Fibromyalgia Blog - Exercise and Earthquakes and Photo Shoots, oh, my!

[FallaciesDetective]

PS: I think it´s hard to give general exercise recommendations, for recovery times can differ so much from person to person, and if CFS is more prevalent, "exercise" oftentimes should be more like walking, moving your arms, fingers, legs, head a.s.o. -

so that the immune system does not say : TILT! :) but it´s a balance between doing too little and too much - a doctor/physician who thinks he can just give an easy answer is highly suspicious! ;) Crime scene! ALERT! :)

greeetings!

Mike

[FallaciesDetective]

dear Diana!

do your muscles only hurt

or do you also have muscle stiffness

and a prolonged muscle-relaxation time?

greeeetings!

Mike

[dianacwolf]

@FallaciesDetective Hi Mike- Great question. I get both pain, and muscle stiffness. My muscles get stiff if I sit for long periods of time. Even sitting on the exercise bike for too long can make me stiff. Granted my legs are moving and 'exercising,' but I still get stiff just from sitting on the bike itself. Since I like to do at least 5 miles of cardio everytime I go to the gym, I've learned to just divide the time up between the bike and the elliptical machine. How about you?

[FallaciesDetective]

@dianacwolf

I also realized that phenomenon in my own muscle system all over my body:

muscles get stiff, and esp. sitting makes me aware of this, for many times together with the stiffness comes the pain - I think one of the physical causes of the pain is the stiffness, together with our movements.What do I mean? If a muscle is stiff and you move it anyway: OUTCH! It hurts!The nerves give a signal: STOP! You are bending me too much!

That´s what I realize every day.

Bless you, dear Diana!

Mike

[dianacwolf]

The right amount of training? Dr St Smand is rather specific in his book when it comes to exercise. He is a strong advocate of it. Most every fibro doc is. The Saint recommends walking over running, and cautions against doing heavy weights. If I remember the book correctly, he says our muscles are already pretty taxed with the fibro stuff we have going on. Personally, I don't set limitations. I do as much as I can everytime I go to the gym. Today, I

hurt, so I could only do 50 minutes.

[dianacwolf]

@dianacwolf Hi Mike- I'd like to add that I did the WRONG amount of training at the gym the other day. I was feeling totally stoked up because I had gone surfing on Sunday. I'd surfed really well, so I wanted to do a lot of extra upper body stuff, (so I could paddle better when I am in the water, and catch more of those righteous waves.) Well, I overdid it, and hurt like crazy the rest of the week. I still hurt. Frustrating!!! My legs can take abuse, but not my back, shoulders and neck. -D.

[FallaciesDetective]

how do you determine the right amount of training?

how is your recovery?

greetings, dear!

Mike

[missejane]

You are a good model for FMS... You know I have fms too. Wonder what they would have done with me??? I love swimming and also ellipitical now that I've lost over 100 lbs, but a bikini would be a stretch for me! Glad you did the article and photo shoot. I'm going to find that issue. Congratz.

[dianacwolf]

Hi HurtingInPain- Yeast is the worst! So many fibromyalgics have difficulties with that one! Many folks feel better once they start taking probiotics. I just started on one two months ago. Smells terrible, (like cat pee), and you need to take two with each meal, but it seems to be working. Have not had an issue with yeast on the past 2 months. Splurge for a decent quality probiotic, if you decide to try it.

[HurtingInPain]

I just noticed that I have ALL the symptoms of a yeast syndrome.. =O Even that difficulty swallowing-thing. What should I do now.

[MCGEE1115]

Hi Dia

Im looking forward to the article and pictures

[dianacwolf]

@MCGEE1115 Hi! Great to hear from you! How have you been feeling? I'm looking forward to the article, too! My Mom can't wait for it to come out, as she wants to show it to all her friends. Hopefully the article comes out OK, and I didn't say anything to the reporter that comes out sounding totally hokey or goofy in the final article. Well, anyway, hopefully it will provide some good exposure on fibromyalgia, and maybe help some people out that way.

[hellojenny24]

lol.... i can so relate to you! the elliptical is my best friend! My daughter is in the bilingual program and this is her last year shes fluent now! But always love how they send the homework home in Spanish being that i don't speak it. Im in cali as well. Congrats! on the shoot!

[dianacwolf]

@hellojenny24 Hi Jenny! Er, hola Jenny! OK, I'm tired and can't get past "hola." good thing my son speaks much better Spanish than I do! What state are your located in where you have your bilingual program? Very cool that your daughter is fluent! Such a great program for kids! I'm trying to learn so I can be a better Room Parent. I feel useless in the Spanish class. The photo shoot was fun. I need to get the pics off my husband's phone, so I can post them.

[HurtingInPain]

Do you know why so many fibro females go through hysterectomy? I wonder if that's what's in store for me too, someday.

[dianacwolf]

@HurtingInPain Interesting question! My honest answer is-- I don't know. If I had to guess, here's what I think.... My first guess would be there could be a hormonal connection. Fibrodisproportionally affects women to men, 80% women/20% men.This points to a hormonal connection to the disease. My second guess would be the symptoms of fibro overlap with symptoms pointing to the need for a hysterectomy. Women may have the surgery, when they actually have fibro. Just guessing, mind you.