Walking, Fatigue, and Prognosis

Hi all - I have a question that would be great to have some help with. After 10 months of acute sickness, I've been feeling better with some more energy and clear headedness (still haven't crossed 50% threshold however) so I decided to walk longer and faster than I usually do. It was a 6 mile day (two 3 mile walks in one day) which is about double what I would usually do. For the past week since then I have felt earth-pulling full body fatigue and the day after the walk I had a bad migraine. Nothing changed in my treatment recently enough to have this kind of impact, which makes me point to the walk as the culprit. The thing is, I felt great during the entire walk and energized the whole time and even that night felt well... Can this really be what has caused a weeks worth of much worse than usual fatigue? Is there anything I can do about it? I just find it hard to believe that this was bad for me because I felt good and up for it the whole time. I also have not changed my environment etc. Let me know plz - thank you!

So you don't think it's better in the long run to push yourself a little bit? I've definitely heard what you're saying before about not pushing it.

No. Pushing through will only set you back farther.

The only thing that I did to help was stay within my limits.

i have had very similar experiences to this

all my life I have refused to give up on things and succeed by determination and application.

so for a long time with this illness, I would try to push through. i couldn't accept that I needed to stop and change my approach completely from what had worked all my life and was extremely frustrated.

this would result in me doing too much and having exactly the symptoms you describe that lasted sometimes over 1 week.

It's called Post Exertional Malaise and is a well-known phenomenon in the CFS world.
but many things can cause CFS, Lyme, and co-infections being one of them. some co-infections are more associated than others. mycoplasma for instance and EBV. but Lyme on its own can do it.

initially, pretty much too much of almost anything could trigger this response:
-socializing - ie just talking to someone for more than 30 mins
-driving more than 30-40minutes
-too much work on the PC
-gardening
-exercise and particularly aerobic exercise though was the worst.

as far as I can tell it is caused by oxidative stress inside our cells caused by too much inflammation - damaged mitochondria and poor efficiency in burning energy - leading to more free radicals and hence more oxidative stress and more mitochondrial damage in an ongoing cycle.

there are a few things you can do - ideally in parallel

1- treat the underlying infection that caused the inflammation in the first place - Cytokine modulating herbs can help also while you are treating / as part of the treatment.

2- manage exertion and (especially exercise) in a "performance window" - this means doing enough to get enough of a signal initiate the adaptive response ( the mechanism by which exercise makes us stronger) but not so much that we cause a setback.
this amount is different for everyone and will change over time as you improve.
initially, the window may be very small with a fine line between doing enough and too much.
resting on the days you are not exercising is also critical to recovery ( as is sleep, diet, lifestyle etc etc )

3- there are some foods, supplements, and herbs that can help support the mitochondria.
-a ketogenic diet made a huge difference to me in this regard.
many believe your body can run better on fats for energy ( once it adapts - which takes around 14days ) cleaner fuel with less free radical production than carbs. This certainly proved the case for me. inside our cells the mitochondrial membrane is critical to energy production as the energy potential is created across it - this membrane is made from healthy fats - including phospholipids - and these must be included in the diet. eg. eggs, grass-fed meat, oily fish etc to replenish the damaged one with.
- various supplements can also help a little to support energy transport in and out of the mitochondria and help mop up free radicals. (Vitamin C, B-vitamins, magnesium, Acetyl-L-Carnitine, and a few more I forget - Dr Sarah Myhills site on CFS has a lot more info on this)
- Stephen Buhner recommends the following herbs for protecting the mitochondria from ongoing damage " The herbs specific for protecting mitochondria and their function are: cordyceps, motherwort, Rhodiola, Chinese skullcap root, kudzu root".

I am doing all of the above and making steady progress now over the last 12 months or so. i have considerably more exercise tolerance, higher performance, and faster recovery, but I still have to be very measured with it.

if you can already walk 3 hrs in a day it sounds like you are on the road to recovery and the above should help you continue.