Anyone have experience doing strength exercises post-CFS?

lvbor

Hi folks.

Several years ago I had chronic fatigue syndrome. The severe symptoms lasted about 2 years, and moderate symptoms for another couple of years after that. Now I'm pretty much completely recovered (hooray), with one hangover - I often get the CFS-like muscle pain after doing strength exercises, which I really want to be doing.

It's not injury pain or muscle stiffness---it's a deep, strong ache in long muscles that lasts for a day or so. When I was sick I'd get this everywhere nearly constantly, even in the muscles on the palms of my hands, and it was exacerbated by being awake for more than a few hours at a time. As I got better it became less common, but would still be brought on by exertion (not just physical--concentrating all day would make my arms ache). Now the same thing is limited to my arms and associated only with having done a (reasonable) weights session the day before. I *really* want to be doing strength exercises, not just cardio, but I don't want to be in constant pain as a result.

I was wondering if anyone else had any experience of this; specifically things that I might try to prevent or alleviate it. The local CFS specialist has a 6 month waiting list and my GP doesn't know any more about it than I do, so those avenues aren't a useful option.

Thanks!