

I've tried dietary changes, supplements, antispasmodics, peppermint oil, and I'm working with a functional GI doctor who is focused on rebuilding nutrition because I'm struggling to maintain weight and calories.

What would your next step be if you were me?"

Has anyone been in a similar situation.. I need some hope.

I’m a 57-year-old wife, mom, professor, and previously very active/athletic woman. Before this illness, I exercised regularly, lifted weights, and had a full, active life. Over the last 3 years, my quality of life has declined dramatically.

I have a very predictable pattern that no one has been able to explain.

About every other day, I wake up exhausted and my legs burn/tired despite what appears to be a decent night’s sleep. Before I eat anything, I have multiple bowel movements (often 5–8+ loose stools over a few hours). Along with this, I develop profound fatigue, wooziness, and pressure across my upper abdomen/transverse colon (around and just above my belly button). The fatigue is so severe that I often spend much of the morning lying in bed because I feel like I can barely keep my eyes open.

The strange part is that **this begins before I eat.** Food doesn’t seem to trigger the episode—it often starts while fasting. Eating afterward frequently increases the abdominal pressure and discomfort, making it difficult to get enough calories in. By later in the day, the pressure sometimes eases, hunger returns, and I slowly begin functioning again.

On my **good days**, I’m able to:
Lift weights.
Walk 8,000–10,000 steps.
Eat 1,700–1,900 calories.
Function almost normally.

On my **bad days**, I may only tolerate 1,300–1,400 calories, can barely work, postpone errands and housework, and spend much of the day resting because of overwhelming fatigue.

So far I’ve had extensive GI workup, including:
Endoscopy/colonoscopy.
Gastric emptying study (normal).
Esophageal manometry (normal).
Whole-gut transit scintigraphy showing **relatively rapid transit**.
CT scan without significant GI findings.
Autonomic testing that did **not** show autonomic failure.

I have also tried multiple medications, including neuromodulators, without meaningful improvement, and some caused significant side effects.
My biggest problem is honestly **not the diarrhea.. it is profound fatigue and loss of function that accompanies these episodes.** I feel like I lose half my life to this pattern.

**Has anyone experienced something similar, where severe fatigue consistently accompanies morning bowel activity before eating? If so, did your doctors eventually identify a cause or treatment that helped?**