Published on 12, July, 2020
I am curious as to how other people stay fit and healthy on the forums.
My fitness levels are not great at the moment so I am thinking about what I can do to get back into a routine. My energy levels are very low so need to build something up gradually, but would like to get back into cycling again as I do miss it.
What about you? What is your approach to health and fitness?
I have fibromyalgia and so struggle greatly with exercise fatigue. I would say add things gradually. I started not even being able to get up a flight of stairs and my muscles had become so weak that I could barely support myself properly. I started out with a few exercises from a pilates routine and gentle walking and slowly built up. I am now averaging 2-3 hours a week (two dance classes and a yoga class) plus extra walking and home exercises when I can. I have also been to quite a lot of sessions of physio therapy which have really helped as they have helped me target the areas where I struggle most. This has been over a period of 3/4 years.
Also as said before quitting sugar has helped greatly along with cutting back on meat. I have just started on the Patrick Holdford Low GL style diet and been finding things much easier energy wise.
This is how I have been much of the time using a stroller to get about and so after my last bout of fatigue and being ill I suddenly decided enough was enough and so making this attempt to do the couch to 5k. My jog is other people’s stroll or walk but that doesn’t matter because it’s giving me a goal and someone coaching and encouraging me whilst I try. Not very easy in icy weather but the rest day/s suit me. Plus I find routine really difficult to stick to and don’t know when I’m going to need a sofa day so it’s flexibility suits me. It’s encouraging to know you have fibromyalgia too and managed to build up to so much activity.
LimaMikeSquared said: I started not even being able to get up a flight of stairs and my muscles had become so weak that I could barely support myself properly.
It has been a lot of hard work (and still is), but being diagnosed at 20/21 and not getting on well with medication I decided to take the road of dietary changes, supplements and increasing exercise. I must admit that progress was not steady, it was very slow most of the time but in the last 6-8 months everything seems to have picked up and come together all at once. So do hang in there!
I don't want to paint an idyllic picture, I'm not totally pain or fatigue free but I am able to work and exercise without being crippled by it and without having to take multiple strong painkillers and antidepressants (I have naproxen as and when I need it, and that's pretty much it now).
It is worth (if you don't already) getting all your vitamin and minerals checked by blood test with your GP. I was found to be both anaemic in Iron and B12 (I can't absorb them) and when they are low my fibromyalgia goes out of control. It may not be the same for you and may not be a cure but if you are very low it can go some way to alleviate the symptoms when they are corrected.
It's a long road but if you are making steady progress based on you not anyone else then that is fantastic. I am glad you have found something that you like and enjoy and is motivating, it goes a long way! If you can see a physio to help with the fibromyalgia and muscle strengthening then do consider it. It has been one of the best things I have done.
Out of interest are you autistic to? I have a friend who was diagnosed with autism in her adulthood and now has also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia too. There seems to be a link between the over stimulation and stress on the nervous system for people with autism and developing fibromyalgia as a result. I am not diagnosed autistic yet but both the GP and the mental health nurse agreed it was there and have started me on the diagnosis process.
My time line isn’t uncommon I think.. depression and anxiety including breakdowns since youth, sleep apnoea, arthritis and fibromyalgia ( can’t remember the sequence) , formal Dyspraxia diagnosed first ( with adhd but not formally at that time just recognised in the report), adhd next then Aspergers last. And yes both Dr’s for the dyspraxia and Aspergers made the link with fibromyalgia like you said trying to fit in for 50 years takes its toll. It was very interesting to me in the thread about backs to have further connections between conditions to consider edhs might also be part of my make up and currently going to be checked out for coeliac ( which also has an effect on vitamin absorption) then relook at the ehlers
https://www.edhs.info/fybromialgia-and-edhs
I thought I had found my answer at last with the ND diagnoses but apparently not! It is fascinating but also bewildering and tiring to fit all the pieces together. There is so much information I’m overwhelmed with it and not got to grips with it all. So any progress with exercise at the moment is a plus.