Is Exercise Really Good For Us

[gertie]

I'm a senior & have been exercising all my adult life. An old dr told me once that all the running & aerobics I was doing would wear me out. He said that we only had so much energy in our body & when it was gone it was gone forever. At the time I thought he was crazy but now that I'm 66 I think he was right. Since dysaut. I have had to cut out all exercise but still try to do light strength training 2 or 3 times a week. It wouldn't even be considered a workout by a normal person. I always know the next day I will be so tired I can't get out of bed.

I have managed to keep myself mobile & fairly toned for an old lady but I wonder if it's not doing more harm than good. Do you all think exercise is really good for us even tho it makes us sick. It don't make much sense to me, yet I keep trying to do it. thanks.

[firewatcher]

I really think that the point of exercise for us should be to keep what still works, working as well as it can. Deconditioning makes things worse because of muscle weakness and all the other stuff: increased obesity, possible diabetes, hardening of the arteries, etc. Even us middle-aged ladies have a hard time with it. I simply cannot recover from exercise like I should be able to. I think for us we need to

do what we can,

when we are able,

to the best of our ability

and push only slightly beyond.

Any more and I know that I will suffer for days!

[futurehope]

I'm a senior & have been exercising all my adult life. An old dr told me once that all the running & aerobics I was doing would wear me out. He said that we only had so much energy in our body & when it was gone it was gone forever. At the time I thought he was crazy but now that I'm 66 I think he was right. Since dysaut. I have had to cut out all exercise but still try to do light strength training 2 or 3 times a week. It wouldn't even be considered a workout by a normal person. I always know the next day I will be so tired I can't get out of bed.

I have managed to keep myself mobile & fairly toned for an old lady but I wonder if it's not doing more harm than good. Do you all think exercise is really good for us even tho it makes us sick. It don't make much sense to me, yet I keep trying to do it. thanks.

Hi, do you have dysautonomia? What is your diagnosis, if you don't mind me asking? We always need to be sure that we are healthy enough to exercise, and that there is no heart disease, lung disease or other ailment that would preclude exercise.

Now, if you've been checked out for heart disease, lung disease, or as much as can be ruled out, I would discuss with your doctor if he thinks exercise would be harmful to you?

As for the doctor who you quoted above as saying "we use up our energy and it's gone forever", I disagree. We use energy every day. Our bodies use the food we eat as fuel. We do not have a storehouse of energy waiting to be used up as we age. We are supposed to be making more fuel/energy every day if our bodies are working properly.

I see no reason to think that age alone makes you more fatigued. I've seen a women in her 80's working out in my gym, bless her heart.

Anyhow, age is a useful excuse as to why people are tired. Too often, age is used as an excuse when there are other reasons why a person is not well. Unfortunately, in women, heart disease tends to be overlooked as a possibility for fatigue. You need to be checked by a doctor for other causes of fatigue and there are many, POTS being one of them, thyroid disfunction, heart disease, lung disease, anemia, etc.

Have a blessed day!

[erikainorlando]

I am not sure...but I try anyway. I like what firewatcher said...do a little..what you can. I never do anything crazy like really push myself (I have learned that it is just not a good experience afterwards ). I try to walk around the block...somedays I can bring my 1 1/2 lbs weights with me and somedays I can't. I try not to get too upset with myself when I can't.

I know that deconditioning is not a good thing! I also know that I can't do very much...it seems to be that delicate balance.

Erika

[potsgirl]

I'm so sorry that your doctor gave you such misinformation. That is a complete untruth. Our bodies have energy throughout our lifetimes, and our level of exercise helps determine how much energy you carry forth into your later years. Becoming deconditioned is much worse, and that is really where you would lose energy as time goes on. Do what you can without negative effects, but don't stop moving! Do as much as you're comfortable with, and you should feel better both mentally and physically. Just don't over do...and think about finding another doctor!

Wish you the best,

Jana

[MelissaCrystal]

Definitely have to avoid deconditioning, as we're sooo much worse when that happens and get a lot more symptoms if we let ourselves go. So at least walking each day and keeping up and about can prevent that from happening. Standing is soooo hard, and it doesn't seem to be getting easier for me to do as I'm exercising, but I think I've been having more and more good days due to my efforts.

[futurehope]

I have to add to my previous post. Medications can make you tired as well, medicines such as beta blockers and antihistamines.

