Could Yoga be bad for me?

[stephanier.1765]

I have fibromyalgia and I had Covid in the early part of January. I'm struggling, really, really struggling with pain. It's far worse than it has ever been before. I wake up unrested and already starting the day in more pain than I would end the day with previously prior to this bad round of pain. In January as part of my NY's "get better" resolution, I started the gentle yoga for fibromyalgia that's only 10 minutes long by Joelle. Last week, I started working in her 20 minute one too. 10 minutes one day and 20 the next. There are two days where I'm not doing any yoga and I feel better on those days than any of the others. Not good, but at least better. So my question is, could this gentle yoga designed for people with fibromyalgia be making my pain worse? Could it be residual effects from Covid? Or maybe, my fibromyalgia has just decided to up it's game. I am desperate for help! This pain is just so overwhelming and so bad. 

[gardenmom5]

Yoga is extremely variable. 

The right practice,  with the right modifications should be helpful. 

Most yoga "teachers " don't know most modifications let alone how to adjust a practice for someone with medical issues. 

I also have fibro. (Really helped to up my T3 intake and good adrenal support)  I've enjoyed chair yoga with Kassandra.  It felt more like a real practice. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by gardenmom5

[Kassia]

Sending very gentle hugs.  I'm so sorry you are hurting.  😞 

[Pawz4me]

16 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

So my question is, could this gentle yoga designed for people with fibromyalgia be making my pain worse?

Short answer is yes, IME.

Longer answer is -- I sort of doubt that yoga in and of itself would be making you worse. But I'd absolutely consider a different practice. My personal example is that I have RA and a significant amount of OA. I can't do the Yoga for Arthritis DVD that's put out by the Arthritis Foundation. I mean I can physically do it, but if I did it regularly it would really make a lot of my affected joints worse, as the poses they emphasize put too much strain on my affected joints and IMO the instruction on the DVD leaves a lot to be desired. Other yoga programs work fine for me. So . . look around for something different would be my advice.

[Katy]

Yes. Listen to your body and find some other exercise to do. 

[Jean in Newcastle]

I have had fibro for almost 30 years and I cannot do yoga.  I did better with Tai Chi because it flows.  Anything that holds a pose is bad for my particular body. 

(But individuals even with fibro are very variable.) 

[ScoutTN]

1 hour ago, Katy said:

Yes. Listen to your body and find some other exercise to do. 

This.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Check out low dose naltrexone. It hasn’t removed my pain but it’s made it much better. You might need to go to a naturopathic doctor to get it prescribed. 

[gardenmom5]

Ok - I'm aback. . . 

suggestion - do NOT do even a 10 minute practice more than every other day - or even once in three of four days.  be gentle, sometimes, that's more gentle than "gentle" yoga.   Right now - don't do a 20 minute practice at all.  You must have that rest break.

years ago, when recovering from a particularly pernicious infection . . . I found I could "walk" for 10 minutes (at a rate that might let a fit 90 year old easily win a foot race) 2x per week.  period.  If I did 3xs, or two days in a row . . . I got sick.  I learned to really listen to my body, and hear what it said about what I could do.

for me - my fibro symptoms do respond to adrenal support. I'm still very limited, but I can actually do things before my muscles start to freeze in pain.  (I found if I take adrenal support before doing something, it helps.)

[stephanier.1765]

28 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

Ok - I'm aback. . . 

suggestion - do NOT do even a 10 minute practice more than every other day - or even once in three of four days.  be gentle, sometimes, that's more gentle than "gentle" yoga.   Right now - don't do a 20 minute practice at all.  You must have that rest break.

years ago, when recovering from a particularly pernicious infection . . . I found I could "walk" for 10 minutes (at a rate that might let a fit 90 year old easily win a foot race) 2x per week.  period.  If I did 3xs, or two days in a row . . . I got sick.  I learned to really listen to my body, and hear what it said about what I could do.

for me - my fibro symptoms do respond to adrenal support. I'm still very limited, but I can actually do things before my muscles start to freeze in pain.  (I found if I take adrenal support before doing something, it helps.)

Thank you, this is such great advice and I'm going to follow it to the letter. I'm just so disappointed because I really wanted to do some sort of exercise to help my body start the day and the word "gentle" made me think it was a perfect fit for me. I'm sure it is for some other people but my body must be one that doesn't think even gentle is gentle enough. 

1 hour ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I have had fibro for almost 30 years and I cannot do yoga.  I did better with Tai Chi because it flows.  Anything that holds a pose is bad for my particular body. 

(But individuals even with fibro are very variable.) 

 

59 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

Check out low dose naltrexone. It hasn’t removed my pain but it’s made it much better. You might need to go to a naturopathic doctor to get it prescribed. 

I'm going to look into both of these too. Something has to work because I can't keep on going like this. I never, ever use the word suffering when referring to myself but this time I think it's fair to make an exception. I am suffering.

[gardenmom5]

6 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

Thank you, this is such great advice and I'm going to follow it to the letter. I'm just so disappointed because I really wanted to do some sort of exercise to help my body start the day and the word "gentle" made me think it was a perfect fit for me. I'm sure it is for some other people but my body must be one that doesn't think even gentle is gentle enough. 

 

yes - I felt like a decrepit little old lady as I tried to build up after that infection.  It went on for several years.  I was in my 20s.

I had gotten to where I was doing a decent practice six days a week, and increasing what I could do when I was in my 40s.  Then I injured my knee, and reinjured it and everything has just been going downhill . . . 
so - start slow and listen to your body.

[Ausmumof3]

Yep. I think any exercise can be bad for chronic fatigue type things and I believe there was some recent indications that covid may affect cartilage? But that was from one of the more extreme covid sources so I haven’t checked into it. 
 

