Muscles get sore easily

[lamp_girl]

I feel like my POTS has gotten worse, and as part of that my muscles get sore from doing exercise very easily (e.g. when starting on some resistance level on a bike I'll be immediately sore whereas before it would take biking for 20 min to be sore at all). Has anyone had this experience? Is this fatigue, or fibro? Have you taken anything that helped?

[potsiebarbie]

5 hours ago, lamp_girl said:

I feel like my POTS has gotten worse, and as part of that my muscles get sore from doing exercise very easily (e.g. when starting on some resistance level on a bike I'll be immediately sore whereas before it would take biking for 20 min to be sore at all). Has anyone had this experience? Is this fatigue, or fibro? Have you taken anything that helped?

Okay so I don't have answers, but I can relate. Not just with exercise, but I was making cookies today, and my arm ached just mixing the dough. Do you have fibro? My PCP just "diagnosed" fibro, but I'm skeptical. 

[lamp_girl]

I haven't been diagnosed fibro. I guess it's possible but I haven't been feeling significant pain--just lots of unpleasant soreness.

[WinterSown]

Fatigue is a very common symptom--I can vacuum the living room and be wiped out on my bed for two hours afterwards. Fibro is real but is your pain from fibro? It could be from exercising when your body needs you to be doing less physical activity.  I've recently read an article about living with chronic illness and one of the points was to recognize that you need to be kind to yourself.  If doing thirty reps is wiping you out then go back to ten. I usually set the bike resistance to 6.1 or higher but when I'm beat it's less than 5 and I knock off a LOT of minutes. 

So do less for a while. It's not going to create deconditioning. I go to PT twice a week and one of the doctors at the center told me that exercise, like diet, is acruitive. It's not okay to entirely stop but for a while it is okay to do less. Your body is telling you something so listen. You want to exercise which is great--that's better than wanting to quit which would be bad for you. During flares I do a lot less reps and lower the resistance and make an extra effort avoid my triggers--on bad days I lower the lights and do some yoga or 'gentlecises' on my bed. Just a little will still help with my balance and circulation. When I feel ready I slowly build back up. 

[Pistol]

I realize that I can do well with chores as long as I do my exercises. When I am bad for a few days and are inactive then when I start being active again all my joints hurt and even wiping the counter or folding the laundry can cause soreness and shortness of breath. Then I take it easy with the chores and start my exercises ( light back, leg, arm and core ) and do like 3 minutes then 5 minutes etc over 2 or so days and I feel better and my endurance returns. 

[Bendymeat]

What meds are you on?

I’m on topamax which has a possible side effect of metabolic acidosis. A buildup of lactic acid will definitely make your muscles tired. 

I was a patient of Prof. Mathias in London and had a second autonomic testing in June. I was unable to complete my recumbent bike exercise due to muscle tiredness. However, just 6 months prior, I had no problems at all. He recommended I get my lactic acid levels tested. Unfortunately, I moved back to the States a few days later (in July....it’s been a crazy year to say the least) and stopped taking the topamax for a while to see if I felt better. When I finally got my blood tested in August, my lactic acid was fine; however, my urine pH was 5.0. 🤨