Is it advisable to do exercise when affected by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / M.E.? Which activities would you suggest and how intense should they be?

If you are well enough to exercise, it makes you feel a bit better and happier. It is really unpredictable, so I tend to set out to do a little bit and increase it if I can. I find cycling, walking, pilates and yoga are good when I am well. You need to be careful with high impact activities like running and particularly dancing, because the endorphins mask the warning signs and you can feel terrible for days afterwards.

2/21/17 by Catherine 1002

Stop exercising as soon as symptoms kick in. Going beyond 'energy envelope' is not recommended

5/4/17 by Ben 1079

LISTEN TO YOUR OWN BODY WHEN COMES TO EXERCISE!!!! Some days I can do quite a bit of physical activity but for that one day of getting a lot of exercise I pay for it with 3 days of not being able to do much more than walk to bathroom.

5/12/17 by missylob 1056

A walk is the only excercise i can take. Not a long one. And only if i can sit here and there.

8/27/17 by Emy 2050

Yes, exercise helps. I try to do yoga, stretching and walking.

8/30/17 by Jaime 800

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Exercise will make you ill. Only do what you feel able to do, rest often and pace yourself. The key thing is to monitor your energy levels and don't overdo things when you're feeling ok. Avoid the boom bust cycle where you do too much one day then crash for several days. Spread everything out and delegate as much as you can to others.

9/5/17 by Shirley 2050

NO unless you want the disease to progress faster...however, if you are old enough & have lived a full life I would suggest pacing & doing only favorite/essential activities: the end result is always homebound & bedridden so why not live before you get to that point?

9/7/17 by 2560

This depends on the severity of your symptoms. Obviously if you stop all activity your fitness will decline and so your body will find it more tiring to do things, therefore I believe that people with ME should do activities by stop before they feel tired. This will take some experimentation to see why that point is. You should not push yourself to do more as this will lead to days of inactivity while you recover. Try to maintain a lower level of activity every day rather than a very active day followed by days of no activity.

9/8/17 by Sam 1400

Because of my fatigue, post exertion malaise and cardiac symptoms I cannot exercise. I do recommend mild stretching which should be learned from a physical therapist.

9/10/17 by Sharon 1500

NO IT IS NOT BEST TO DO EXERCISE AS IT WORSENS THE CONDITION its hard to keep level of fitness and strength up because of this PEM is post exertion malaise or can be a crash which lasts longer after over exertion

1/17/18 by Annette 2500

Exercise is fine if you define exercise properly. On some days that might mean 3 reps of 5-second stretches. On other days, it might mean sweeping the house. People should not do anaerobic exercise which means allowing your heart rate to get too high. Each person should calculate their max heart rate and keep their exercising heart rate below 60% of their max heart rate.

1/18/18 by Tars99 1050

Never, never, ever set out to do exercise. I recommend stretching, a stroll maybe, very little swimming (as it's hard to judge what is too much) or mostly floating, the calmest slow dance if you have enough balance. Move but slowly and carefully paced. Vary the motions. Do the little you're capable of. If in bed with no strength, turn your wrists, move your eyes around the room, whatever you can do.

3/2/18 by Beti 2700

The only exercising that I can do continues to dwindle. I try to do Yoga, swim, light barre for leg strength and small weight lifting for arm strength. Walking is great also.

8/9/18 by cathy 2500

It is not advisable to exercise patients with ME they have catastrophic cellular respiratory damage and activities make this more severe. gentle stretching and very simple non weighted resistance activities like mild pilates while prone are okay to keep muscle tone, but they are no treatment and it depends on the patients abilities from day to day no activity should be forced it is simply dangerous for ME patients to do these things we know it does long term damage

4/6/19 by Fadra 2550

No! Some people cannot move at all, others can have only light exercise, within their limitations. Pacing.

