For months now I have been going through a flare and I have been in an emotional slump. I just decided last week that even if I feel like crap I am going to get some exercise. So I started walking and riding bikes with my son and I have noticed that my emotional health has improved and I don’t feel as drained physically.
I do admit that after the first day of walking I ended up in bed the entire next day but I just cut back the exercise enough so that I wasn’t pushing my body too hard and it seems to be working. Yesterday I didn’t have a good day and again I was in bed until almost lunchtime but as soon as I got up I took a walk on the treadmill (it rained here all day – yuck).
I’m going to see how this works out and I’m going to do my best to keep up the exercise ritual and just listen closely to how my body is responding. If I find that it’s too much I will cut back but I do need the exercise. All of us with CFS & FM needsome form ofexercise – even if we can only do a few minutes.
We also have to realize when we need to push ourselves and when we shouldn’t push ourselves and I am finally getting the hang of this I think. You don’t want to push yourself to the point of total exhaustion, but if you have been physically down like I have been there comes a point when you have to push yourself some. I am forcing myself out of this physical and emotional slump and I won’t let the CFS & FM keep me down forever.
If I am having good days I am going to take advantage of the good days within reason and try to quit worrying so much about what will happen IF I do this and what will happen IF I do that. It’s no fun living life like that and I am ready for the change.
Please don’t try any exercise program without first talking to your doctor.
Sometimes it feels good just to get out of the house and do some light activities such as taking a walk, gardening, washing car etc. Though it’s not strenuous “exercise”, but somehow you will feel better and more energetic. Don’t you? 🙂
Taking a walk, gardening or washing the car – listed from the previous comment wouldn’t be classified as “light activities” for me but a sheer miracle.
When I read a comment such as that where somehow that will make me feel better and more energetic……. come on, talk about bringing on another descent into cfs/me hell.
Then I have to remember, that not everyone reading or commenting here has the same illness or depth of the illness as I currently live with.
I cannot even shower every day. I am now sitting here knowing all too well that I have pushed myself in my office for the past four days, and although I consider it to be working in moderation, the illness still says it’s too much.
So, that being said, the true reason for my wanting to comment is that I am so confused on what to do and how much to try. I currently cannot go for a walk or use my air walker (low impact and in the house). I bought a foot pedal bicycle from Brookstone that years ago in my running days would have thought the most lame and ridiculous form of exercise. However, lately (months), it sits here by my desk (next to my ergonomically correct desk chair) unused and dusty.
Going up a two flights of stairs from my basement to the second floor can at times leave me feeling as though I have climbed Mt. Everest. I look as though I am 90 years old, not 50.
I, too, Sandy want to keep trying. I know that frustration will only bring on more of the illness, and I appreciate your sharing what your recent experience has been in this area. Sometimes I am so overwhelmed with the magnitude of this all-encompassing physical, mental and emotional illness. I have done so much already to either eliminate or taper my life, while not “allowing” the illness to totally dictate the current or future. Sometimes I feel delusional in thinking that I have any control.
I am also working on eliminating the “What Ifs”. I’ve had that propensity the thought pattern for many years, and now the challenge is not to be consumed with scary thoughts of the future that I self impose. I am so weary, exhausted and physically wiped out. I keep trying. My husband and I have worked hard together to keep things going, and he now does many of the things around here that I would normally do when I ran my life 24/7.
I guess I’ll dust off the foot pedal bike and try it for a minute or two? That’s what I don’t get. I tried 3 minutes and increased to 5 minutes and then I crashed. How ridiculous is that. So, there it sits. I guess I should start at one minute, but how often, each day? When to increase? My brain fog at times just says forget about it. You don’t need another thing to confuse you. But your post made me think about it again.
It reminds me of The Serenity Prayer……. I just wish I had more “Wisdom to know the difference”.
Regards,
Nancy
Hi Nancy, I can understand your frustration and I know exactly where you are coming from. It is so difficult being sick all of the time and I would give anything to not have to worry about what a little bit of exercise could possibly do to set me back.
I do believe though that we need to find some sort of balance, whether it be just a minute that you can handle WITHOUT it causing a flare. A minute is still better than nothing at all. What we have to do is find what works for us individually and after being sick for 20 years, I am still looking for what works. With these illnesses it is very difficult to always know what will work one day may not work the next. So I just go by trial and error. For right now, for me, this is working. I am really tired, but I’m not the same kind of tired, you know what I mean? It’s a different tired.
