What are your symptoms after physical activity?

[guest]

I sometimes think that some people with CFS have such compromised immune systems that even a little too much physical acitivy puts too much strain on their body. After that it isn't able to fight off infections anymore.

 

[HopingSince88]

Diesel,
My body just does not let me overextend itself at all. As soon as my cardio/heart rate starts to go up due to exercize or extra physical effort of any kind I get big-time dizziness with spots before my eyes and I start to feel faint. This happens well before I am at an aerobic rate.

Also, I have noticed that I overheat and don't sweat out properly when I exert myself physically.

Between the dizziness, the spots, the feeling faint and the overheating, I just never push myself beyond this point.
Hoping

 

[aiden424]

I get really sick from any exercise. It starts with a really severe pressure headache, bad sore throat, get dizzy, stuffy nose, my head feels like I was heavily drugged, and stiff neck. I hurt all over, and feel like I have the stomach flu. I get so sick, it feels like I'm dying.

 

[kerrilyn]

I have the same symptoms Hoping mentioned. If I raise my heart rate I will feel like passing out (dizziness, spots, hearing goes, headache, spacey feeling), those are the immediate symptoms. They will pass when I've brought my heart rate back down and then the more PEM-like symptoms come after and the next day. If I've overdone an activity that doesn't raise my heart rate I will experience more of the PEM-like symptoms and that can include a sore throat, but I've noticed it affects my ears more now than my throat (they get itchy and runny).

 

[fingers2022]

Anybody get a sore tongue as they overdo it? I'm thinking this is herpes activation, but not sure.

I get al lot of the other stuff mentioned here too.

 

[creekfeet]

The thing where we're exhausted but unable to sleep is striking. I think the Canadian description mentions that one. I definitely get it. Aggravating, when so wiped out but can't sleep!

I also get chest pain very quickly, dizziness, disorientation, clumsiness, headache, brainfog, pain and heaviness in limbs, and a whooshing sound in my head that seems to be my pulse pounding in my ears perhaps.

The other day I got that whooshing sound, dizziness, and heaviness and pain in my arms, just from changing an overhead lightbulb. It only took one PWC to change the lightbulb, but recovery took several hours.

 

[hensue]

aiden424 I am xmrv + if it matters and after 24 hours of an aerobic or sort of acitivity. You described my symptoms. PEM SUCKS without it I believe I could live a halfway pretty normal life.
Am I whining? Sorry I know it could be worse.

This is a good thread to really put out there and get comments on.

 

[Misfit Toy]

Everyone recommends exercise. Walk, swim in a pool, etc. I get so winded and exhausted, I am in and unable to function. It is not worth it. I would love to have a cellulite free tummy and awesome butt...it still looks good....but ya know, it makes me worse working on it. I live in a 3 floor walk up. 3 flights of stairs. That is my exercise. That is it! I could ski two years ago. This sucks!

Plus, chlorine is bad for us CFIDS folks. Kills the good bacteria in you.

 

[Sunday]

Spitfire, just wanted to say I really really like your signature quote.

Also, I want to mention Taoist internal exercises - most of these don't require anything aerobic, they require small movements or postures and are more energetic. They can really help the energy level without exertion in my experience. Stephen T. Chang's Internal Exercises, or check out www.taohealingarts.com . Also I do yoga poses, one at a time throughout the day. These kinds of exercise give me more fitness for my energy two cents. (I can't say they give me more bang for my buck, because I don't have a buck's worth of energy!)

 

[Chris]

responses to exercise...

Hi; if I exercise too much (and these days that may mean just walking 12 mins particularly in the afternoon) I first feel tired and legs feel heavy and unwilling, then maybe a bit of tightness around the chest; if I then rest, I may become aware of a slowly growing discomfort, pain in my lower left rib area that may spread to my lower right ribs. If I then take my BP, it is probably rising, and if I check it again in another hour it may, if this is going to be a bad day, rise as high as 190/95, with increasing pain. I have on a couple of occasions gone to Emergency, to be told that my ECG is normal, blood tests normal, and finally discharged usually feeling a bit better and less scared.