8/3/19 by Jessica 1200

Movement is good to the extent it is comfortable for you. Aim for regular, steady movement. Your capacity will depend on the severity of your condition. Sauna therapy alternating with cool showers can help stimulate some of the benefits of exercise if your capacity is limited.

12/12/19 by Joanna 6200

No, exercise makes it worse. Gentle walking might be ok for some.

12/21/19 by Pam 3550

It makes it worse for me.

1/17/21 by Emmy 2250

You should definitely not exercise if you experience PEM. You can do some light activity, as long as it doesn't trigger PEM. It is important to keep your muscles and bones as healthy as you can by moving as much as you can. But you should never do anything that causes PEM.

11/18/22 by Arlette 1300

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Go for daily walks, making small breaks in the road, always within the same time range. You can start with a minimum and gradually increase the time gradually. I combine it with go buy at the store, the bakery... Yoga, always with postures gentle and personalized care.

2/24/17 by Anabel Albornoz Molinari. Translated

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My sport is to get out of my bed a few times per day and walk a little in my periods of wakefulness.

3/9/17 by Edith. Translated

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The exercise may be contraindicated in many cases. We do a "sport" would have to be light and without exfuerzos ends.

3/10/17 by Yabisa. Translated

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Noooooooo, not everything they say is a lie

5/12/17 by Marisa. Translated

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So bad is to do nothing as to do more... Although the day q the body tell you q you q you sleep.. you Sleep.. You will take a couple of days, or four or up to 10 if you are in grade 4 . I can't do more than 10 min walk ( prior to aerobics two to three times pir week ) if q I was able to dance up until recently an hour. It is frustrating not to be able to follow the class. Recommend... Walking, swimming or bike static... I try to walk.. But I lose balance and I need to banks for security to sit... Now what q do is I stretch in the tub. .interesting the book survive the fatigue.. it gives You ideas of that

5/25/17 by Cristina. Translated

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it is not recommended as it can trigger an outbreak

5/25/17 by Yolanda Valledor. Translated

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Don't listen to anyone who speaks without giving a reasoning. Until now, the graded exercise has been offered as a treatment on the basis of the "findings" of the study PACE that made the government of the UK with funding from the department of pensions. Last year, after losing a judgment, the authors were forced to disclose the data of the study that had been paid by all the citizens. It turns out that they used fraudulent methods, are inflated the supposed figures of "recovery", and used criteria that were not consistent with those that are diagnosed with the CFS/me. Come on, a scam in every rule. On the basis of the review of the data to the CDC of the USA have withdrawn their recommendation of the use of the graded exercise. And in fact, the IOM (Institute of Medicine) have been asked to rename the disease as a Syndrome of Exercise Intolerance, being one of the main symptoms of the malaise post-exertion (after any effort, from reading to walking) that involves the increase of the severity of the symptoms that are presented immediately or up to 48 hours after the effort. Many times the consequences of the exercise or forced back to the activity are crisis and increased the severity of the condition that can be irreversible (no return to the previous state of health after doing this exercise). To know more on this I recommend you to read: https://sindromedefatigacronicapuntodeencuentro.wordpress.com/2017/03/01/203/ http://sfcaccion.blogspot.com.es/2016/09/pace-trial-o-como-estigmatizar-millones_3.html http://www.virology.ws/2015/10/21/trial-by-error-i/ http://journals.sagepub.com/toc/hpqa/22/9 To have the best information on the exercise in the CFS/me available: http://www.workwellfoundation.org/

8/24/17 by Nowl. Translated

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I return to the question of the work, it should not be, but at least walk around and not be lying all day in bed or on the couch watching tv.

9/11/17 by Eduardo Casasnovas. Translated

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It is not recommended, but in certain cases not to lose all of the mobility are recommended , three times a week , swimming pool.

9/11/17 by Haydee de bielik. Translated

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SPORT I don't think that is advisable! In a phase without outbreak could be stretching exercises to be very soft without reaching a limit point. That is to say, without getting tired.

10/19/17 by Heidrun Kroner. Translated