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Sunday, November 15th, 2009

Fibromyalgia and Loss of Muscle Tone – Can Exercise Really Help?

Fibromyalgia is a condition that can cause intense and sometimes unabating pain all over the body. For this reason many patients afflicted with the disorder find it difficult to complete their everyday activities, let alone consider an exercise regimen.

However, according to experts in the field, one of the lesser addressed problems faced by those with fibromyalgia is muscle wastage because they are rendered far more inactive than in the past, or others their age might be.

Therefore many doctors who treat fibromyalgia patients recommend that they strive to complete at least some low impact, gentle exercises to keep and even improve their overall muscle tone.

The key to success is to undertake workouts gently, in moderation and to exercise as much patience as possible. The pain and fatigue that fibromyalgia patients suffer from can worsen without warning. There may be days when exercise is simply impossibility, and the best course of action is to listen to the body. Other days may find a patient able to complete only those exercises that see them lying on the floor or sitting. The important part is to keep trying to the best of one’s ability.

Stretching is important, as part of the pain may come from muscles lying dormant all day, stiffening and protesting as they do so. Making a few simple stretching exercises a part of their daily routine has helped many fibromyalgia feel at least a little better. Some people also recommend yoga both for its physical benefits and the sense of relaxation it imparts.

To try to strengthen the muscles light free weights can be very helpful. Two pound weights are not too heavy but will still provide good resistance without overstressing the muscles. There are a number of good exercise regimes on the Internet that can be adapted to fit the constraints of a person with fibromyalgia.  It is important to begin with just a few repetitions a day, only increasing them as can be tolerated.

Other people with fibromyalgia have had great success following a well tailored Pilates regime, one of the goals of which is to improve muscle tone in everybody who practices the art.

As important as the exercise regime undertaken by fibromyalgia patients to increase muscle tone is the diet that they follow. An adequate amount of protein is essential and most medical practitioners suggest that fibromyalgia patients avoid caffeine and alcohol wherever possible.

Whatever exercise regimen a fibromyalgia patient chooses to undertake the key is patience and perseverance. As their body becomes more used to exercise again patients will discover for themselves where their strengths and weaknesses lie and retool their fitness program to compensate for them.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 15th, 2009 at 7:22 am and is filed under Fibromyalgia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Fibromyalgia and Loss of Muscle Tone – Can Exercise Really Help?”

ann marie Says:
November 15th, 2009 at 7:08 pm

I have been in chronic pain and have had the fatigue for many years, i do exercise and stretch but dont get the relief i need for a full days work. any other suggestions will be helpful and if i can help anyone else with this condition i am willing and able just e mail me and we can take it from there p.s. i also, suffer from muscle spasms that is now a recent condition, i understand this condition can come from being abused (domestic violence) which i have had and also, car accidents.. again willing to tlk with anyone who may want to and need emotional help this is a very disabling condition as well as emotional…

Linda Brokaw Says:
November 15th, 2009 at 9:05 pm

I have found the use of therapeutic resistance excellent for slowly building muscle tone in a deconditioned body. Therabands made of latex or special order non-latex are easily available in various strengths for resistance exercise. By carrying the bands with you, a few minutes of exercise, done several times during the day, slowly builds up your tolerance and strength. And types of exercise stretches are also easily available on the internet or even the purchasing package in athletic stores.

Marre Carpenter Says:
November 15th, 2009 at 10:50 pm

Whenever I try this, even a little exercise, its true that it differs from day to day, depending on any amount of obstacles! It could be the weather, the mood, the sleep patterns, diet affecting swelling, etc, that disrupt any tries, and even a little exercise on the bad days can cause me to be laid up for 4 days afterwards in extreme pain. Yet, there are some days, about twice a month, where all of a sudden out of nowhere, the stretching has actually helped! Its really odd, I cannot explain it, and I’ll be stumped till the end of time on this one! Ha! It will actually cause a sense of euphoria, well being that is very elevated almost like a high bi-polar episode I’ve read of with that extreme good feeling! Wish that could happen everytime! If I push it, I never know what to expect, it gets very frustrating not being able to figure your own body out, but I’ll never give up the fight to a somewhat road to normality!