I still don't have a real answer, but suspect the answer lies somewhere in an inappropriate neurohormone response to exercise that sets up an autonomic and inflammatory response (I can hear my tinnitus singing during these episodes); what I don't understand is the role of my heart in all this; is it just, so to speak, an innocent bystander? I have learned that I can partially head off these episodes by immediately taking some aspirin (other NSAIDS probably work too) and a tiny dose of Clonazepam.
Also during these episodes I may experience some trembling /shaking of my legs, particularly the hamstrings, if BP has been really high for a while. It usually takes at least 24 hours for my BP to come back down to normal.

I would love to hear if anyone has this kind of pattern of response. Best, Chris

 

[Mithriel]

The cardinal symptom of ME is an abnormal response to exercise, fatigue was only brought in when they were inventing CFS and it muddied the picture because fatigue is found in most illnesses.

Fatigue in ME is like the fatigue in MS or Parkinson's disease, a problem for some but a side line when you are defining what is wrong. I was ill for seventeen years before I ever heard of fatigue as an important part of the disease and it wasn't anything I suffered from. I got sick, but fatigued or tired, no, still don't.

Mitochondrial problems have been noted in ME for almost thirty years. These are enough to cause PEM by themselves, though heart dysfunction, OI and hypovolemia will not help either.

Mithriel

 

[realjoy]

Anybody get a sore tongue as they overdo it? I'm thinking this is herpes activation, but not sure.

I get al lot of the other stuff mentioned here too.

I used to get this. Turns out that I was low in B12 (blood test confirmed) and I guess a sore tongue is a symptom, as is weakness and tiredness. You may ask for a test to see, or if you can't do that try out some sublingual (under the tongue) Methylcobalmin (sp?) and see if it helps

 

[realjoy]

Everyone recommends exercise. Walk, swim in a pool, etc. I get so winded and exhausted, I am in and unable to function. It is not worth it. I would love to have a cellulite free tummy and awesome butt...it still looks good....but ya know, it makes me worse working on it. I live in a 3 floor walk up. 3 flights of stairs. That is my exercise. That is it! I could ski two years ago. This sucks!

Plus, chlorine is bad for us CFIDS folks. Kills the good bacteria in you.

I hear ya! I *wish* I could do any amount of exercise, but I just can't. I get out of breath and get so weak I have to sit down. Then, I pay for it for days, get swollen lymphs, more muscle pain, etc. As you said, not worth it.

As far as chlorine, that's sooo disappointing. Hot tubs are the only thing that take my fibro pain away and let me sleep well. If only I had one here at home! LOL

 

[coxy]

i wish i wish i could exercise, my legs are getting wobblier and wobblier, fat round my middle (oh the days of a perfect flat tum!), it's soooo depressing. i tried to do yoga exercises on the wii fit, but felt so much worse after it i had to give up again!!!

 

[andreamarie]

I'm single and live alone. I do have a homemaker one day a wk who does light housewrk, shopping, laundry. But the rest of the wk I'm on my own. I find anything that takes me off the couch can be tiring. I try to limit doc appts to one a wk, because getting ready, getting there, getting through the appt., etc. is exercise. I ran into the supermarket yesterday to pick up two things but that was the equivalent of walking a city block. I told my doc the only way I could exercise would be if I had a wife (we're both women) and she begrudgingly agreed but then wanted me to do Pilates. I reminded her I taught in a gym so I could get a free membership before CFS and was a certified fitness instructor. I also decided she was never going to listen to me and am looking for another doc. If I do too much I start aching, my muscles feel different and I won't be able to sleep. That includes social situations also. I'm fatigued to the point of not being able to walk across my small apt. The irony is I loved physical activity; I, like the other women in my family need it to keep us even. I miss it so much.

