Does exercise wipe you out?

[Ladyhawk]

After a long bout with illness I've begun exercising again. After exercising I'm exhausted and usually have to take a nap or go to bed for the evening. This is especially so after I swim laps.

Have any of you experienced this? If so, what do you do?

I absolutely need to exercise, but I would prefer that my life not consist of exercising and sleeping. (And yes, I'm seeing my doctor regularly.)

[Nite Owl]

1. It causes me a great deal

of pain mostly. I have fibro and I have to tried to just keep at it in hopes that my body would become more fit and adapt but it doesn't it just keeps getting worse. I tried walking, it took three months for the pain to subside and now it comes back with hardly any exercise at all. I'm going to the doc again in July. She said exercise would help but it doesn't at all. I need to do something though.

[Ladyhawk]

2. I have fibromyalgia, too

Swimming does help my pain and so does my other exercise regimen (I'm mixing them up), but I absolutely cannot seem to get enough sleep. I slept most of the day yesterday and all day today after I swam laps for a little over ten minutes.

What's up with that?

As for pain, someone once said I could either have strong muscles that hurt or weak muscles that hurt. I suppose I prefer strong muscles that hurt, so I'll continue exercising. It's the zombie bit I'm not liking very much.

In my experience, I cannot do anything that causes impact. Even low impact is too much impact. So I swim and use a stationary bicycle. While on the stationary bike, I S-T-R-E-T-C-H my neck, arms and upper body. Stretching seems to help my fibromyalgia. After the bike, I lift weights. Then I stretch my lower body and any parts of my upper body that are feeling not-so-great.

It's the swimming, especially, that knocks me out. I wish I had a better doctor or access to better health care so I could find out if this is normal for someone like me and when it should pass. I suppose I could be coming down with something again. I hope not, but that's a possibility. If so, I need rest.

[mopinko]

3. classic fibro

in fact, i think that is part of the diagnostic criteria. it's how i know that i have always had it. even as a kid, i couldn't run like the rest of the kids, and i constantly had sore joints from minor jolts or exertion. the only exercise thing that i found really tolerable was a yoga class that was given by the physical therapy department at the hospital. it was very gentle, and had a lot of good resting postures.
so, i can't give you any good news- that is what it is. but you aren't alone. i do do better when i am feeling better, but i cannot work my way out of a slump.
are you taking anything? a muscle relaxant that works for you might help. and you just have to start really, really small- 10 minutes. it is hard not to push, but you just can't.
take care, kiddo.

[Nite Owl]

5. My doctor just told me to try

the yoga. Nothing else seems to help at all, in fact it gets worse. I need to do something though. I tried walking, actually it was the canvassing before the '06 election. Sort of try to accomplish two things at once but it put me in such pain I had to stop and the pain didn't subside until around January. I haven't been the same since, the slightest thing starts it up now.

I got a yoga dvd and a couple of books, the school district has classes in adult ed but that won't be until the fall. I'm going to give it a try.

[mopinko]

6. this was not a standard yoga class.

it was called orthopedic yoga, and it was specifically designed for people with chronic illness, or recovering from surgery or injury. so it was super gentle, slow paced, and heavy on the relaxation. not sure how available this type of class is. i tried regular yoga class, and tapes, but they were too much.
lots of places, especially y's do have arthritis exercise classes, usually in the pool, which is another good option.

[Warpy]

4. Any ordinary illness in a healthy person will wipe him/her out

It's why we RNs boot people out of bed as soon as the ventilator's disconnected. Bedrest over a long period of time can be fatal in itself.

You'll just need a period of building yourself back up to where you used to be.