Virginia Brown Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 1:34 am

A rheumatologist diagnosed me with FMS. For over 10 years I had been in sometimes unremitting, sometimes sporadic pain, with no medical diagnosis other than “tendonitis”. No one could find the cause. It was suggested that it might all be in my head or I just have a low threshold of pain. Depression made me almost immobile, and the unrelenting pain made me consider suicide at times.

When the doctor diagnosed FMS, I cried–with relief. I was so glad to hear an actual cause of my pain instead of being thought a hypochondriac, lazy, or just a whiner. Now when it gets too much for me, I give myself permission to lie on the couch and/or take something for the pain. It will pass much more quickly, I’ve found, if I surrender to it for 24-48 hours than if I try to “soldier on” with it.

As for exercise, I garden. I walk my dogs when possible, although if they pull too hard I end up back on the couch. If I exercise too strenuously when gardening, i.e., dig too much or lift bags of mulch, etc., then I find myself back on the couch. There’s a delicate balance between enough exercise and too much that I’m still having difficulty defining. I would think that for everyone the exercise issue is different. There are times I can work in the garden for a week at a time with only a little pain; then there are the times just getting out of bed is painful. It varies, it’s erratic, and it’s never consistent. I’m beginning to track my bouts to see if weather has anything to do with it, or stress.

Depression, however, is a constant with me. I struggle against it daily since I am so limited now in what I can do. Once I had a lucrative career. Now I’m on disability and barely get by. I never know from day to day if “fibro fog” will allow me to even remember my name. Not that knowing my name is essential to me, it’s just handy. ;-)

I would suggest that anyone with FMS try to keep your sense of humor intact. You will definitely need it!

Meme Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 3:39 am

I’m guessing that the writer of this article is not familiar with Fibro, since Yoga is one thing that someone with moderate – severe Fibromyalgia like myself avoids like the plague. I was diagosed with severe Fibromyalgia in 1998 and the LAST thing I want to attempt is streting my body into positions that hurt to just think about, plus the pain leaves no patience for any breathing than the norm. Perhaps someone with mild symptoms can do those things, but know that although millions have the disease, we all have different levels of it. For me, my Neuologist’s recommendation of light water aerobics – just being in water and moving – relieves some pain and exercises muscles, and the other being light walking. My doctor recommends 2000 steps a day so I got a pedometer and some days I make it, some I go over it, some days I don’t come close. Every day our pain level is different. Making plans ahead is out of the question. It sounds really strange to me now that I have been in pain 24/7 for over 10 years, but it’s true. If you have no access to a pool, and/or it’s the winter months, check to see if there is a local YMCA with a pool. That’s what I do when our apartment complex doesn’t have the pool open. Seriously, that has been my greatest help and the exercise, even if you are just waving your arms in the water and trying to walk in the shallow end of the pool, surely brings some pain relief and provides good exercise for me and I have severe pain that keeps me from doing anything at all but sitting before my Neuro told me to try water exercise.

perpetualspiral Says:
November 19th, 2009 at 2:33 pm

Marre, what you are describing sounds like post-exertional malaise, a hallmark symptom of ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). Exercise can be quite dangerous for those with ME/CFS. 70-90% of people with fibro also have ME/CFS, so you should be very careful when trying to exercise, and find a doctor knowledgeable about CFS. Pushing ourselves even a little bit past our limits can cause major relapses and sometimes permanent worsening of our condition.

Meme, yoga is not about stretching yourself into painful positions. One of the key elements of yoga is to NOT push yourself to the point of pain. Yoga works with the breath to gently relax your muscles so they elongate. Yoga does have some difficult poses, but those are for advanced practitioners. There are much simpler, gentler yoga poses, and yoga can be adapted to any level of physical health (except the immobile of course). Yoga done properly should not be stressful on the body, and many many people with fibromyalgia find it does in fact help a great deal. Prone and seated yoga poses take little energy and help unclench spasming and/or stiff muscles. Water aerobics are fantastic for fibro too, but you shouldn’t rule out gentle forms of yoga.

Glenda Says:
December 1st, 2009 at 3:34 am

I spent two months visiting Trinidad & Tobago and also Grenada. In Grenada I went to the beach almost every day and the warm salty ocean water was a great relief to the fibro pain. As a matter of fact, I had no fibromyalgia pain while there. It was simply amazing. However, I am back in Los Angeles and the pain has returned with a vengence.

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