Thank you so much Sandy for taking the time to respond. Actually, after I posted that comment, I thought about it and spoke with my husband. I decided that day to give the foot pedal a try again.
So, I did three minutes and wrote it down. I did it again yesterday and wrote it down. I plan on doing again today. Three minutes intellectually seems ridiculous, but it’s what I chose to try without making myself worse. My husband (and cheerleader) told me he was proud of me. This is the same man that gets my cfs/me/fm wrath when I’m mentally and emotionally out of my mind. God bless him.
I know that you know what it’s like to accept limitations, tapering your instincts on “more is better”, and I just wanted to let you know that you inspired me to give it a try……. again.
I eat well, but this now 60 pound weight gain along with everything else makes me feel like an alien in my own body. Where is Nancy and what did you do with her kind of feeling.
Anyway, thank you again.
By the way, do you believe that after day 1 of only 3 minutes, which was fine, day 2 my legs felt like lead when I was pedaling. I knew to expect that, but it still blows my mind!
Nancy, Congratulations! I hope my post doesn’t make anyone feel like they HAVE to get out and try exercising. I just feel like I need to do it if that makes sense and my body is sore and tired and I am fatigued, but overall I am happy with the results to date. I want to be active when my body allows it, without overdoing it.
I know three minutes doesn’t sound like a lot to someone who is healthy, but we do have limitations. Best of luck! Keep us posted here on how you do.
Can you ask your doctor what he/she thinks? What do they recommend for you for exercise?
Managing Activity and Exercise from the CDC
Avoiding Extremes
For patients with CFS, learning to manage activity levels is key to managing the illness itself. This requires a new way of defining exercise. While vigorous aerobic exercise is beneficial for many chronic illnesses, CFS patients can’t tolerate traditional exercise routines. Exercise programs aimed at optimizing aerobic capacity are not recommended.
The majority of people with CFS are affected by postexertional malaise, which is defined as an exacerbation of symptoms following physical or mental exertion, with symptoms typically worsening 12-48 hours after activity and lasting for days or even weeks. It’s important, however, not to avoid activity and exercise altogether. Such avoidance leads to serious deconditioning and can actually worsen other symptoms. It’s also important not to engage in an endless “push-crash” cycle in which patients do too much, crash, rest, start to feel a little better, do too much again, and so on.
Instead, CFS patients must learn to pace activities and work with their health care professionals to create an individualized exercise program that focuses on interval activity or graded exercise. The goal is to balance rest and activity to avoid both deconditioning from lack of activity and flare-ups of illness due to overexertion. Effective activity management may help improve mood, sleep, pain and other symptoms so patients can function better and engage in activities of daily living.
Developing an Exercise Program
It is imperative that any activity plan be started slowly and increased gradually. When beginning an activity program, some CFS patients may only be able to exercise for as little as a few minutes Patients who are severely deconditioned or who are caught in the “push-crash” cycle should limit themselves to the basic activities of daily living – getting up, personal hygiene, dressing, essential tasks – until they have stabilized.
Several daily sessions of brief, low-impact activity can then be added. Simple stretching and strengthening exercise using only body weight for resistance is a good starting place for most people with CFS. All exercise needs to be followed by a rest period at a 1:3 ratio, exercising for one minute, then resting for three minutes. These sessions can be slowly increased by one to five minutes a week as tolerance develops.
Daily exercise can be divided into two or more sessions to avoid symptom flare-ups. Activity should be intermittent, brief, spread throughout the day and followed by rest. If patients experience a worsening of symptoms, they should return to the most recent manageable level of activity.
Strength and conditioning exercises are an important component of the overall activity program. Standard rehabilitative methods, such as resistance training and flexibility exercises, may help improve stamina and function, increase strength and flexibility, reduce pain and increase range of motion.
Activity should begin slowly with simple stretching and strengthening exercises. Examples of functional exercises include repeated hand stretches, sitting and standing, wall push-ups or picking up and grasping objects. Patients can begin with a set of two to four repetitions, building to a maximum of eight repetitions. Once this stage is mastered, resistance band exercises can be added to build strength and flexibility. Patients should be careful to adhere to the principle of brief intervals of exercise, followed by adequate rest, to avoid postexertional malaise.
Hi Nancy – Thanks for posting this. I actually was just reading this over the weekend.