Fibromyalgia And Exercise – What To Know

There’s a controversy among doctors about fibromyalgia and exercise. Some doctors believe that patients with fibromyalgia should exercise less while others believe that they should exercise more.

Why Fibromyalgia and Exercise is Not a Good Combo

However, if a fibromyalgia patient feels as if she doesn’t have the strength to move and it hurts to move, how can that person even fathom the idea about exercising? For this type of person, the relationship between fibromyalgia and exercise is one that should not be even considered; they feel too sick and too disabled to even try to exercise.

It’s a Battle for Fibromyalgia Patients to Exercise

While working with patients over the years, I’ve used the philosophy that fibromyalgia patients should not exercise until they feel better. I’ve realized that what they need the most is to start feeling better. If someone has to battle against their own conscience to do or not do something, they are adding physiological stress to their body. It becomes a big internal battle to start exercising because the patient knows she will be doing something that causes more pain. What person wants to increase the amount of pain they have?

It’s not a matter of will power for these people. A fibromyalgia patient doesn’t feel like exercising because movement causes her pain. We all know that exercise is good for the body, but does that mean that someone who experiences more pain after exercise should in fact, exercise? What’s happening in the body when those who have fibromyalgia and those who don’t exercise?

What’s happening is that free radicals are being produced at higher rates during exercise. This is because you’re speeding up your metabolism and consuming greater amounts of oxygen. The oxygen is oxidized in the body and its use results in free radicals. The more free radicals you have in your bloodstream, the worse you’ll feel and the more inflammation you’ll have. There’s nothing good about having a high level of free radicals in your bloodstream.

Guidelines on Fibromyalgia and Exercise

Here are some guidelines on how to get patients to the point where they can consider that the relationship between fibromyalgia and exercise is a good one:

1. Begin initiating a change of diet. Eliminate all processed foods and sugars from the diet. This will begin to decrease inflammation in the body.

2. Obtain a nutritional workup that determines nutrient levels for all vitamins and minerals. If funds are limited, begin with a vitamin D level, magnesium level, vitamin C level and B vitamin level. Change the levels, ensuring that they are all in the normal range.

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