Who Was Athletic During A Period Of Their Lives?

[Dizzysillyak]

I was married, had a 2 year old and 17 year old, working full time, did aerobics 3 times a week

and any athletic activity I wanted to over the weekend.

I won the president's physical fitness awards every year as a kid too.

Looking back, I do remember getting winded and fuzzy thinking sometimes, but not normally, when I played

tennis or ran too much.

I stopped being able to exercise / run in jan 1990 when I got sick. My body gets confused after about 20 feet. I was able to simulate running whlie laying on my

Back at pt last year. I used a machine but can't describe it. My pem became chronic so I had to

stop pt.

[anaphylaxing]

Worked out in a gym 6-7 times a week, 3-4 times a week with an athlete trainer for the months leading up to my illness. Also running, aerobics, Irish dance, horseback riding. If I didn't work out I would get grumpy

You name it. Now can barely walk. Miss it desperately

[Lemons2lemonade]

Is it possible that our propensity to exercise relates to our condition?

[gertie]

I was always very active. Run 5 miles after work, rode bikes, aerobics, softball, basketball, weightlifting.

I was very much into weight training when I became very sick. After leading this life style all my life (until I became too sick), and wearing out all body part from over use, I don't believe in exercise. I see women now my age that never exercised in their life & none of them have arthritis or other ailments I have. They still wear high heels &

I'm struggling to walk in old lady shoes because I ruined my feet & knees running. They still look great.

[Serbo]

There are links between EDS and certian personality types (would have to google to fine the paper), but competitiveness is part of this particular personality type. Type A?

[Chaos]

Did gymnastics when I was younger. Did 20-30 hours a week of ballroom dance when I was in college. Before I got sick I was riding a mountain bike in the foothills 12 mile loop, 3-4 days a week. Teaching yoga 3 days a week and doing my own practice multiple days a week. Hiking 3-4 hours once a week, walking 5 miles a day the days I didn't bike or hike. The day before my surgery that sent me over the edge with POTS symptoms, I swam a mile and walked 4.

I'm a huge fan of exercise and how much it helps nearly everything so I get incredibly frustrated reading Levine's ideas and think of how active I was and how I've kept trying for 2 and a half years to work back to even a portion of what I could do before. Every time I try it sets me back...even when I went thru a prescribed cardiac rehab program.

[Lemons2lemonade]

There are links between EDS and certian personality types (would have to google to fine the paper), but competitiveness is part of this particular personality type. Type A?

Serbo, i would LOVE to read that...

[kmichaelson]

This is interesting and gratifying to see so many cases that seem to disprove the idea that we all got this just because we're deconditioned! I know that wasn't the case for me either. I was always very active and played three sports all throughout school and exercised in what off-season I had. As an adult I wouldn't call myself a gym rat, but I've always been a consistent exerciser--either going to the gym for 45 minutes over my lunch, playing tennis, biking, walking, whatever the weather and my schedule allowed. I miss being able to exercise and feel good and healthy from it. Hopefully I can slowly work my way back to it. I miss yoga especially because it seems like that would be gentle enough for me right now, but I'm too dizzy for almost all of the poses.

[Katybug]

Because of my elevated C4a level, I have recently read in several papers that there is a spike in C4a in the 24 hours after people exercise. I also have been reading papers on the effects of chronic elevation of C4a (and the other anaphylatoxins) and chronic inflammation on the body. Several sources attribute the chronic inflammatory response caused by these anaphylatoxins to the onset of many diseases (most of which are autoimmune). I wonder if the constant push on our bodies coupled with some predisposition caused enough of a chronic inflammatory effect to push us over the edge. ??? I'll have to go back and find the papers and post them.

[yogini]

I worked out at the gym 5x / week so definitely wasn't out of shape. However, I am and always have been uncoordinated and terrible at sports. I am probably at my most athletic now, since taking up yoga after pots.

[CharmedLinz]

I never had what you would call extreme exercise endurance.

However I did competitively ride Hunter Jumper and Dressage horses from age 7 to 16 and that is pretty grueling, at least 5 days a week, and during shows it's pretty constant 4 days, up at 3AM bed around midnight.

After that I went through several years where I rode a stationary recumbent bike for at least an hour a day, everyday.

Then I turned to walking 2 times a day, 3 miles each time.