 

[hensue]

I know that is the part of life I want again!!! Get up and go, I use to have a kidney shape huge pool and it was beautiful. I use to take care of it and my two boys. I work out with nautilus and aerobics and mowing grass with a push mower. I love that and I see people on riding mowers on a little piece of grass and I am thinking get off your butt while you can! Enjoy life even doing house work would be fun again to me. If you could do it and not croak 24 hours later or sooner. I know I succumb to this illness around 39 and 40 I got terribly mad with my mother. I ask her why did she not tell me life would be like this thru perimenopause? I mean I was upset! Of course she told me it was not suppose to be like this. Then I thought I am just getting older so everything hurts now.
Blah Blah Blah and what are social situations?? you are my social situations I hardly talk on the phone. We all loved physical activity, I just wanna run and walk or anything outside.
I guess I am breathing and typing on this board I am not dying even though some days I have pity parties. I think we all were probably over achievers and type A personality. I get that impression anyway.

It will not be long we will make it! It is just around the corner. Whose to say tomorrow there will not be a cure. Or next week... I am ready can you tell. I do not care how old I get I mean I hate this crap especially for young beautiful souls that are growing up and just starting life or in the prime of your life. Now that is ridiculous! So bring on drug trials! Whatever I want it better for all of us.

 

[Cort]

Slowly spreading tightness in my muscles accelerating into feeling of hot, burning muscles across my body accompanied by alot of irritability. At first my ability to concentrate goes up and then it goes down. I feel like I need to lie down and I nap frequently. My cognitive abilities decline remarkably. I feel uncoordinated and awkward and have trouble carrying on small conversation. My chemical sensitivities increase dramatically. My heart sometimes races, if I really overdo I get dizzy when I stand. I have trouble sleeping. Not fun at all. I used to be an avid exerciser as well. It was a big part of my life and I really pitied people who didn't have that experience. (Oh well! )

 

[strawberry]

Soon after activity I am left with zero energy. I have a total physical crash and go to bed for around 20 hours, usually without eating due to poor appetite as well as exhaustion. 24 hours later PEM sets in. All CFS symptoms become worse - flu-like malaise, muscle pain, cognitive difficulties, neuropathic pain, irritability, trembly, clumsy, etc. A key symptom is feeling much colder, as if my body temperature is lower. Poor circulation to the extremities (feet, hands and tip of nose) becomes worse as well. If PEM is very bad I also get a watery runny nose and sneezing. It takes about a week for things to settle down to baseline.

 

[fly_swimmer]

Do you think that having remarkable differences (17 seconds between the best and worst 200m butterfly at max heart rate) in your training performance even from day to day could mean a case of Adrenal Fatigue rather than a Hypothyroid state?

 

[Ellie_Finesse]

Hi; if I exercise too much (and these days that may mean just walking 12 mins particularly in the afternoon) I first feel tired and legs feel heavy and unwilling, then maybe a bit of tightness around the chest; if I then rest, I may become aware of a slowly growing discomfort, pain in my lower left rib area that may spread to my lower right ribs. If I then take my BP, it is probably rising, and if I check it again in another hour it may, if this is going to be a bad day, rise as high as 190/95, with increasing pain. I have on a couple of occasions gone to Emergency, to be told that my ECG is normal, blood tests normal, and finally discharged usually feeling a bit better and less scared.

I dont think I have BP issues and I dont have pain as such just aches that dont warrant painkillers. I do have this issue with my legs same as you. They seem to be like it all the time and I can't move them very fast, I walk as slow as a snail. The more I use my legs the worse they get at the mo 5 -10 mins is all I can manage before I feel like I cant go any further. They just feel so weak like jelly and lead at same time, if thats ever possibe lol. If I have pushed myself too much I crash big time and cant hold my body upright without feeling like I will collapse, but I know I wont, if that makes sense lol. I also feel dizzy quite a lot have problems focusing my eyes but not necessarily blurry and have light sensitivity. Am not sure whether it happens due to excercise though.

i wish i wish i could exercise, my legs are getting wobblier and wobblier, fat round my middle (oh the days of a perfect flat tum!), it's soooo depressing. i tried to do yoga exercises on the wii fit, but felt so much worse after it i had to give up again!!!

I know the feeling, 5 months ago I was cycling 10 to 20 miles 5 days a week, or was on my turbo trainer, I was enjoying off roading in muddy woods falling off my bike into the dirt or on one occassion upside down with my legs stuck in a tree, was so much fun. I really miss it now I am piling on the pounds cause I cant do much