This month we wanted to share a story from one of our inspirational Award winning members, Danielle from Anytime Fitness Ilkeston.
Danielle’s Mum was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder but always refused to get any treatment. Sadly her mum committed suicide, which had a huge impact on Danielle. Losing a parent is hard at any time in life, but losing one to suicide is particularly difficult to come to terms with. Danielle did a lot of research into the condition to help her understand better what her mother had been going through.
She noticed similar behaviours in her own life and decided she needed to take action. She went to see her GP and was diagnosed fairly swiftly with Bipolar disorder. She wanted to give her children a better childhood than she’d had and started taking medication, but quickly found this made it difficult to be the mum she wanted to be. She felt she was no longer taking an active part in life. She felt drowsy and not present in the moment.
She decided she needed to find another way to manage her symptoms so when she discovered her local Anytime Fitness gym she decided to find out more. She was particularly drawn by the 24/7 aspect – this meant she could work out whenever her symptoms allowed.
Danielle also has Fibromyalgia, a condition which causes muscle and joint pain. With the help of the staff at the club she was able to find exercises that helped and the determination to persevere towards her goals. It would be easy not to push yourself when your body is in pain, but the benefits of exercise and increasing flexibility have really helped Danielle with the symptoms of Fibromyalgia as well as her Bipolar disorder.
Danielle has lost an incredible 4.5 stone since joining and feels she is now much more focused, confident and has a much higher self esteem. Her daughter Sasha has also joined the gym which means mum and daughter can workout together. This has really helped their relationship too, having something they both enjoy and can do together, encouraging each other and driving each other to continue, both seeing the benefits in their lives.
Danielle told us, “It’s given me my life back and it’s given them their mum back.”
You can watch her story in the video above. We’d love to hear from anyone who has found exercise helped them to live with the symptoms of Bipolar disorder or fibromyalgia.
And finally, if you want to find out more about Bipolar disorder, please visit the Mind website.
