Starting Strengths for a Female with Dyautonomia and EDS
Good evening,
I was hoping to get some feedback on whether or not the Novice Linear Progression would be applicable for a female with several chronic health conditions. I believe the use of barbell exercises to increase body composition and strength would greatly improve her quality of life. The following is a summary of her current conditions:
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Illness History & Descriptions:
- Dysautonomia (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome: POTS) - In short, the brains ability to regulate functions controlled by the autonomic nervous system is impaired. The most significant symptom is that her body is incapable of properly regulating her heart beat and blood pressure. So in her current state if she is standing for too long a period, her blood will pool in her feet and lower body resulting in syncope since the brain is not receiving as much blood as needed. Other symptoms include respiratory dysfunction, internal body temperature irregularity, chronic fatigue, and other general cardio vascular dysfunction.
- Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome - This is a genetic illness which causes hypermobility in both large and small joints produced by a deficiency in collagen. The trainee in this case is able to hyper extend her shoulders and elbows and frequently dislocates her knee and hip joints. This leads to frequently present pain.
- Median-Arcuate Ligament Syndrome - The celiac artery (and celiac plexus nerves) are crushed by excessive ligament tissue from the median-arcuate ligament. This constricts blood flow to the stomach and other digestive organs preventing proper digestive functions and significant chest pain.
Injury History
- MALS Release Surgery - This procedure was a laparoscopic operation where the stomach was moved out of the way and the median-arcuate ligament was trimmed and the celiac plexus was killed to minimize/neutralize the pain. The surgery was a success with some complications emerging from the recovery process itself. However, this had more of an impact on digestive and nutritional factors which is a totally different discussion.
Medication History
- Metropolol - beta blocker
- Midodrine Hypochloride- a blood pressure regulator which is an anti-hypotensive
If more information is needed on the illnesses or procedures please let me know. I tried to keep it brief for easy reading.
With those factors in mind, would a starting strength linear progression be appropriate for someone in this position? If yes, what modifications should be made for her programming? If not, are there any other strength training protocols which would be appropriate in this case?
Thank you in advance for the help.