[gertie]

Thanks everybody! I intend to keep trying as long as I can.

[ramakentesh]

After my second relapse I exercised hard and got payback for a while but it went eventually. Pots improved eventually and I put this down to heavy exercise. I became quit fit but had slight symptoms for a long time.

This time Ive done the opposite and the general improvement is much more dramatic. That being said, even a small walk can make me breathless, whereas when I was fit (after my second boute i was running 1.5 miles three times a week fit) this wasnt the case and I felt 'stronger'.

Being very physically fit has offered me no protection from relapses of POTS so dont let a doctor tell you otherwise.

Dr Stewart did an article recently on exercise intolerance in some forms of POTS. It has a biological basis similar to that found in heart failure.

Many doctors advocate exercise in POTS.

[EarthMother]

There are at least one seriously flawed study that reported POTS subjects improved with strenuous aerobic exercise. Problem was these were not "traditional" POTS patients. Everyone in the study was very healthy army recruits. Top knotch, excellent stamina etc. They had no previous diagnosis of POTS or any symptoms. The researchers simply screened THOUSANDS of healthy people and found a bunch who failed the tilt table and then called them POTS. After several weeks of long distance running, this POTS group improved.

What nerves me about the "research" is that this study is often referenced in other POTS reports, but they leave out all of the anomolies about the subject pool. Clearly this group has very little in common with what we know POTS is like to live with, and I'd have to believe their etiology is very different as well.

That said! I can't "exercise" worth squat, by any traditional means. Standing makes me feel horrid and I get wiped out easily. However, when I got my wheelchair last winter, I realized that I could push myself and my upper body could endure a good "work out" without any of the side effects of POTS. My pulse would go up, as anyone's would who was doing mild strength training, and I'd feel good. My arms would be a bit fatigued afterwards, but it was "normal" muscle fatigue that went away as one would expect.

So in terms of exercise, for me, it depends if I can do it sitting down or reclining. I also love situps and crunches (though I will often to strain my back because I tend to over do these a bit.) Keeping tone is important to me ... I figure once "science" figures out how to get me up and on my feet again, I want a body that will be in condition to do it!

~EM

[ramakentesh]

Yeah I agree. I hate those studies that try to suggest that POTS and deconditioning are the same thing - I was super fit when i first got POTS and Im actually certain that the heavy exercise regime I was under actually helped bring it on. I emailed a few doctors who had published these kinds of studies and told them I thought their contentions were misguided and based on very little actual evidence.

I find that upper body workouts wipe me out - my legs and stomach are ok, but if I do chinups im usually a little ordinary the next day.

Im currently seeing whether my exercise intolerance and post exercise mailaise is a result of sympo-excitation by taking a beta blocker after my exercise to see if it helps. It seems to which would indicate that perhaps my problems are primarily hyperadrenergic afterall.

[ajw4790]

We need exercise for many reasons in appropriate amounts of appropriate modes exercise, including to strengthen our muscles to strengthen the muscle pump to decrease blood pooling. Stronger toned muscles can work like compression stockings on the inside of our legs to help squeeze the blood back up and keep from pooling. This is one of the many reasons dysautonomia specialists recommend exercise as one of the first/primary treatment modalities.

[mkoven]

Once I finally got on the right med combo, did some cardiac rehab, and learned how much to compress and drink, I am able to exercise and find it helpful. I walk on a treadmill on an incline. Oddly, I get lightheaded on a bike, but not really while walking anymore. I think I must compress vessels in my abdomen when I sit, and when I walk, I get better blood return. I also have a strengthening regimen for ans and bad joints. There are days around my period when things are harder, but I generally feel better when I work out. I'm very careful not to push or increase intensity or duration too fast. In general, I feel best when I keep moving. My joints hurt more and my ans is wackier when I don't exercise. But spring and summer 08, I couldn't exercise without bottoming out my bp and scaring the $%^# of myself and anyone looking at my vitals. A bp that drops from 110/50 to 70/30 WHILE exercising is not tenable! I no longer check my bp, but I wear a hr monitor, and drink loads afterwards. I wait till my heart rate is under 100 before I leave the gym. I also make sure not to overheat. I sweat buckets on the treadmill, and need to wear a shirt that lets the sweat evaporate and cool me down.