Since my doctor decided to get on the "GET" bandwagon I sent him links to a bunch of articles of how exercise affects us. Here ya go:
1. Health-related quality of life in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: group cognitive behavioural therapy and graded exercise versus usual treatment. A randomised controlled trial with 1 year of follow-up.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21234629
"At 12 months, the intervention did not improve HRQL scores, with worse SF-36 physical function and bodily pain scores in the intervention group. Multidisciplinary treatment was not superior to usual treatment at 12 months in terms of HRQL."
2. A review on cognitive behavorial therapy (CBT)
and graded exercise therapy (GET) in myalgic
encephalomyelitis (ME) / chronic fatigue syndrome
(CFS): CBT/GET is not only ineffective and not
evidence-based, but also potentially harmful for
many patients with ME/CFS
https://niceguidelines.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/twisk-maes-cbt1.pdf
3. Immunological Changes After Both Exercise
and Activity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Pilot Study
https://niceguidelines.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/white-jcfs-2004.pdf
Digested and summarized by Dr. Speedy ("About Dr. Speedy: I am a doctor. I am also an ME patient unfortunately. Bedbound that is. So at the moment I’m in private practice so to speak") HERE:
http://niceguidelines.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/pace-trials-prof-peter-white-exercise.html
4. Prolonged Abnormal Effects of Exercise in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome
http://www.jacobspublishers.com/images/Physiotherapy/J_J_Physiot_Exerc_1_1_001.pdf
"Exercise, especially exercise programs, has various beneficial health effects. However, in the case of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome physical exertion can induce prolonged negative effects on the patient’s condition (post-exertional “malaise”).
The exacerbation of symptoms after exercise can plausibly be explained by exertion-induced abnormalities in ME/ CFS. In order to unravel the pathophysiology and to protect the patients’ from iatrogenic harm of exercise regimes, it is essential to asses and diagnoses patients objectively."
5. Objective measures found a lack of improvement for CBT & GET in the PACE Trial: subjective improvements may simply represent response biases or placebo effects in this non-blinded trial
http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h227/rr-10
6. Australian Researcher Challenges Measures of "Recovery" in PACE Trial
http://cfstreatment.blogspot.ie/2015/01/australian-researcher-challenges.html#sthash.bmmt0iZc.e2e3nZ3D.dpuf
7. Revalidation Update: why doctors who use or promote CBT or GET for ME/CFS will fail their revalidation
http://niceguidelines.blogspot.com/2012/12/revalidation-update-why-doctors-who-use.html
"10 years ago, the Belgian government opened their five treatment centres for ME/CFS, the so-called reference centres, to cure 70% of ME/CFS patients with CBT and GET as that is what the Belgian Simon Wessely, psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Boudewijn Van Houdenhove, and his Nijmegen colleagues have been saying for decades.
The Belgian government invested a lot of money, €15 million, but they also reviewed things regularly.
Each review showed that CBT and GET were making things worse.
So, the centres got more time, and more money to improve things.
And after 10 years of treating ME/CFS patients with CBT and GET in five Belgian government centres, it is now crystal clear that CBT and GET make things worse in ME/CFS, which means that CBT and GET harm ME/CFS patients."
For the full story see
http://www.pugilator.com/awareness/is-this-the-end-for-the-belgian-cfs-reference-centers
8. Reporting of Harms Associated with Graded Exercise Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - 53 pages!
https://niceguidelines.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/fall2011-kindlon-harms-paper-59-111.pdf