When I was younger, I used to fret a lot about jobs because I didn't have the muscular stamina to do most of the jobs that young people do, and at the time, it was very frustrating because I didn't know why. I didn't know why it should be so difficult to stand on my feet at a counter all day doing fairly ordinary things like working a register or folding clothes, and the fact that I couldn't do this without my back and torso muscles painfully cramping up, and eventually failing sometimes brought me to tears. It was especially frustrating because I didn't understand why I couldn't do those simple seeming things when I could do far more labor intensive things just fine....at least over short periods of time.

I do much better with jobs where I'm up and down, in part, so I don't use any one muscle group long enough to fatigue it, and the new job I have now is actually great in that respect. But I find as I get older the painful cramping/muscle fatigue is much more quick to develop whether I'm sitting or standing and I find that it helps to snack throughout the day while working, to minimize it.

The problem is, despite my apparently fast muscle metabolism, the rest of my metabolism is actually very slow, and I'm starting to notice the extra snacking around my waistline, and when I get heavier, the load on my muscles increases the severity of the myotonia, especially in my legs, but if I cut back on the snacking I have to endure painful torso/back cramping and eventual paralysis in those muscles.

Type of Myotonia: Becker

Country: USA

Myotonia Congenita could be defined as a condition of ever decreasing circles.

The MC makes our muscles sluggish so we try harder to move them, get tired quicker, out muscles get bigger but they don't get any stronger. Because they are now bigger we have to try harder to move them which means...well, you get the picture.

My job is sedentary, it is just the most comfortable way for me to work. I accept this limitation on my worklife because by doing so I can at least still work.

Accepting this doesn't make your experience any less annoying, it is just one of the things we don't have any control over. I get frustrated with the limitations my body imposes on me some days, and venting at least helps to release some of the stress that builds up (as does killing things on my X-Box 360!)

Type of Myotonia: Becker's

Country: England

Try replacing some of the snacking with targeted, moderate intensity workouts that last from 5-10 minutes.

This sounds counterintuitive, but tasks that require you to stand or to sit still cause more fatigue when they aren't broken up with exercise because the exercise itself lowers "semi-resting" muscle tension and improves endurance.

Unfortunately, I canNOT make my muscles warm up enough to exercise first thing in the morning without risking injury. But prolonged standing after a short workout is WAY easier than before.

You may initially have more fatigue from simply being out of shape, but as your body adjusts, the muscular benefits don't decrease. Thank goodness!

Type of Myotonia: Thomsen's

Country: USA