Fibermyalgia

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grandmastime
grandmastime Posts: 57 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone suffer from fibermyalgia. My older sister has suffered from it for close to 20 years. Excersize has always been uncomfortable and hurtful for days afterwards. Because of this she has put on alot of weight. She now suffers from diabetes. She wants to get healthy again but everytime she excersizes she is in Alot of pain for days afterwards. She has asked if I know any excersizes that would help her but not hurt her. I have suggested to start slow such as stretching and leisurly walking and slowly build her way into more. However, I was wondering if anyone else suffers from this debilitating disease and have found a better way to excersize for your condition. Any suggestions would help.

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  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
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    Exercise in the water (swimming, water aerobics) can be more comfortable for some because the water supports the joints, so no fighting against gravity. I hope your older sister has a nearby facility where she can try this.
  • FJcntdwn2sknyluv
    FJcntdwn2sknyluv Posts: 651 Member
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    Stretching/ yoga and Pilates.. and just plain walking.. I known several people who have lost weight, battling that damn thing.. and it just takes time... doing what they can, and trying!
  • BikerGirlElaine
    BikerGirlElaine Posts: 1,631 Member
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    Yes, water exercise is good -- try to find a warm water pool, like the kind that they advise people with arthritis to use. Regular-temperature pools take a lot out of me, but the warm ones make it a lot easier to move in them and not feel awful afterwards.

    Stretching was painful for me at first. At first I just walked. I walked 3 minutes out from my front door and turned around and came back. I added a minute each day. If I was sore and hurting I took it easy, but I didn't not go unless I was really bad off. I was so happy when I was able to walk for 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back!!

    Different things work for different people, but I found it important not to eat MSG. Eventually I stopped eating sugar and I got significantly better after that. So my point here is that changes in diet can be very very helpful.
  • lesspaul
    lesspaul Posts: 190 Member
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    I have been diagnosed for the last decade with
    Dermatomyositis with overlap Scleroderma and Fibromyalgia.

    I have been so weak that getting in a car, changing a light bulb, or opening a cardboard box were near impossible. I gained 50 lbs. SInce that time I've made lurching progress forward. I've lost 50 lbs. I am now able to participate in most family activitiies.

    Here is the bad news. Every bit of exercise carries forward a price tag of fatigue, pain and discomfort.

    The good news. You can overcome. It is just hard as hell. You have to learn to accept the pain, discomfort, and fatigue as worth it to stay active and not let the disease rule you life. It ain't easy. Tears are not optional.

    PS: my MFP ticker was started after losing the first 14 lbs
  • HiKaren
    HiKaren Posts: 1,306 Member
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    I diddo Keno.

    And I know it sucks. I have it too, along with some other painful stuff going on.
    The doctor put me on 4 pain pills per day. I cannot be on Cymbalta or those types of drugs. They really, really don't agree with me.

    I take two epson salt baths per day. And after my pill and salt bath and stretching at night (After working a FT job M-F)
    Thats when I feel the most decent to be able to do the "Structured" "Purposeful" workout.

    It does suck because alot of days, Its really hard just to get thru a work day, and errands, besides doing a real workout.
    (Haven't done one for about a week, besides some extra shop/walking, cleaning, and gardening thou)

    Have this Fibromyalgia, then break all your right posterior ribs in multiple places, break your collarbone, plus have uterin fibroids, and DDD in your spine... Thats what I've been contending with. It hasn't killed me yet. Oh yeah, and taking care of the 20 men at work, keeping them straight, hasn't killed me yet. Just trying to accomplish the over and beyond workout can be sooo difficult. Pain is a real issue, and I think it really prevents or really challenges alot of people, when it comes to being fit.

    Good luck to your sister. Do some more research online for her. Also daily stress is a factor. Try to keep stress low, and pain can be less. Not sure about what to do about the nagging, never ending pain in my left shoulder. Its always there, it never ends. Even when I baby it.
  • lesspaul
    lesspaul Posts: 190 Member
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    BTW, the fatigue of which I speak is not your everyday fatigue. Please read "The Spoon Theory" to better understand the fatigue that is associated with autoimmune disorders:

    http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/wpress/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/
  • holothuroidea
    holothuroidea Posts: 772 Member
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    I don't know much about fibromyalgia but I do know that weight loss happens because of a caloric deficit, not because of exercise.

    It's 100% possible for her to lose weight while not exercising. I lost 30lbs without exercising at all.

    That having been said, for her health and fitness I hope she finds a method of exercising that works for her!
  • AztecKermit
    AztecKermit Posts: 27 Member
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    I have fibromyalgia.
    My weight gain was caused by the medication I was prescribed shortly after diagnosis, I have now convinced my Doctor that it was doing more harm than good and changed to other medication that is working better for me.
    Everyone is different though and what works for me may not work for your sister.
    I am now able to do a lot more exercise without increasing my pain levels compared to 5 years ago at which point any exercise at all would cause a flare in symptoms and increased pain.
    I started by doing Yoga at home, I paid for an instructor to show me the moves properly a few times and literally just did 10 minutes a day to begin with, slowly increasing this as I became more able to do so.
    Walking a little further every few days and just increasing how much movement was included in my normal day to day life.
    I still have some days that I can't do anything more than 10 minutes of yoga or a very shorty walk due to exhaustion and pain levels.
    But I also now have some days where I can go for a long Brisk walk or do some Zumba. Which is drastically different from when I started trying to increase my exercise levels again.
    I am always in pain but have managed to find ways for me to exercise without making it any worse.
    I hope your sister can do the same.
    I know many people who haven't been able to find ways to exercise that works well for them around fibromyalgia.


    I wouldn't wish fibromyalgia on my worst enemy.
    All of our bodies react differently and the best thing to do is to listen to our own bodies.
    Learning to listen to your bodies own signals about when you are overdoing it at the time instead of not realising till later on is the biggest hurdle.
    Over doing it on one day can mean that we can't do anything for weeks. It's all a balancing act of doing enough but not too much.
  • jrbb03092
    jrbb03092 Posts: 198 Member
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    I've had fibromyalgia since my mid-teens and I have been unable to find any exercise that doesn't cause me pain of some sort.

    In my experience, there's a baseline of pain with fibro and then there's when you do something that's too much and then there's when you do something that really causes a flare (major pain).

    You have to find out what works for you that hurts more than that baseline but less than a true flare.

    The only things that work for me that way are walking, swimming and very light weights. And I still hurt, and far more than if I did nothing. But sitting on my a** is not an option unless I'm going to give in to that for the rest of my life so I take things easy, I accept what I can handle, I try to keep this side of a flare and ease back even more when I trigger one. I accept my limitations (in terms of accepting that I won't ever be running or heavy-lifting) and do what I can when I can.

    If I may make one concrete suggestion, I would advise (if your sister can afford one) getting a fitbit. She could spend a week doing what she does now to get a baseline and then start walking, even around the block, to up her activity. I think she would find it really motivating (as I have) and a very easy way to get more active without hurting herself.
  • grandmastime
    grandmastime Posts: 57 Member
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    Thanks for the replies everyone. I now its been hard on her. And yes the meds sometimes make her gain weight. She has been on many different types over the years. Even though she is 5 years older than me she looks to me for help. I hope I can, with your input thank you, give her some help and support.

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