I was just wondering if some of you could explain your experiences with water aerobics for me, because I've been told time and time again it's supposed to be so good for my fibro but the more I get out and get exercise the worse the pain is.
I wake up in tears every morning after the exercise, and I don't know if this is purely because I'm working out in Lake Michigan (lots of currents/waves) or if it's because of the TEMPERATURE, I don't know really it could be anything so any input would be appreciated!
The temperature does mattter. I sit in out spa with the warm/hot water and do stretches, it helps SO MUCH!! esp when I get home from a sore day of work. I'd suggest getting into a pool with luke warm water suited for water aerobics
the thing I found is we/ with FM/ must set or own pace and goals the/a normal persons when they push and over do may have pain BUT THEY DO NOT HAVE A FLAIR UP or the added pain of FM,
I had a membership at a health club with a pool , I found that the classes and programs were just to much for me to do along with others. WALK at you pace, swim at your pace, do strechs at your pace BUT do them I also found that to much of one extra size is more harmful the something differnt daily at adjusted PACE. also it hard to say to day or right now is not the time to extra size my speeling is to say if you don't you will HAVE EXTRA SIZE and that is also not good fo health or any one living with FM. BTW I belive I have had FIBROYMIELGIA for over 30 years at times in my life I did not know what was happening also before I was dignosed I would have flrair ups and did't know what was wrong I have not been working since Aug 2009 but FM so effected my work thst I was really PAYING SOMEONE TO LET ME WORK.
Oooooh, temperature I would think! Is Lake Michigan cold? Anything cold would make my pain increase. Do you have the opportunity to try a heated pool? Maybe like a free guest visit or something? I would suspect it would help.
But just remember, we're all made differently. What works for one or even many might not work for you. It doesn't sound like water aerobics in Lake Michigan is working for you, in my humble opinion.
Boy, I can't emphasis how true homeless' post is. You do need to follow your own pace and no one else can tell you what it is or should be. I was told by doctor after doctor to try physical therapy. So I did, with three different PT places, going for months at a time. They kept pushing core strengthening exercises on me and I kept flaring. In fact, the exercises they gave me made me worse, giving me bursitis on my side that's never gone away. None of them seemed to know what to do with me and none suggested that I had strange issues going on. The last person did try hard to modify the exercises to make them work, but they didn't work. So the moral of my story is that the doctors didn't take my fibro into account when prescribing PT.
YOU are the only one who knows how you feel so your reactions are the important ones. Doctors can suggest things but until they've gone thru fibro pain themselves, they have no idea what we're going thru and they aren't always right in their recommendations.
thank you everyone so much for the input and the support to not think I'm babying myself when I need to slow down. I always feel like I'm just wussing out, no one I know has FM so everyone here just tells me to suck it up and do everything that a normal 23 year old girl can do. I'm going to try a heated pool here in town and see how much it costs. lake michigan IS veryyyy cold, even with how hot our summer has been here in Wisconsin the lake is usually not even 70 degrees. I always end up purple when I leave the beach!
Oh gosh! No wonder you're in pain! Part of fibro seems to be having an aversion to cold air and cold water - they hurt our joints. So you see, you aren't wussing out at all, just reacting to the fibro pain. Your body is telling you "stop!" Lake Michigan is huge, isn't it? So it doesn't ever get the chance to heat up properly. Not such a hot choice to exercise your poor, weary joints and muscles!
A nice, heated pool sounds waaaay better of an option. You could ask gyms with pools if you could try it and tell them why you need to. They might give you a one time guest pass and then you could see if you're okay in the pool.
Don't worry, you'll start running into people who have it or know people who do. I've already met one who has it (my neighbor) and two people who are related to those who have it. It's not as rare as you think!
Explodinggirl, I tried exercising via water, via walking and physical therapy. None of it worked. I attempted it for 9 mo. Cuz they kept Saying it takes longer for it to work. So I tried and tried and finally gave up! I would say try a pool. Because the temp of the water could be a factor. But it could be both.
Petunia. I there is 3 people who have fms in my neighborhood and we live within 4 houses and we all had it before moving into the neighborhood. Out of all 3 of us exercise does not help!
Silly me, I should have known better than to get into the lake. I hadn't been in it since before I developed the condition. Maybe someday soon I can find a fibro buddy to whine with!
Cold water is NOT always the best idea for us, the body has to work so much harder to keep warm, and the cold can really spaz and tighten the muscles! I would think a heated pool would be your ideal setting, with no currents to fight. That is where they sent me, and even that temp became too cold for me! I really do think you have the right idea, just the wrong place!
Please don't make yourself worse, we care about you, talk to your Doc about other options, some of the medical facilities have even warmer water. Hope school goes well for you!
Honey, you have hundreds of fibro buddies here to whine with, and we know how strong you are and how hard you work to be well! We always like to hear from you!
I work out in a heated pool at my own pace…hired a trainer for 3 sessions who happened to be a Nurse…she showed me water exercises and modifications for them…some days I can do everything and some days not so much…warm water is definitely the key for me! Most days while in the water and for about 30 min afterwords I feel much better…I usually don’t want to get out bc I feel so normal while in the warm water! Just remember ur pace is not everyone else’s pace
There's a social site called "MeetUp" that lists all different groups in differing cities. i know my MeetUp lists a fibro group in my area. You might want to check your area as well.
As for your other issue, now you know not to follow people who tell you to "go jump in a lake!" :-D Okay, baaaaad joke.
Pam, I'm getting the warm "yummies" just THINKING of that nice feeling of being in a warm pool and feeling better from it and the exercises. Sounds soooo good!
I go to pool therapy, (its a physcical therepy place with a heated pool), i had to get a script from my dr. but the temperature is warm like 90 degrees. My muscles love it !!! I only do gentle exercise , one time I pushed my self to do more and I was in more pain the next day. I can not even go in cold water, it was 90 degrees outside today & I was at a pool party and I had to stay in the hot tub, it was heated to 95 degrees and everyone thought I was nuts, but wow did it feel good, the regular pool was 80 degrees, it felt cold to me, i sat on the edge with my feet in & just thought no way can I do this to my muscles. I say cool water & aerobics are 2 things I would avoid. Listen to your body
everyone always looks at me like I'm crazy or just plain fat and lazy! all the time! again, thank you so much for your input and motivation to do what I need to do for myself it means so much to me to have some support!
I just found out my local ymca's pool is not heated also, so I guess I won't be jumping into that- Most DR.s do not believe in FM let alone understand the fact that our muscles are nothing like normal people's muscles. just because we're achy and stiff doesn't mean exercise will help! Hope you figure out a way to ease your pain too Teri22.
I did very well with heated pools and going at my own pace. If you have medical insurance sometimes you can get order for "aquatherapy" from your doctor. Some hospitals have heated pools where you can go and get the therapy. I hope you find a good place because cold water made my muscles spasm. I can't imagine going into a cold lake.
If nothing else, soaking in the tub with epsom salts helps me. It's another way to get magnesium into your body too.