I wonder if you could benefit from doing some breathing only options for a little bit?

[Acadie]

I'm sorry you're experiencing such pain. That sounds really rough.  

Starting a gentle yoga practice seems like a great idea and it stinks that your efforts aren't yielding the expected benefits. A glimmer of hope is your body is telling you something, and you're listening. 

I haven't had your experience exactly but will throw out a few ideas based on my family's health. 

Both pain and non-restorative sleep can be symptoms of ME/CFS, and 50-75% of people with Long Covid meet the diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS. Since finding some relief with sleep could help other things, my first thought is to line up several things to try for sleep and work your way through, assuming first try won't be magical fix. Give several days to a week for each to see if there's any benefit. For dd20 it was starting a steroid inhaler for post-Covid reactive airways, for me it's reducing histamine with holy basil and fennel tea in the evening and having guided meditation ready for my 3 am wakeup, for my sister it's a GABA Max supplement. 

While playing with night-time sleep, could non-sleep deep rest, mindfulness meditation or yoga nidra help at all during the day? Suzy Bolt's Long Covid FB group and programs have helped my dd20 so much. Suzy's FB group is free and has a really supportive and positive vibe. The leveled programs started at 0, which is simply logging into a class and resting in bed if needed, up to 3 with Pilates and light home weight training. The whole concept is to listen to what feels right for your body, and if that's moving up or down a level or two in a given week that's exactly what you need. It has really helped dd step away from the cultural imperative to constantly push ourselves and toward an ethic of listening to and caring for her body. She says she's never going back 🙂 

Addressing inflammation is another thought. (Forgive me if we've interacted on this in another thread--my brain is officially over capacity these days). A low histamine diet, probiotics that break down histamine, turmeric, holy basil and fennel all reduce histamine and inflammation. Some folks with LC sleep better if they take antihistamine meds. I wouldn't want to do that forever, but for a couple months to get some rest, sure. 

Last but not least breathing exercises like box breathing and others, several times a day, are helping lots of people with LC with sleep and feeling better generally. Dd was part of a Mayo Clinic study on breathing exercises and kept going after the study ended because it really helped. So simple but I keep hearing the same from others with LC and practitioners.

Sending all good energy that you find some relief, @stephanier.1765!

[EKS]

My mother did yoga for decades and finally stopped because she realized that when she didn't do it, she felt better.  

[GoVanGogh]

I have the double pain diagnosis - young onset Parkinson’s and fibromyalgia. I am certified as a yoga instructor, though I do not teach. I would say listen to your body, but also that yoga *should* be beneficial to all body types. I am not a fan of online yoga or dvd programs, as I think one should learn from an awesome yogi in person, where they can ensure you are practicing the poses properly. What makes one awesome? They acknowledge that every body is different and they don’t push yogis into poses that may not be accessible to their body. They would look at things like hip alignment in warrior one, foot placement in crescent vs warrior one, etc. Poses should never be forced. Slight adjustments - gaze point, foot flexed vs pointed - can totally change how you feel a pose. For myself, hot yoga (in infrared heated studio) has been a game changer. It is the only time that I can move and not be in some level of pain. I joke all the time that I would live in the studio if I could. But even as a certified instructor, there are some instructors that I will not go to, as they teach from a perspective of “Do this!” instead of “Honor your body.” There are checklists around, “People who should not do hot yoga.” I could check every box. On paper, I should not be doing hot yoga. (I do have my doctors approval.) But I love hot yoga and my body loves it. (I didn’t do hot yoga until after my diagnosis.) I cannot do yoga at home because I cannot get our house warm enough to ease my joints. I need to be really warm before I can move without pain and stiffness. I’m not saying that you are inexperienced, as I don’t know your level of practice. But I do hear from people that were injured by doing poses incorrectly or by forcing their body into poses that were not accessible to them. I am also going to be a bit hypocritical here after saying “Honor your body.” But I realized last year that I could be in pain and work out or be in pain and not work out. Either way, there would be some level of pain. I don’t push past the pain. I do honor it. But I have also realized that the more I move, the easier I can move, if that makes sense. I am also on an anti inflammatory Whole Foods, plant based diet. I think it is a huge trial and error to find what works for your body. But for me, I was so tired of being in pain and everyone telling me to just take it easy and not push my body. Thankfully, my doctors were on board with me working out hard. (It is now recommended for Parkinson’s patients, as that helps dopamine levels.) 

[Ottakee]

DDPY yoga has a lot of modifications and very easy workouts.

my friend with EDS says she rates it if she is a bit tired/sore but feels better the next day it is good for her, if she feels worse, then she knows not to do that move/activity.

[Jean in Newcastle]

It’s not always about how easy it is. For me (with all caveats about all bodies being different), my body can’t handle isometric exercise. Poses are isometric. 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Jean in Newcastle

[Clarita]

Yoga may not be for you.

Did 10 min work for you though? If it did you could also just continue doing 10 min and that's it, you don't need to up it if it works.

I think in recent years (at least this is new to me) the "No pain no gain" is no longer what people go by in the exercise community. Anecdotally, I've found that you don't need pain in order to "get into shape" or have a good exercise. It's about what you can do consistently and being in pain means you can not do it consistently everyday.  

[Lawyer&Mom]

I have hEDS and most yoga hurts me.  My wrist and shoulder joints just aren’t supposed to support my body weight.  COVID absolutely exacerbated my hEDS.  I find slow and steady walking to work well for me.  Start small. Really small.  Maybe walk for 5 minutes.  Only walk every other day.  See how you feel. Add a minute if you are up for it.