Hi! Is anyone doing weight training with Fibro? Glad to see a "obstacles" specific section of this website! It's a wonderful website!

I'm in fantastic shape with my Fibro right now. I've been working on learning to manage it for 10 years now, and (if I do say so myself) I'm doing really well right now. I've got a good selection of meds that work for me, I've got my sleep working well, I have 2 chiropractic appts and a fibro therapy support group every week, a massage every week and a half, PT every other week, the Osteopath every 4 weeks, and a few other appts thrown in there, but except for working around appointments I'm working full time at a reasonably stressful corporate job and have serious flares rarely at this point. I'm quite good at listening to my body and readjusting as needed before I really tank. (If you're wondering, yes - I'm sure I have fibro, plus chronic myofascial pain. 10 years ago I could barely work 8 hours a week. I've just been lucky to find things that work for me to keep me healthy enough to live a reasonably normal life these days.)

I've been doing an average of 45 minutes of Turbo Jam (aerobics/kick boxing DVDs) plus 20 minutes stretching 4-5 days a week for a number of weeks and withstanding that routine fine, but now I want to start ChaLEAN, which is DVDs to teach weight training (the 12-30 lbs, work to muscular failure kind).

I'm wondering if anyone has any specific suggestions for how to walk the line between "this needs to ache because that's how muscles work when you're training" and "aw crap, I pushed myself into a flare again" while getting the hang of lifting. ChaLEAN sounds like it kicks the butts of those who do it, and I'm OK with that, as long as the soreness fades like normal soreness from exercising hard. I just don't want to throw myself over a cliff doing this and start to have to miss work It's always easier not to start a downward spiral than to pull out of one.

Thanks!
Aym

PS - I'll make sure I post how I'm doing, perhaps even start a 3FC blog, so others can learn from what I learn as I go along on this. So if no one has any direct experience with this I'll just make sure I listen to myself and don't push too hard too fast, and we'll see how it goes!

Hi Aym
I've have fibro at least 18 years
I find exercise helps me keep feeling good when I feel good
also I take Sam-E which has helped a lot with the exhaustion

Thanks, KO!

I definitely agree. It took me a long time to be well enough to exercise, although I should have probably started earlier and at a much lower level of workout, but I definitely find too that I do much better with my Fibro when I'm exercising.

I'll check with my doctor about the Sam-E, and look into taking it. Sorry - I should just research this, but are you taking that for muscle exhaustion or general exhaustion? I'm on a few supplements that really help for general exhaustion too - NADH and ProHealth's Mitochondria Ignite have both been huge life changers for me. I hadn't though of that, though - maybe there are things I could be taking to ensure my muscles bounce back as quickly as possible.

Thanks!
Amy

allegedly its the energy amino acid I read that it alleviated joint pain thus far it's helped a bit. I'm going to investigate the pharma route tomorrow (NOT LYRICA!)

Hey, KO! Thanks for the suggestions!

Might I recommend you not rule Lyrica out completely? I tried it one fall when it was the only thing keeping me from going part time on disability, and it was a (qualified) miracle. My pain level had been at an 8-9 - nothing was touching it. It dropped like a stone - well below my baseline pain level of 4 - down to perhaps 1, which hasn't been the case since I started with the fibro. I couldn't believe it.

When I did stop, which was only a few months later, the flare and pain didn't start back up again (well, I'm back at a baseline of 4 though), so I'd definitely try it for a time to knock out a bad spell. That said, I had massive swelling/edema in my legs and feet, which didn't respond to diuretics, and I did gain more weight than I'd have liked, but if I needed it I'd use it again. I'd just start the compression stockings immediately to keep the edema down, and I'd go into it knowing I'd have to take some weight off when I was done.

The ability to work 40 hours is precious to me, and those were small flaws with the Lyrica to be able to get back to work full time. I wouldn't have stayed on it forever, but I'd definitely put up with it briefly again to get that improvement.

My two cents,
Aym

aym I was on Lyrica for 5 months it was horrible for me I was literally a drooling mess and the edema was out of control! The savella is supposed to make you energetic. I need to work full time! so Energetic sounds good to me!!
I'll keep you posted
Did a striptease workout tonight I LOVE ENDORPHINS!
ttys
Kierie

Sounds far worse than my experience! I hope Savella makes a change for you. Congratulations for working out today!

Aym

Hi Aym
I ended up getting cymbalta and Celebrex yesterday was day 1 Woke up with the celebrex and didn't have pain AT ALL it's been years since I can say that. we'll see what happens with the Cymbalta
Back to gettign my sweat on tomorrow!

Sorry to be so slow to reply, KO. I am so excited you're doing so well!!! That's fantastic news! Woot!!

Aym

Thought I'd share my Physical Therapist's suggestion for how I work my way into ChaLEAN Extreme...

After discussing it, she's most afraid that I will not quite recognize muscular fatigue and try to do a rep or two using supporting muscles instead of the one that's being targeted. For instance, if you shrug your shoulders when working your biceps it'll put the work into the muscles in the back of the shoulder and not the bicep. Those are actually the muscles I've been having trouble with, and since one or two reps with the wrong muscles could really derail me with my muscles compromised already...

She's recommending I take 2 weeks and try all the routines (or at least all the burn ones) with 3 lb weights or smaller. Something so small I'm never going to fatigue the muscles, and I can concentrate just on form. I'm also going to have her go through the moves in the book and point out ones to be particularly careful on (that would be most likely for me to do wrong). During this 2 weeks she wants me doing Turbo Jam for cardio, since I know what that does to my body.

Then, the next 2 weeks, I'll continue with the 3lb weights and add in the CE cardio. This'll give me a chance to work out any differences in how the more intense CE cardio affects me differently from TJ and I can learn to accommodate those.

After those 4 weeks of basically "learning" CE, she thinks it'll be safe enough for me to start doing it with the weights and plan as intended, as long as I'm hyper careful of my form. She's not 100% sure I'll be able to handle it, but at that point she'll at least be sure I'll know if I'm not and not hurt myself too much trying

So, at least I get to start the new DVDs, and I think that easing into it makes a reasonable amount of sense. It's not like I need to send myself into a tail spin right now!

I'm also going to talk to my Dr. about the Sam-E and anything else he can recommend tomorrow.

Thanks for the suggestions!
Aym

Wow sounds like a great plan!
I'm actually getting back into my workout a bit slower the meds seem to have loosened my muscles and I have to retrain myself to move with looser muscles
Sorry for the short reply am heading to bed Let me know what the doc says!

As for the supplements, he wasn't sure anything in particular would help the muscle soreness as much as drinking more water to flush away the toxins. He thought I should go that route first, especially if I'm exercising more.

Worth a shot. I know at 6-8 8oz glasses a day I should be drinking more, so I should push more water.

I've done Burn 1 and Burn 2 with 3 lb weights now. Obviously that's an inconsequential addition for squats, but it's definitely something I can feel with those flys! I can feel all the moves, as it is. Glad I'm not jumping right into heavy weights. I'm also thankful they've got Laylei (no clue how to spell that) there to be doing lighter weights. That sounds like about where I should be starting based on how the 3lb ones feel.

My PT also has me doing push-ups against the wall. When she first said that I thought "haha! that sounds ridiculously easy. I'll just do them on my knees" Glad I tried the wall. I'm actually using a chest high shelf to work against, ending with my body about 30 deg from the wall, and boy - that is more than enough weight! I can really feel the effects. I'm shocked at how effective that is! Worth trying if someone's having trouble with push-ups causing too much pain.

Aym