Another Weird ME/CFS/FM Symptom Association: Isometric Exercise and Nausea

[Cort]

I would be hesitant to mention this to anyone outside of the ME/CFS/FM community...(I'm a little hesitant to do it here (lol)) but my latest weird symptom is nausea induced by isometric stomach exercises.

I wanted to work on my core. I know that blood pools in the abdominal regions of some people with ME/CFS/FM and I thought that getting some stability there would help. God knows it's been nothing but flab for years.

[fright]

[/fright]Plus I wanted my six-pack back....(OK...I never had one.....but I thought maybe I could get the semblance of one.)

So I started to do isometric exercises in the car - butt clenches, stomach clenches, stomach thrusts, pelvic rolls. I got to the point that I was doing some darn good pelvic thrusts......I was surprised! (and thinking maybe this could help out in another area...)

I was getting stronger and stronger but I also noticed that I kept getting nauseous = not during the exercise but later - and it kept getting worst. Finally after a truly impressive series of pelvic thrusts and roles which was followed by a truly impressive bout of nausea I got the picture...it was the isometric exercises..

I stopped them and it stopped.

This reminded me of a time I did a lot of neck stretching and was rewarded with flu-like symptoms.

Who knew? If this isn't the strangest disorder I don't know what is...

 

[Who Me?]

.
If this isn't the strangest disorder I don't know what is...

No kidding. No one who doesn't have this would believe half the crap that happens to us.

 

[Cort]

No kidding. No one who doesn't have this would believe half the crap that happens to us.

It's so darn weird.....

 

[Who Me?]

It's so darn weird.....

I had a thing recently where it felt like someone was jamming their fingers into my boobs. Can you imagine telling a doc that? And I'm pretty sure it was histamine related. WTF?

 

[Cort]

I had a thing recently where it felt like someone was jamming their fingers into my boobs. Can you imagine telling a doc that? And I'm pretty sure it was histamine related. WTF?

I imagine WTF is the kind the standard response to new ME/CFS stuff....WTF is this now?

All I did was isometric exercises!

 

[Who Me?]

WTF is this now?

Many WTF moments.

 

[Cort]

Many WTF moments.

Indeed...gotta get used to them.

 

[Seven]

Anything that gets my gag reflux going I do not stop( ended in ER dehydrated) is an OI thing. No matter the trigger the nausea reflux is exaggerated for me. I am on meds when that happens.

I suggest you do your excerciaes after your OI meds or herbs/ tea and you will see the problem maybe stop. If you do not take it maybe try a tea based on your kind ( low BP or high BP OI type).

 

[Cort]

Anything that gets my gag reflux going I do not stop( ended in ER dehydrated) is an OI thing. No matter the trigger the nausea reflux is exaggerated for me. I am on meds when that happens.

I suggest you do your excerciaes after your OI meds or herbs/ tea and you will see the problem maybe stop. If you do not take it maybe try a tea based on your kind ( low BP or high BP OI type).

Thanks - I mentioned it to one doctor and he said it was the autonomic nervous system - which of course is tied up in OI

 

[bobby]

It's so darn weird.....

so weird! but then again, weird is our normal, isn't it? I used to use a netti pot, which I loved for sinus related issues. But it made me nauseous. Like five minutes after using it. Maybe because of the position of the neck? or my tilted head? Seemed OI related too. The nausea stopped once I stopped using the netti pot.

 

[Cort]

so weird! but then again, weird is our normal, isn't it? I used to use a netti pot, which I loved for sinus related issues. But it made me nauseous. Like five minutes after using it. Maybe because of the position of the neck? or my tilted head? Seemed OI related too. The nausea stopped once I stopped using the netti pot.

I was trying a netti POT before the nausea started as well. I can see how people like Laura Hillenbrand just stop trying anything.

My nausea remains a week after I stopped doing those exercises...It's really weird.

 

[San Diego]

@Cort I have the same nausea response to isometrics. But then, nausea is my response to any exertion. It comes on really fast, followed by a pounding headache and neck pain. It’s my most limiting symptom.


People in nursing homes are capable of more, lol.

 

[Cort]

@Cort I have the same nausea response to isometrics. But then, nausea is my response to any exertion. It comes on really fast, followed by a pounding headache and neck pain. It’s my most limiting symptom.