From ages 19 to 28 all of the jobs I worked were physically challenging. The most of which was delivering luggage for an airport, graveyard shift. Usually only got 4 hours of sleep a day, sometimes less. Was moving 75 pound luggage constantly.

Most of my jobs were on-call 24/7 to phone answering and working graveyard shifts.

My Cousin with POTS, diagnosed at age 14 had been a very heavy soccer player.

[Chaos]

Katybug- would love to see those links on the articles related to C4a elevation.

[potsyturvy]

I was a gymnast when my POTS started. I was always on the go. I didn't do any other competitive sports, but I was always hiking, biking, playing basketball, or doing something active! Even with POTS, I was always as active as I could possibly be, but it seems like each flare up sets me back more and more. I know exercise is good for POTS, but it is also really important not to overdo it!

[Maiysa]

I was very athletic. It's what I miss the most besides travel. I did a little bit of stunt work in the day, but the fibromyalgia got too bad. But when I got sick I was bike riding excessively! I also lifted weights 2-3 times weekly, took yoga classes, pilates, hiking was my hobby, and I loved to play basketball and softball with my two boys. I was even doing flips and round offs at age 42 just to be funny at get togethers. haha. But of course that is all gone. But I was able to ride my bike for a short time this winter. Waiting for this flare up to go away to do it again. It gave me so much hope. I have orthostatic intolerance, so I can't over do it or I will black out. But I have been able to ride the stationary bike for just a few minutes a day once or twice during my flare up. IT just makes me feel like I'm doing something. And I think it is making me stronger.

[samannran]

Yes! I woke up extra early and alternated the treadmill & Pilates every morning. I miss working out so much!

[Serbo]

There are links between EDS and certian personality types (would have to google to fine the paper), but competitiveness is part of this particular personality type. Type A?

Serbo, i would LOVE to read that...

I think it was a Dr who mentioned the EDS/competiveness link. It makes sense, there are some studies which link anxiety and EDS. With these things though it's always chicken and egg....

Psychiatry Research, 46:5948

Anxiety Disorders in the Joint Hypermobility Syndrome

Abstract. A case-control study was designed to test the association between joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS), an inherited disorder of collagen synthesis, and anxiety and phobic disorders. One hundred fourteen cases of JHS diagnosed at the rheumatology outpatient clinic of the Hospital de1 Mar (Barcelona) were compared to 59 control subjects randomly selected from patients seen at the same clinic. Both cases and controls were examined by a psychologist who used the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R and who was unaware of their medical diagnoses. DSM-III-R diagnoses of panic disorder, agoraphobia, and simple phobia, but not generalized anxiety disorder, dysthymic disorder, or major depression were found to be highly associated with JHS (age- and sex-adjusted odds ratio = 10.7). Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) was present only among JHS cases. Among cases of JHS, subjects with MVP were almost three times more likely to suffer from anxiety than subjects without MVP (odds ratio = 2.95) although the association was not statistically significant. The strong association between panic anxiety and JHS appears to occur at a higher level than the association between panic and MVP, and provides a new basis for further studies on the genetic background of panic-anxiety.

Is Joint Hypermobility Related to Anxiety in a Nonclinical Population Also?

This study examines the association between joint hypermobility syndrome and anxiety in a non- clinical sample. Subjects (N526) receiving a medical check-up were assessed with the Hospital del Mar hypermobility criteria and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Scores for trait anxiety, and to a lesser extent state anxiety, were significantly higher among subjects with joint hypermobility syndrome than among subjects without this syndrome (median trait anxiety scores for women: 17 versus 11; median scores for men: 13 versus 1). These findings indicate that the association of joint hypermobility syndrome and anxiety holds even for subjects with no psychiatric diagnosis. Therefore, it seems that this benign connective tissue disorder is a predisposing factor for trait anxiety. However, it is necessary to further explore and define the biological basis of this syn- drome, as well as its associations and clinical expressions, which interact with great complexity.

(Psychosomatics 2004; 45:432–437)

[Katybug]

Here are some links that I was reading: (There are quite a few more along the same lines.)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2583111/

http://www.ilads.org/files/compendium07/Stricker.pdf (slide #10)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19601884

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19477527

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1535284/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1966983

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3875363

[peregrine]

Generally didn't exercise a ton as a kid or in college (other than walking), but between college and grad school I backpacked for 23 days (240 miles) straight in the mountains in California. Guess that might count...