Are CFS patients normally able to exercice if they push through the fatigue ? (If they would force themselves)
For myself, definitely not.
I tried many times, so I could know for certain.
And because I love to exercise. And to do countless other activities and jobs.
Some possibly could push through and exercise , but not usually at or near, a "normal expected" level,
for themselves or for someone else,
and not near their previous level, if they were more well in the past,
and not ongoing, not sustainable, and not on any regular schedule, that could be continued over time, and not without very substantial bad effects, that persist long past any normal rest time. Not without many definite, painful long-lasting symptoms. IN addition to fatigue.
IF, instead of being able to increase exercise or activity level, very gradually,
a person can do less and less of the exercise, and becomes more ill, and if it does more harm than good,
if it lowers a person's ability to do OTHER important more basic daily living tasks,
then seems more like CFS/ME.
If one has additional pains and symptoms, and cannot do desired, fun activities either, seems more like CFS/ME.
Burnout has more in common with depression than with CFS/ME, in my opinion. In CFS, most of us truly want to do the things we cannot do. They still have deep meaning for us. We are frustrated and still have interest and great desire to do them. Whereas, in depression or burnout (different but more overlapping it seems to me) one loses one's interest in activities one would normally want to do. And as was mentioned, exercise or a change of scene, even a vacation or lifestyle change, or a positive decision or action, or other counselling tools, often helps depression or burnout, but does not significantly or consistently or sustainably, effect CFS/ME.
DOing other activities and tasks could be extremely difficult challenges if one is burned out or depressed, yet there are good therapies available for those conditions, if there is any chance a person has those and NOT CFS/ME.
However, If the person cannot do fun, loved activities either, and if the harder they try, to ignore numerous symptoms, or to push through them, they become worse , overall, physically AND/or mentally, that would signal for me, the differences with CFS/ME.
If doing exercises, makes it harder to wash or to sit upright or to walk from bed to couch, or lowers one's ability to dress or to study or to think.
Also to distinguish ME/CFS , most of us (??) have many other painful and difficult symptoms in addition to the fatigue, which is way worse than any type of fatigue I ever felt from over-exercising or over-working. It is MANY symptoms of being very ill, not solely fatigued.
There are so many reasons that make my illness not anything resembling either burn out or simpler fatigue or even depression, though I can sometimes have any of those, in addition to the extreme illness.
Those other conditions, are real and serious, yet they have many wonderful treatments and options to try, changes in life decisions or therapies, that are available, that are very much worth trying, for anyone unsure if they have CFS.
If you have one of those other things, then those treatments could make you MUCH better.
If you have CFS/ME, they could help you with some of those other add-ons, IF you can manage to do them,
but the CFS/ME remains, is my experience.
If you must choose between showering and exercising, then showering is more important. Having to choose whether to chew and eat , OR to wash and brush teeth, OR to comb hair, while truly wanting to do all of them, is a sad hallmark of serious CFS/ME.
Systemic Exercise Intolerance is another name proposed for CFS/ME.
SO no, many of us cannot "push through" and at moments when we could, we would know, either very soon, or delayed, that it is causing our overall function to go down, not improve.
I have a huge love and passion for my past work and for many of my past activities, and if I could push through, to do any of them, I would.
If you are able to exercise, I suggest that you try it, in a gradual manner, and see what your results are, and i would suggest that you try some of the many wonderful treatments, lifestyle choices, and therapies, that could help you, that are available for any other conditions, but those do not help with CFS/ME, in my experience and knowledge.
Or they help with some aspect, but do not cure the illness. And often are not safe or doable or advantageous or possible, without a known treatment for the underlying CFS/ME.
but exercise makes people with depression feel better and more optimistic but not ME/CFS patients. We just get sicker. (I think there are studies about that as well.)
