Exercise and fibro

Hi everyone.,
I have just been diagnosed with fibromyalgia and am still learning what to do to try to feel better. My dr. suggested low impact aerobic exercise. Has anyone tried this and what were the results?

Thanks !

I swim everyday. I started slow in a stretching class three years ago and worked my way up to two hours of swimming, running, walking and stretching per day in the water.

Start slow. Water exercise is best for fibro so if there is a pool nearby, look for a class that fits you.

I have to exercise. Besides I hate being held back by fibro so this gets me out of the house.

Donnaeil

A great low impact plan could start with light stretching and walking. As K-9 said, start slowly and increase slowly. People always say to listen to your body but mine lies. It tells me that I should stay on the couch watching the Sci-fi channel and eating ice cream. I've never been able to tell when I should push myself a bit and when I really need to rest. Sometimes I would push myself and feel fine afterwards. Other times, I felt fine when I started and then flared for a week after. If you only exercise when you feel like it, you will probably never exercise.

I started with a beginner's yoga class about 7 years ago. Now, I am up to 1 hour on the treadmill 5 or 6 times a week. I'm at a pace just below running because I am too much of a klutz to run. I vary the incline between 5 and 10. I just added some light weight lifting 2 days a week but I have an abdominal hernia so I can't do much. I plan on competing in a 5K next fall. I need goals to keep me off the couch. I take one week off a month due to severe endometriosis/adhesion pain.

This is an intense workout that would have killed me a few years ago. Last summer I always paid for any increase in activity but for some reason, I'm ok now. I am just getting the normal soreness that one would expect from increased exercise. This is the first time in 18 years I can exercise without a major flare. I still get 1-3 day flares when I work my upper body but I am tolerating it and only increasing the activity at a snail's pace.

I still have major brain fog, painful skin, random muscle and bone pain, and other fibro symptoms but the fatigue is a lot less. I can tell the difference between exercise pain and fibro pain, the exercise is not making the fibro pain any worse.

I'm not trying upset those of you that can't even imagine doing this. I wish I knew why I've improved so I could share it with you. It definitely wasn't due to my attitude because I never expected to improve. I was expecting to have to stop working in a few years. The only difference is that I started Magnesium and Malic Acid about 6 months ago. I don't plan to stop it to see if that's what helped.

I guess my message is to try to improve SLOWLY!

Isn't it a shame. We have to exercise no matter how miserable fibro makes us. We are not alone though, most people have to force themselves to exercise. Not only that we cannot stay comfortable with the same exercises and time limit. We have to push ourselves.

And that platitude, "No pain no gain." What if we are in pain before we even start.

Like everyone else, I know I have to exercise constantly. I am just glad I like the pool It took me 2 1/2 years of aquatic exercise before I was no longer scared of 3 feet of water. Now I swim in the deep end. lol

Donnaeil