Stretchercise

The concept of ME sufferers just need to exercise is ridiculous. For a non-ME-sufferer, if they are unfit, yes, exercise. It will do you wonders. But if you've got ME? Oh no. A body afflicted with ME works somewhat differently to a healthy body. ME causes extreme fatigue, it zaps energy. ME tricks your body into thinking you're well enough for something, and then (as a delayed response) will crash later on. Exercise makes someone with ME so much worse.

However. When you have been ill with ME for a prolonged time, one gets muscle wastage. I am very weak, and my muscles are quite pathetic. Just one example - if my head falls back, I often cannot lift it back up without help from someone else.

I have felt small percentage improvements in my health over the last couple of months, but I know that it is going to be difficult to fully recover when my muscles are in this bad a state. I need to strengthen, for example, my back muscles to be able to sit for longer, even if my ME improves. I also have quite an untoned body, having not been well enough to exercise in many years, and I wish to change that.

I suffer from horrific tension headaches. Since no doctor has even been able to help me, on a friend's suggestion I started doing neck exercises. I might have been doing them as long as 4 years now, and over that time I have greatly increased my endurance (e.g. I started with one headroll, and now I do several as part of a routine).

I suffer from terrible back pain. Again, no doctor has ever been able to help me beyond suggesting physio, which I am not well enough to do. I own a gym ball, and began by just sitting on it for 30 seconds to help my core muscles. Then I looked online for simple back exercises to help my upper back. I started doing them, on a small scale. After several months my back pain is... Well, I used to cry everyday over the pain. Now maybe once a month, max.

My legs are weak. And I know that the squatting position is great for giving birth. So earlier this year I started attemping 1 squat every other day. To start with I could barely squat at all. Now I can do a proper squat (with a gym ball) most days. And if I am in the swimming pool I can do 2.

I feel uncomfortable with my upper arms. A few times a week I have started lifting a tin of beans, twice, with each arm. I've only been doing that for 2 weeks, but I know it's a start.

So now, I have a small daily (by daily, I mean, on the days that I am able, about 4-5 times a week) stretchercise routine.

I start with 3 back exercises on my gym ball. Lying on my back and relaxing, which I do for a minute or two. Kneeling and stretching forward with the ball, which I can't do for long at all because of arm pain. And lying on my front on the ball, which again I can't do for long because of chest and neck pain. But it's something.

Then I do a single squat onto the ball or down the wall.

Then I sit on the ball (good for core) and I do my neck exercises. Approx 3 breaths each with my head forward, back, left, right, looking left, looking right, and rotating. Then I rotate my shoulders 3 times each way.

I then lift my tins. And if I am having a really good day I also lift each leg and straighten it whilst sat on the ball (although this is often still too much for me!)

A healthy person will think that each bit is so small - especially as when I started out, for example, I could only sit on the ball very briefly before resting... But then I look where I am now, and it's so much improvement!

I have found the best way to rebuild my body is by tiny tiny regular steps. For example, once a day going on tip toes for one step. It's so small as to be insignificant, but after a few months you may manage two steps, then three steps... It's building up endurance and muscle. And when you have ME you have to start with a tiny tiny step, because you can't suddenly run again and expect to be ok.


And then there's passive stretchercise. Mr has only recently been able to sometimes stretch his ankles (a major area of pain for him) by himself. Before that, all his stretchercise was passive, with someone else moving and stretching his ankles, legs etc. When we saw a physio, she said passive exercise is either bad or has no benefit, and refused to help us. I strongly disagree. If someone is so ill in bed that they can barely move by themself, then someone keeping their body moving is going to make a huge difference to their mobility and muscle wastage. Maybe not by a healthy phsyio's standards, but definitely by an ME sufferer's standards.