Hi all
I have not posted here for quite a while, but here goes. Last Saturday (19th) I went for a 2 mile walk with my dog.
Since that Saturday, I have been so tired all week, feeling nauseous, and generally felling pretty shabby.
Is this what I can expect, every time I go out on miserably short walks ?
you may need to adjust expectations unfortunately. A 2 mile walk for a lot of people with fibro would be impossible and for others it would be ok but have some consequences.
Pacing is important and perhaps if you had done a .5 mile or a 1 mile walk and then a rest you may fare better.
Sorry you are struggling - so you regularly go for 2 mile walks with the dog? If yes, and you are normally OK then it may be that you've just had a flare up that's coincided with your walk
If you don't normally walk that far, then as des said you may have simply overdone it, and should try shorter walks and slowly build up
Nope, it's the first time I have walked that far with the dog. I don't normally walk much more than a few hundred yards, but on this occasion, was out with my son and his 2 dogs.
So after seeing a few replies, and reading the 'exploits' of others, walking a few hundred yards or so … is that the best it will get with fibro?
No not at all! Think of our ability to endure physical activity like a muscle itself. If we do just 5 minutes walks daily the muscle memory begins to see it as a piece of cake. Then we increase it to 15 minutes a day, then a week later, 30 minutes a day, each increase of duration and difficulty level will be "remembered" as piece of cake too. The key is to build it up with repeated activity and a gradual increase in difficulty level. Your fatigue means the jump was a bit big for your current muscle strength and energy level.
It sounds like you have just overdone it. If you can walk a few hundred yards at present, then you can slowly and gradually increase that distance over time.
As an example, you can walk for 5 minutes without flaring symptoms. You increase that to walking for 6 minutes and do this for say a week. The following week you increase it to 7 minutes. Each week you increase.
oops I wrote my paragraph without realizing you have written the same thing already. 😁
I do same thing all the time lol xxx
Camhanaich here is some information that may address short walk limitations. Magnesium is important for thiamine activation and is also needed along with thiamine for ATP. I encourage you to investigate each for other benefits. Always consult your health care provider before using any supplement.
healthrising.org/blog/2013/...
I have fibro and I do High Intensity Training and cardio and strength based gym classes everyday. I think it depends on what you are used to. If you don't normally walk more than a a dew hundred yards you won't have the muscle strength to do much more than that. If you start at your normal amount of walking, a few hundred yards, then for a while just try and make sure you can do it most days until that becomes your norm. Then try ad a few more yards, til that becomes your norm and gradually start to strengthen your body.
My routine probably makes me more tired than most but it's a must for my mental health. We each have our own goals though and we have to try and be realistic. If you decide you want more you have to work at it but balance that with trying to not over do it.
Unfortunately I suffer the exact way you do feeling tired, weak and basically just run down after what i would call just a little bit of light exercise. I've been fishing and some days I feel like I've just run a marathon instead of sitting and relaxing and watching the world go bye. I have a friend who suffers with fibromyalgia too and she's just given up on life she just sits at home and vegetates despite all the offers to come and join us on days out. The best advice I can give you is don't give up keep taking your walks only if they short ones and I'm sure it will lift your spirits eventually. Ps: why don't you try going swimming and find a place where the pool is heated it feels great take care and I hope things get better soon
Fibro really does limit our physical abilities. To overcome this you will need to push the envelope just a little each time, and congratulate yourself on small gains. Covid and the lockdowns has really not helped our fitness at all.
Cheers. Midori
I have had to cut down the amount of walking anywhere to what I can reasonably do, without feeling it's hard going, so trial shorter distances , to see if it works for you. Good luck.
Yes for many this is what happens when we over exhort ourselves. High pain and exhaustion for 1-3 or more days. I have both fibromyalgia and CFS/ME plus several other conditions. Over the years of meeting others with fibro it can range from well mild (I think are those who have either been misdiagnosed or newly diagnosed with no other conditions) moderate (which is where I consider myself at able to go things but I pay for it and have several other underlying conditions which decreases the quality of life) and severe (those who are barely able to function and has several disabling conditions). So it really depends on which category you fall into.
We tend to beat ourselves up about not being able to do what our brain thinks is acceptable or what we used to do
we need more help whether it be meds,extra vitamins and supplements,physio or just a load of things to make basic living more comfortable we still insist on pushing hard against things and take the consequences,listen to your body firstly,have a convo with it,every day will be different and strengths in different places.For example I didn't go out for six days then out for three straight walking n shopping with little night pain,why?I don't know I just went with the flow:)I've stopped being angry with how I am that way :)) all the best x
I love walking but Fibro has robbed me of this. One day could be out for an hour, another day 20 mins and husband is having to go for the car to get me home. I had been doing well but 2 flare ups since February are making life difficult to say the least.
Sorry to say, its a famous phrase, "pace don't push" its so easily done when you are enjoying yourself, but we all pay for it afterwards. I would love to go back to the pool and swim(GP says its not safe yet) but when I do I know just walking around in the water is all I'll be able to do. Then very slowly add a few strokes then stop! It's so hard to build anything up. Took so many months but I could finally swim for 25 mins. I felt so good for doing it too. Yet it won't be easy to start again whenever my GP says it's safe to return. So get your umph back then walk a short distance, regularly, very slowly increase when you can, then you should be able to enjoy the walks, with the dogs, and the company it's the best tonic, but us fybro folk, have to work so so hard for it. Good luck keep trying. 🤞
Putting legs up before, in between and after helps me quite a bit. If my wife needs to walk fast, I take my bike.
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