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    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

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can it still be cfs/me if i can do sports

Messages
34
i can still do some exercices, maybe 300-500 push ups in a day and i feel better right after it, while i read that cfs/me patients have exerices intolerance.

But i seems to have pretty much all other symptoms and doctor think it's cfs, so what is your opinion?
 

Irat

Senior Member
Messages
288
i can still do some exercices, maybe 300-500 push ups in a day and i feel better right after it, while i read that cfs/me patients have exerices intolerance.

But i seems to have pretty much all other symptoms and doctor think it's cfs, so what is your opinion?
I think yes,in the beginning....you have a good chance to turn around this before it turns ugly and gets worse and worse. I just have read your introduction post.you said your reacting to gluten .it's highly inflammatory and the protein can cause a reaction and can create antibodies

So I tell you what I would do ,first go off gluten,eggs and diary products
And find a healing diet that suits you and resonates with you,your symptoms and your biochemistry

For example
foodmap
Soup gaps diet,only meat broth with veggies
Medical medium
Autoimmune paleo

You need to do your research,in the very beginning this illness can be turned around

Do everything that helps your brain go into parasymphatetic state.
Like going for walks in the forest etc
Watch success stories on you tube



Lyme often activates EBV too,so you might can test this and do some herbal remedies

Wish you good luck that you can turn the ship around
 
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ljimbo423

Senior Member
Messages
4,705
Location
United States, New Hampshire
i can still do some exercices, maybe 300-500 push ups in a day and i feel better right after it, while i read that cfs/me patients have exerices intolerance.

But i seems to have pretty much all other symptoms and doctor think it's cfs, so what is your opinion?

ME/CFS symptoms seem to manifest in many ways. Often unique to each of us. I've had a lot of success in improving my health by treating gut dysbiosis.
 

BrightCandle

Senior Member
Messages
1,147
Certainly early on I was doing exercises and activity, I had constant headaches, dizziness, some sleep issues and GI issues but I could happily do 45 minutes of cardio 3x a week and do resistance training. I was also doing vestibular training (ENTs thought my headaches might be that) and for some reason doing just a little too much of that was my first crash. A few minutes into a session and the constant metronome noise started hammering into my head and I couldn't stand the noise and got really light sensitive and dizzy, I had barely started. Session cut short 30 minutes later on my way home I lost power throughout my body, I couldn't walk. I called 999but they weren't concerned, I tried 111 also but they didn't have much to say to help me. I called a cab (with a strong person to help me and bless them the guy was huge!) and went home. I was stuck in bed with crippling pain and blinding headaches for months.

I got no warning it was coming, I had a few of the symptoms of ME/CFS but I had constantly jumped over it as a possible cause because I clearly didn't have PEM, I was infact getting quite a bit fitter from the exercise my GP had prescribed me. Then boom and I have been mostly housebound ever since. I have no idea if you are in the same sort of place as me and running near the ragged line of moments from that crash that ruins your life or you have something else, but what I would say is there isn't a lot of harm of easing off a bit until you work it out especially if your GP thinks it might be ME doing everything you can to avoid a crash will sustain your ability longer, because once you loose it it rarely comes back and you do not want to be bed bound for 90% of your day for years on end in crippling agony.

The one thing ME has taught me is that our insistence of pushing through and exercise being the cure all is a complete lie and a dangerous one at that.
 

L'engle

moogle
Messages
3,197
Location
Canada
I was able to do moderate exercise in the first years of my ME, when mental exhaustion was already debilitating me down to half time or less of work. I would still have a much harder time recovering than healthy people, and couldn't sustain jogging or improve at strenuous exercise, but I could still do some.

Until I couldn't.

I can do even less now physically and mentally and it has never gone back to the more 'mild' stage, which was debilitating enough to make it awkward to try and function in the world.

Be careful. You don't always get much warning that you've gone too far one too many times.
 

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,684
Location
Alberta
Yes, my ME didn't limit my physical exertion. I was able to do normal strenuous exertion without problems. For the first few years, only the most extreme exertion (40 km rides in hilly areas) would trigger PEM. Such exertion never made any long-term problems. Other people greatly regretted continuing physical activities. So, it is possible to continue your exercise regime without making your ME worse, but it's also possible that it will.
 

Shanti1

Administrator
Messages
3,139
Yup, I could exercise at first and didn't recognize the early warning signs of never being able to repeat my performance level on a consecutive day, not showing improvement in my exercise stamina in general, and then thinking I had "over-training syndrome" and I could push through it. I contribute over-doing my exercise to hastening my decline. I probably wouldn't have fit the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS at that time, but looking back I can see it was all there in a more subtle form.
 

