does anyone here have chronic fatigue issues and still lift? or how to pace?

qkcam

wondering if anyone aside from myself have chronic fatigue issues and how have you managed this workout? but sometimes i over do it and that sets me back.
thanks

MissHolidayGolightly

Have you been diagnosed with CFS? I would suggest talking to your doctor. I don't have experience with it but I found a CDC article that says to not push yourself too hard or it will cause flare ups. They recommend breaking sessions up into parts so as not to over exert yourself and to start light and work your way up slowly. I'm sorry you have to deal with this. It's got to be very difficult. I hope you can make lifting work for you. We're here to support regardless.

http://www.cdc.gov/cfs/management/managing-activities.html

canadianlbs

i have rheumatoid arthritis which has been quiet for a few years and i don't have any joint deformities to deal with aside from a tiny amount in my hands which doesn't affect lifting too much . . . but yeah, the fatigue is like kind of delirium.

idk how much help i am though. i can't picture lifting through a flare, but i haven't had one (touch wood) since i started. and the approach in ra might be different from cfs since it gives me other reasons for caution as well, i.e. joint damage.

my general experience of flares, though, is that fighting them has never worked. and i can't see lifting through one when i usually can't even get myself out of the house while they last. if i can persuade myself to recognise the symptoms, my go-to solution is to throw as much sleep at them as i can find, for as long as i can. two or three days of sleeping 16-20 hours a day seems to take the edge off them, and then one day a day comes along where i can be awake for two hours and not get wiped out. so then i take stock. i hate the re-entry phase afterwards more than i know how to describe, but i've gotten more emotional damage than i like out of getting too invested in anything that i do. so i do the *kitten* one-day-at-a-time thing and try not to look too far down the road or around the corner.

i guess all i know about ra is two things: it will knock you down, and you will get back up. and the third thing is grief, which is just endemic and cyclical. with me it lasts for a while after every setback, and then i absorb it and live with today, until the next time around. i haven't found any other approach that keeps me moving over the wider time-scale.

i know this too, actually. having ra and having fatigue as my primary symptom of it has really screwed up my 'normal' perceptions around being tired. it's like people who've never been allowed to discover when they're hungry and when they're something else. i don't have a normal energy pattern so i don't have a normal relationship with either energy or dealing with its absence. but i've been lifting for just over a year, and riding a bike to work since i got diagnosed 12 years ago. and strangely enough, doing those things is like a substitute for that normal fatigue-perception thing that i used to have. when i'm tired i can't tell if i'm tired for more normal reasons or tired because flare. but biking and lifting seem to help me to differentiate between them. i have to lift and ride to experience 'normal' tiredness. and i think i probably cherish that a little. it's kind of a sanity-line since i can't assess things of that kind by myself.

may not have been any of hte things you were asking for, but there it is.

indianarose2

I struggle with fatigue too being hypothyroid among other things. What I have found is that I must fuel and hydrate myself properly and try to never skimp on the amount of sleep I need. I think those of us who have energy issues have little to no wiggle room when it comes to these things. Where my husband can stay up late and still function just fine I am a dysfunctional without having the proper amount of rest
Canadianlbs you helped me so much with what you wrote about expectations and investments and their emotional toll. Wow, I've experienced that too many times. I have come to label myself as "unreliable" and have a hard time committing to things out of self-preservation. I really hate it though!

qkcam

I dont have normal energy patterns either.. i like that way of putting it instead of "chronic fatigue" or . also i have thyroid issues. I have gotten 2 days of the 5x5 in.. very light the first day workout A and then a bit harder on workout B because i went to the gym. I have to be careful with shoulders.. had rotator cuff surgery, well that was almost a year ago so sound be fine. .. i need to stretch more. was reading this book about bruce lee and he said stretching really increases recovery time, everybit helps.. i hope ! I love to exercise so i spend usually what extra energy i have or i can "caffeinate" too doing some type of exercise- and often that means a sacrifice for other parts of my life- aside from the nutrition aspect i am really trying to work on- I feel really selfish with the exericse being main focus- but it helps with my stress and it feels empowering around body image stuff..ya know?
I appreciate everyone's support and feedback and shares! Indianarose2 are you from Indiana?

indianarose2

It feels selfish sometimes to be but more so I feel like I am putting money in the bank for the long run. Me working out is a much better me than not! I lived in Indiana when I joined MFP. I miss it a lot. I now live in Mississippi.