Do You Feel Better Or Worse While Exercising?

[ramakentesh]

I love exercise when I can which is most of the time to a degree as long as I dont go mental when im flaring.

[clairc]

I feel worse during and after. If I push and try and carry doing simple, gentle exercise, after a couple of weeks I crash completely. I usually end up with an infection, or infection symptoms like chills, fever, sore throat, sinus pain, UTI. Even gentle exercise seems to cause injury. I can't cycle more than 30 seconds on my exercise bike without my knee ceasing up. Swimming is no good either as my body can't cope with the temperature changes and the exertion getting out of the pool and changed again. Even if I only spend 20 minutes floating in the warm baby pool I will have shakes, chills and nausea for the next 3-4 hours. I really wish there was something I could do but I haven't found it yet.

[Relax86]

I love exercise when I can which is most of the time to a degree as long as I dont go mental when im flaring.

Ummm - any tips on not being mental while flaring? I have not figured this out despite knowing how the worry/disappointment of a flare does not help.

[NaomiSpellman]

When I was young I competed in track - sprint races, relays, and triple-jump. My track coach used to scream at me during conditioning after school, as I was so symptomatic during long runs and conditioning exercises I almost passed out. But I was so clueless, I just tried to keep going all the time. I see now i was lucky to be able to compete at all and I feel blessed for the experience.

Now I am forced to slow down due to worsening problems with fatigue, lack of oxygen, and dizziness/vertigo. Had to stop playing going in the water and playing sports - but lots of walking every day. I do have acute OI symptoms while walking and must recline, drink fluids, eat salt, and eat food during the walk to prevent acute episodes. I can't carry anything on my back due to silent migraine/constriction problems in my upper body, so I stop and buy food and water along the way. I carry salt with me. It is harder to stop than to keep going, because your symptoms really pile up when you stop moving. The longer walks tire me out and I am pretty much useless the rest of the day. I do have to take an analgesic for any long walks due to joint pain and inflammation. Some days I get caught out with bad episodes a couple miles from home, and I don't know how i will ever make it home. My dog is essential to keep me calm during those phases. I alternate long walk days (or work days) with short walk days, so that I can recover from lasting symptoms after a long day.

My Cardio prescribed weight-bearing exercise. So I went to the nearby gym for a trial work out. I was in tears by the end of the workout, as my joint weakness prevented me from holding poses, and I could not communicate well with the teacher. I reinjured my bad ankle that day and I felt sad afterwards. I had similar difficulties at yoga. I believe they think I am a holy terror and would prefer not to see me there! During yoga class I was rolling on the floor, groaning, holding my head as I developed a migraine aura with shapes as soon as they lit the incense. We were supposed to be meditating silently at the time. Frequent trips to the bathroom were also unwelcomed. I wish I had space at home to work out at home...

[peregrine]

Hmm - it depends. Walking is my usual form of exercise, and I do feel worse during (mostly the horrid spaciness and some lightheadedness) which is better when I stop and sit down afterwards.

For "real" aerobic exercise (recumbant bike, stress test, hills while walking), definitely worse during (more spacey, more lightheaded, more completely out of it), but I do have to sit and cool off in stages so I don't fall over when I get up from the bike. Though, during the stress test, I had a non-recumbant bike, and they said "keep pedaling to cool off, then sit there! That will keep you from passing out" and I was thinking "no, get me off this bike, I am about to pass out and sitting here with my legs hanging down is worse!" Sadly they had no place to lie down after the stress test (seriously, I was kind of surprised and peeved).

For anaerobic stuff, or stuff with controlled breathing (like lifting a heavy item, or pulling against resistance, or spirometry), definitely worse at the end/after - like doing a Valsalva maneuver. I almost collapsed after the spirometry was over, much to the chagrin of the pulmonologist (I told him that it would be rough, he said "it's ok, everyone feels winded and lightheaded" and sure enough, they didn't get that I meant it would be more severe for me).

[POTLUCK]

Very brief - like a set of curls will shoot up my pulse and leave my head spinning.

Cardio: Better while doing it, and better after, usually better the following day, and better overall if I am doing it several times per week. Rapidly deteriorate in a few days, when I stop. It is like a forced exercise program in that if I keep it up I will feel better.

Sometimes, though I just don't have it in me to do it. Like today. I drank heavy last night, something I have not done in a long while, and it had a very negative effect on how I feel and on my measured HR. Running would probaly fix that pretty well, but I just feel to crumby to make myself do it. Having lots of water and salt instead - it will not help as much as the run would, but maybe tommorrow.

I also notice when I walk somewhere I feel a little better ( normally, ) though not as effective as running.

[dpeeps]

Overall, I would say better during and after exercise. I practice yoga with no issues, though I don't like the temperature in the yoga studio (too warm), so a lot of the time I just use dvds at home. I walk my dogs every day and enjoy that a lot, but I have to walk in the morning or evening. Even when the temp is mild, like 68-70 degrees, if the sun is shining, it is too hot for me. I get super tachy, throbbing headache....sometimes a migraine too. There are maybe 4-5 days per month where I am too sick/fatigued to walk the dogs, thankfully I have some help with that. I sometimes wonder if I stopped the walking and yoga for a period of time, perhaps my symptoms would intensify and I would never be able to get back into it