Lyme + Aging

[LimboJim]

Riding eMTBs alleviates my post-treatment Lyme Disease symptoms, which have lingered in me for a few years now. Of course, aging also contributes to my need for pedal assistance, along with never having been very athletic.

The ability to use more assistance when I feel lousy and less when I don't is an absolute godsend. The frequent riding PAS allows has also lowered my A1C, triglycerides and blood pressure, and increased my semblance of sanity.

 

[rannyv]

Agreed about the assistance level when tired. I used to dread days I rode the conventional bike to work when the day was over. Now that I'm 60, my energy level at the end of the day isn't always great. The e-bike has brought back the fun to the evening portion of the commute.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Jim, that's awesome. It's just one of the benefits of an ebike. Sadly, some of the regular acoustic bikers don't get it yet, but you're in good company sir.
Nicely done!

 

[rannyv]

I ride e-bikes and I ride Zwift 4-5 days a week. After two years I had a check up. No difference in triglycerides, A1C, or cholesterol. But when the doctor took my blood pressure he said, "Ah ha! There's your exercising." It moved me well into normal territory from borderline high. Doc then offered me a metformin prescription. I declined. Good to hear that e-biking helped you in so many ways. That's really wonderful. I do it because I love it, and while I was hoping for better results I'll take the lower blood pressure and weight loss. Maybe I just need to lose more weight...

A friend does a low carb diet and it has brought his numbers way down. The diet is a little extreme, but I tried it for a month and if nothing else, it made me very aware of how prevalent carbs are and how overly sweetened most foods in our American diet are. All my numbers are still pretty normal, but the belly was starting to get mushy. At some point, one can't escape these things, I suppose. Increased bike commuting certainly hasn't hurt.

 

[rich c]

Riding eMTBs alleviates my post-treatment Lyme Disease symptoms, which have lingered in me for a few years now. Of course, aging also contributes to my need for pedal assistance, along with never having been very athletic.

The ability to use more assistance when I feel lousy and less when I don't is an absolute godsend. The frequent riding PAS allows has also lowered my A1C, triglycerides and blood pressure, and increased my semblance of sanity.

I can relate. In 2006 I started having extreme fatigue. In 2007 I was put on disability at work for 6 months. I was tested for lyme, but always got a negative. I did have extremely high antibodies showing an immune reaction to wheat. Never had the celiac biopsy to confirm since a gluten free diet was going to be required one way or the other. I've found stress to be a contributing factor as well. This past 1 1/2 years have been really bad in my family, with my Mother now in hospice care. I find the fatigue fighting back. The eBike has really been good for me. I'm able to average about 2,500+ miles over the last 3 years. Without eBikes, that would be dramatically lower, or no miles at all.