Fibromyalgia. Should you exercise? Not until you do this.

Exercise is often recommended as a way to manage fibromyalgia symptoms. But, is it appropriate? Should you be exercising on a regular basis?

There have been several studies that have investigated the effects of exercise on fibromyalgia.

Some of the benefits of exercise for fibromyalgia include:

1. Improved pain management: Exercise can help reduce pain and stiffness in muscles and joints, which are common symptoms of fibromyalgia.
2. Increased strength and flexibility: Regular exercise can help improve muscle strength and flexibility, making it easier to perform daily activities and reducing the risk of injury.
3. Improved sleep quality: Exercise has been shown to help improve sleep quality, which is often disrupted in people with fibromyalgia.
4. Reduced fatigue: Regular physical activity can help increase energy levels and reduce fatigue, which is a common symptom of fibromyalgia.
5. Improved mood: Exercise has been shown to have a positive impact on mental health, reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety that are often associated with fibromyalgia.
6. Enhanced overall well-being: Exercise can help improve overall physical and mental well-being, leading to a better quality of life for people with fibromyalgia.

Here are some studies which show the benefits of exercise for fibromyalgia:

1. A study published in the Journal of Pain Research in 2018 found that a 12-week exercise program, consisting of aerobic and strength training exercises, significantly improved pain, fatigue, and quality of life in women with fibromyalgia.
2. A systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews in 2017 found that exercise therapy, including aerobic, strength, and flexibility exercises, was effective in reducing pain and improving physical function in people with fibromyalgia.
3. A study published in the Journal of Rheumatology in 2019 found that a 24-week exercise program, including supervised aerobic and strength training exercises, resulted in significant improvements in pain, fatigue, and physical function in people with fibromyalgia.
4. A study published in the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in 2017 found that a 16-week aquatic exercise program significantly reduced pain and fatigue in women with fibromyalgia.

Overall, these studies suggest that exercise, including aerobic, strength, and flexibility exercises, can be an effective treatment for fibromyalgia, helping to reduce pain, fatigue, and improve overall quality of life.

But……..

While exercise is a healthy habit, one that has many health benefits, those with fibro should use caution.

Those with fibro are typically vulnerable to “stress.”

Mental, physical and emotional stress can trigger a flare setting someone back for days or weeks at a time.

Exercise is a stress, a good stress, but still a stress. For those with fibro, ANY form of stress puts them at risk of a “fibro flare.”

Before beginning or increasing an exercise routine, I recommend patients correct their bankrupted “stress coping chemicals.”

Have You Bankrupted Your Stress Coping Savings Account?

We’re all born with a stress-coping “savings account” filled with chemicals—such as hormones, amino acids, and nutrients—that can be deposited and then withdrawn when needed. Depending on our genes, some of us have large accounts, and some of us have smaller ones.

Anytime we experience stress, real or imagined, our body’s release stress coping chemicals. The more stress we are under, the more stress coping chemicals needed.

And the more stress we’re under, the more withdrawals we make. If we make more withdrawals than deposits, we get overdrawn, and poor health quickly follows.

Individuals with fibromyalgia have bankrupted their stress-coping savings account.

Although some patients bankrupt their accounts with one overwhelming event, most experience a series of stressful events over the years. These events typically involve stressful jobs, marriages, family dynamics, surgeries, illnesses, loss of a loved one, divorce, financial failure, etc.

Many of my patients can remember the day when their account went belly-up. It might have been after a surgery or following the loss of a parent. Whatever happened, the person was never the same from that point on; she just couldn’t get well.

Fibromyalgia And Your Stress Coping Account

Most of us can handle the ups and downs of our daily lives, even the occasional catastrophe. We dig in our heels, persevere, and eventually learn to cope. However, some individuals have an altered stress-coping system, which prevents them from managing daily stress.

Human studies suggest that for some folks, the cumulative effects of physical, mental, chemical, or emotional burdens in early childhood may increase the affects of stress later in life.

Retrospective studies show that the stress of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse during childhood also increases the future risk of developing certain symptoms, including many associated with FMS.

Apparently, for some children and adolescents, too many traumatic or stressful events decondition their normal homeostatic stress-coping abilities. Thus stress, particularly traumatic stress, early in life may alter the set point of their stress-response system.

As they get older, have more responsibilities, and experience an increase in their daily stress, they often find their health beginning to suffer.

They may start to have bouts of anxiety and depression, or perhaps they’re just tired all the time. They become extremely vulnerable to major stressors: the death of a loved one, chronic illness, invasive surgery, physical trauma, etc. Like a ticking time bomb, it’s only a matter of time before they explode.

This is especially true for those who have a genetic predisposition that makes them more susceptible to the ill effects of daily stress, including reduced serotonin levels. Some research has suggested that FMS patients may in fact by afflicted by this genetic abnormality.

Sadly, I find that many of my fibro patients have experienced physical, emotional, or sexual abuse as a child. Some patients report abuse from their spouse (sometimes physical but more often emotional). This stressful situation, though begun in adulthood, can still eventually deplete their stress-coping chemicals and lead to a state of disease.

The symptoms of fatigue, pain, poor sleep, poor digestion, irregular bowel movements, mental confusion, poor memory, anxiety, and depression are all warning signs that certain stress-coping chemicals (including vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids, and hormones) have become deficient.

These deficiencies then complicate one another until the body’s homeostatic mechanism and hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenals, (HPA-axis) become dysfunctional.

The final tick of the time bomb may be just another part of chronic daily stress, or it may be a sudden traumatic event like the birth of a new baby.

Every time we are exposed to stress (chemically, emotionally, mentally, or physically), we make withdrawals from our stress-coping savings account. These withdrawals can be triggered by any stimulus, including sounds (especially loud or irritating noise), odors, and bright light. You may have noticed that the longer you’ve had your illness, the less tolerant you are to certain odors, chemicals, activities, or noises.

Emotionally stressful situations cause the body to release adrenaline, cortisol, and insulin, and these stress hormones stimulate the brain to secrete serotonin. Long-term stress and poor dietary habits can therefore deplete the body’s serotonin stores. If we aren’t careful we’ll find that we are making more withdrawals than deposits, bankrupting our own account.

For the past 23 years, I’ve successfully treated thousands of patients with high does of certain vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other nutrients—an approach known as functional medicine. It’s based solely on biochemistry, using the right chemicals inherently natural to your body’s optimal functioning.

In short, by using the natural building blocks that make up your normal biochemistry, we can correct, drastically improve, or even reverse the cause of your illness. Nutrients— including vitamins, minerals, and amino acids—make the hormones that regulate your body. They compose every essential chemical in the body, including thyroid hormone, testosterone, estrogen, neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine, etc.), antibodies, adrenaline, cortisol, and white blood cells.

Unlike with drug therapy, there is never any danger in getting healthy. Once you become familiar with my protocols, you’ll realize that they’re safer and often more effective than drug therapy alone. And they often work quickly, having a person feel better than she has in years.

Prior to staring or increasing an exercise routine focus on replenishing your stress coping chemicals.

Be careful, go slow, build-up your stamina, don’t over do it, or you’ll flare.

It is important to note that it is essential to start slowly and gradually increase the intensity and duration of exercise to avoid exacerbating symptoms.

–> Replenish Your Stress Coping Chemicals: Jump Start Protocols