People in nursing homes are capable of more, lol.

Ouch! Nausea is no fun....Could what you have be a migraine? I believe nausea shows up in migraines a lot?

My chemical sensitivities have really ramped up and that means nausea - yuck!

 

[Cort]

Check out this regarding migraines - from our Resource section.

Approximately 12% of the population are believed to experience migraines. Most are not diagnosed

A simple self-administered test devised by neurologist, Dr. Richard Lipton, MD and a team of researchers at Albert Einstein University has been shown to be a very effective screening tool. It's used by physicians and dentists around the world as a tool to diagnose migraines. The three question ID Migraine screener can be taken at home but your results should be shared with a health care professional.

1. Has Headache limited your activities for a day or more in the last three months?
   YES / NO
2. Are you nauseated or sick to your stomach when you have a headache?
   YES / NO
3. Does light bother you when you have a headache?
   YES / NO

An answer of "YES" to any 2 of the questions above suggests that your headache is a migraine.

 

[San Diego]

Ouch! Nausea is no fun....Could what you have be a migraine? I believe nausea shows up in migraines a lot?

My chemical sensitivities have really ramped up and that means nausea - yuck!

I definitely get migraines, too. Prior to ME/CFS, I had about one a year. I could "sleep those off”.

This is much different. Maybe my migraines have morphed into week long pain, dizziness, nausea, etc fests. I tend to think it’s more ME/CFS and less migraine. Who knows!

 

[Cort]

I definitely get migraines, too. Prior to ME/CFS, I had about one a year. I could "sleep those off”.

This is much different. Maybe my migraines have morphed into week long pain, dizziness, nausea, etc fests. I tend to think it’s more ME/CFS and less migraine. Who knows!

It sounds like ME/CFS and makes me think even more that the two are related....No fun!

 

[Lissa]

Hey @Cort -- I was just looking up some MCAS treatment info in Dr Afrin's book, "Never Bet Against Occam", and I stumbled on this:

"....observed that activities causing frequent sharp abdominal motion (e.g., jogging, tennis, soccer, etc.) may be more prone to provoke flares of mast cell activation than less abdominally provocative activities (eg., bicycling); a potential mechanism for this difference may be aberrantly heightened response of constitutively activated gastrointestinal tract mast cells to physical force."

(Quoted from the bottom of page 233.... I added the BOLDing)

Thought of this post and your "reaction to strawberries" post when I read this -- figured I'd pass it along to you! There is certainly a laundry list of individual reactions that may point to MCAS...

 

[Cort]

@Cort I have the same nausea response to isometrics. But then, nausea is my response to any exertion. It comes on really fast, followed by a pounding headache and neck pain. It’s my most limiting symptom.


People in nursing homes are capable of more, lol.

Its gotta be an autonomic nervous system thing - exercise is whacking your ANS I'll bet.

I'm trying to do deep breathing exercises to combat it. I read that that can be pretty effective. It's helping a little so far

Every time I have nausea my abdomen locks up really tight - it feels like I can hardly move it but maybe many baby steps will help.

I'm having nausea when I turn on the solar system and charge the house battery in the van or when I use the battery to run the fan that's supposed to remove any fumes in the van. Actually that's not correct - even after I charge the solar panels during the day and then leave the door of the van open all night to remove the fumes and then drive it in the morning I still get nauseous and my abdomen still locks up.

I am still soooo sensitive to chemicals. I definitely under-rated my sensitivity this time.

 

[Cort]

Hey @Cort -- I was just looking up some MCAS treatment info in Dr Afrin's book, "Never Bet Against Occam", and I stumbled on this:

"....observed that activities causing frequent sharp abdominal motion (e.g., jogging, tennis, soccer, etc.) may be more prone to provoke flares of mast cell activation than less abdominally provocative activities (eg., bicycling); a potential mechanism for this difference may be aberrantly heightened response of constitutively activated gastrointestinal tract mast cells to physical force."

(Quoted from the bottom of page 233.... I added the BOLDing)

Thought of this post and your "reaction to strawberries" post when I read this -- figured I'd pass it along to you! There is certainly a laundry list of individual reactions that may point to MCAS...

That's interesting - I'm not surprised that the up and down activity can do it...for me that would be walking in the forest where there's a lot of up and down activity...