I started physio a little while ago and a lady comes to my house to make sure I’m doing them properly. They’re resistance exercises with a weak elastic band ‘thingummy’ to improve my core body strength and help improve my walking.
She came over on Tuesday and within 5 minutes of starting them, the glands in my neck became painful and by the time she’d gone, I felt so ill that I had to go to bed for the rest of the day.
On Wednesday I had to go to the hospital and walk a fair way and then I was back in bed for another day and a half in pain and totally exhausted.
Is it just me that reacts like this to physical exercise?
She did tell me off for not doing them enough and said that I should do them every day to get some benefit and I’m wondering if maybe things will improve as time goes on but I’m also worried that I could be doing myself more harm than good.
I used to put my exercise intolerance down to my previous ME diagnosis and find that by resting most of the time, I can at least do a few bits around the house or go out occasionally but I’m confused now as I’ve been told that exrcise is good for people with MS…help!
Hi Mags, I have certainly found exercise beneficial - when I can be bothered to stick with it - and do feel guilty that I don’t do more. Although exercise can have temporary bad effects on people with MS, I’ve never heard of painful glands being one of them. In fact, I’ve never heard of painful glands being linked to MS at all, so I wonder if there’s a possibility this is something else? You should be OK if you’re exercising under qualified supervision, as they shouldn’t be setting exercises that are too hard for you. Do you happen to know if it’s a neuro physio, or just an ordinary physio? For best results, it should ideally be a neuro physio, as ordinary physios don’t always get what we are having trouble with. Tina
Yes, it’s neurophysio and the exercises are very low resistance. I always seem to react in the same way. My glands become painful, my throat is sore and my nose starts to run. Then all my muscles (even behind my eyes) become painful and weak and I feel like I’ve been run over by a tank (like having the flu)! If I don’t rest enough to recover then the next time I’m active I feel worse to the point where I’ve sometimes barely been able to get out of bed.
I just accepted it as my lot before my MS diagnosis and paced myself accordingly…
I had a quick Google, and it seems painful glands after excercise CAN be associated with fibro’ or chronic fatigue syndrome, but I’ve never heard of it with MS.
When you were diagnosed with MS, was your previous diagnosis withdrawn, or is there a possibility you might now be living with more than one condition? It could be worth getting this checked out, as it’s easy to blame everything on the MS, but there could be something else going on. I’m sure most people with MS would say they experience fatigue after excercise - sometimes severely so. But the sore glands really is a new one on me.
Mmmm…yes, it could be the case I suppose, I just assumed my original dx was wrong and the neuro didn’t seem to know much about ME/CFS. I’ll mention it the next time I see him, just wasn’t sure if I was the only one. Thanks hun. xx
xx