Strawberry

Senior Member
Messages
2,107
Location
Seattle, WA USA
I definitely used to be able to do what I wanted in the early years of this disease. I had zero idea that my active lifestyle was the reason for my chronic sick. I actually thought I would get better forcing myself to be very active. Until it destroyed me.

It was actually a short but steep hike 6 years ago that started my downward spiral towards moderate. And of course never slowed down enough even still, until I lost my job a year ago. For 10 months I was able to take care of myself mentally and physically, and improved a tiny bit. But now I’m back to work and spiraling down.

My personal warning signs that I neglected to pay attention, were firstly my chronic sick. 10 years ago my feet, hands, and lips would go numb when I was hiking in the mountains. Now my right foot goes numb after two stairs. I also used to push myself to the point my leg muscles would quiver visibly and I could barely walk 5 feet to sit.

Watch for warning signs and be careful. I think I could have recovered early on had I not been so driven. Exercise is good. Until it isn’t…
 

lenora

Senior Member
Messages
4,913
Certainly early on I was doing exercises and activity, I had constant headaches, dizziness, some sleep issues and GI issues but I could happily do 45 minutes of cardio 3x a week and do resistance training. I was also doing vestibular training (ENTs thought my headaches might be that) and for some reason doing just a little too much of that was my first crash. A few minutes into a session and the constant metronome noise started hammering into my head and I couldn't stand the noise and got really light sensitive and dizzy, I had barely started. Session cut short 30 minutes later on my way home I lost power throughout my body, I couldn't walk. I called 999but they weren't concerned, I tried 111 also but they didn't have much to say to help me. I called a cab (with a strong person to help me and bless them the guy was huge!) and went home. I was stuck in bed with crippling pain and blinding headaches for months.

I got no warning it was coming, I had a few of the symptoms of ME/CFS but I had constantly jumped over it as a possible cause because I clearly didn't have PEM, I was infact getting quite a bit fitter from the exercise my GP had prescribed me. Then boom and I have been mostly housebound ever since. I have no idea if you are in the same sort of place as me and running near the ragged line of moments from that crash that ruins your life or you have something else, but what I would say is there isn't a lot of harm of easing off a bit until you work it out especially if your GP thinks it might be ME doing everything you can to avoid a crash will sustain your ability longer, because once you loose it it rarely comes back and you do not want to be bed bound for 90% of your day for years on end in crippling agony.

The one thing ME has taught me is that our insistence of pushing through and exercise being the cure all is a complete lie and a dangerous one at that.


Yes, I would think that perhaps you had better back off some (a fair bit) of that exercise or you could end up in rather bad condition. How about walking around your neighborhood....you can walk as fast or slow as you want.

If you're worried about the loss of muscle mass I would seriously think about this and whether or not it's worth continued exercise. There are some that are less exhausting for the body. I'm trying to work myself back up to gentle walking again....have had to do this for years and years now. Before I easily walked 5-7 miles/day and was a bike rider. No more bike, but I like to keep moving but not at the risk of making my ME worse (b/c it has been a few times....just not worth it). Yours, Lenora.
 

Seadragon

Senior Member
Messages
792
Location
UK
I was able to do moderate exercise in the first years of my ME, when mental exhaustion was already debilitating me down to half time or less of work. I would still have a much harder time recovering than healthy people, and couldn't sustain jogging or improve at strenuous exercise, but I could still do some.

Until I couldn't.

I can do even less now physically and mentally and it has never gone back to the more 'mild' stage, which was debilitating enough to make it awkward to try and function in the world.

Be careful. You don't always get much warning that you've gone too far one too many times.

This.
 

junkcrap50

Senior Member
Messages
1,330
i can still do some exercices, maybe 300-500 push ups in a day and i feel better right after it, while i read that cfs/me patients have exerices intolerance.

But i seems to have pretty much all other symptoms and doctor think it's cfs, so what is your opinion?
Yes. It is possible. It could be that your CFS is entirely cognitive, where cognitive exertion induces PEM (mine was like that or many years). Or it could be that your CFS is mild and you were already in excellent shape prior to getting CFS.
 
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junkcrap50

Senior Member
Messages
1,330
If you can do 300 to 500 pushups in a day, you should be asking "Am I human?"
Lol right? I mean, very possible if you are an athlete and/or do pushups a lot. I've probably done that many in one day at my fittest during the military. But I was going to say, that depending on initial fitness levels, if you exercise (300-500 pushups) are well within your exercise capacity, then you could not show any CFS consequences. But to have 300-500 pushups be mild enough to not influence CFS, your starting fitness level would have to be elite levels.