Yoga for ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia

While I was enduring the worst of my ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and Fibromyalgia, I could barely lift my arms to get something off a shelf, never-mind, even contemplate exercise.  I listened to many people attempt to enlighten me with tales of a friend, sister or cousin who had cured themselves of Fibromyalgia through exercise, by pushing through the pain. 

The emotional torment comments like this caused can hardly be described and I'm sure if you suffer from these diseases as well, you've experience this phenomenon countless times.  I did, on occasion, lash out after hearing this well-meaning advice by trying to explain that I was practically unable to walk up a flight of stairs, and that pain had absolutely nothing to do with it.  Desperately, I tried to convey the debilitating shortness of breath, shaky muscles and all-over weakness that consumed me, but I quickly realized that if the person I was taking my frustration out on hadn't experienced this sickness, they simply wouldn't understand.  I learned to put up an emotional wall, attempt to let the comments bounce off it and dredge the depths of my sickened soul for a reply. 

"Wow, that's really great that your [friend, sister, cousin, etc] was able to get better." I found myself saying through clenched teeth. 

I've always had, what I admit at times, has been a stubborn need to feel and appear "strong".  Self-sufficiency was something I had prided myself on until the unwelcomed arrival of these mysterious diseases in my life.  I'd recently become sober, exercised regularly and ate fairly well.  I didn't smoke, eat meat or even drink caffeinated beverages.  I couldn't understand how my body, that I took pretty good care of, was turning on me.

My diagnosis of Fibromyalgia was augmented with ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) in December of 2011.  I began to realize that it was probably the ME/CFS piece of my illness that caused the sometimes paralyzing exhaustion and prevented me from being able to exercise.  Any attempts I made at exercise were rewarded by even more profound weakness that lasted days after my foolhardy attempts to be normal. 

I'd read several blogs and articles about Yoga and how it had helped many through the pain of Fibromyalgia.  I'd practiced Yoga sporadically throughout my adult life so I was familiar with the basics.  On one of my grueling trips to the mainland, I somehow managed to shuffle my way to the exercise equipment department at Target and picked up a DVD, Yoga for Beginners, by Rodney Yee.  I looked at the image on the cover and laughed at the thought of myself practicing even the simplest of poses.  A few days later, I popped the DVD in the player, tried the first pose and fell to the floor exhausted.  The DVD went back into the box where it stayed for another year and a half. 

Floor Yoga Stretches I do that Help My  Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms

For a time after this experience, I gave up any attempts at exercise and stayed in my bed or on my couch where, if I rested and took my naps every day, I could muster enough strength to do some of the things I needed to do.  Any diversion from this routine left me bed-bound for days or even weeks. 


I did, later, discover a way that Yoga could be of help to me.  During the holidays last year, I began experiencing unusually strong back pain.  The only thing that seemed to help was to lay on the floor and stretch it out.  It was then that I remembered the Yoga stretches that are typically done at the end of a Yoga workout.  Every morning I sat on the floor and gently stretched my muscles, holding the poses for as long as it felt comfortable.  I actually began to notice a considerable reduction of back pain.  Of course, it should go without saying that you should always check with your doctor (of which I am not one) before starting any new exercise regimen, especially if you have Fibromyalgia and/or ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome).


A few of the stretches I do are pictured above but any book with yoga poses or a Yoga DVD should have instructions on how to properly and safely perform the poses.  My philosophy was to do the stretches I felt comfortable with and skip all the rest.  The most important factor when it comes to exercising with ME/CFS and/ or Fibromyalgia is to NOT push yourself.  The moment you begin pushing yourself beyond what is comfortable will be the moment you set yourself back in your recovery.  I don't care what ANYONE says about other people having "pushed through the pain".  If you have any issues with chronic fatigue and exhaustion, this strategy simply WON'T work.

Insidentally, the following post in Psychology Today on April 24, 2012, had the same effect on me (and countless others) as the stories well-meaning aquantences tell of others "being cured" of Fibromyalgia.  I'm only passing this insulting article on so you can add your own comments.  I already wrote mine as have many other sufferers.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/owning-pink/201204/the-secret-healing-chronic-fatigue-syndrome

Graded Exercise - How NOT to Do It

I try to get out and walk every day, even if it's not very far.  I had just started trying "graded exercise" which I've read is recommend for Fibromyalgia sufferers.  Basically, the concept is, to increase your exertion levels in very small increments over a long period of time.  The theory is, that this type of slowly increased, low-impact exercise, will not cause ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia symptoms to intensify as regular exercise usually does.

I bought an app for my iPhone that measures distances walked, average pace, altitude, where you walked and more, using GPS.  Just as a side note, I really like the app and recommend it highly.  It's called MotionX-GPS.

Anyway, the app can be set to give an auditory update every five minutes with average speed, distance traveled and time passed.  I wanted to keep track of how fast I was walking, since it's often hard for me to judge, and increase my speed slowly over time. 

I began walking, with the new app on my iPhone last week.  I was having a pretty good day, so I decided to do a 1.5 mile walk.  My average speed was 2.4 mph.  The next day I walked the same route and had a similar average speed.  The day after that I decided to try to kick my speed up a bit.  It seems I got a bit over-confident.  I pushed myself and tried to maintain 2.7 mph.  Of course, people as old as my parents were flying by me like I was standing still, but I had to really push my leg muscles to keep up that pace.  I was really proud of myself and managed to repeat my performance the next day but that was the end of that. 

I guess the two 2.7 mph days, pathetically, knocked me out.  I was extremely fatigued and weak for days after.  That was six days ago and finally, just today, I was able to go for a walk.  It was a little under a mile and my speed was more like 2.0 mph and that was as fast as I possibly could have walked.  My muscles felt weak and shaky and I kept loosing my balance.  If I'd tried to walk any faster I probably would have fallen down.  I wonder how long it'll take before I'm able to walk normally again.

The lesson here is, in graded exercise, when they say very small increments, they mean VERY small.