Is it possible to have post-exertional malaise with FM or is that a symptom of ME/CFS only? I mean you know, not just tiredness, but where your temp drops and your heart-beat and you get queasy and your vision blurs, etc. (Wow, sounds fun doesn't it?)

but i don't have the answer, lol, so...

bump!

Have you checked dysautonomia

love glen

I was dx with FM after whiplash, and when I overwork my muscles I get the Fibro pain/burning from head to toe. I may not feel great, but the main focus is the pain and I think I feel sick primarily because I hurt so much.

But when I try to raise my heart rate I feel horrible - unrelated to pain. The blurry vision, chills where I just can't get warmed up again and I have to lay down immediately or I will fall down. I really don't notice pain at that time, I'm too sick and exhausted to feel anything. It took me a while to see the difference between the two.

I went through a Fibro program at the hospital and one component was graded exercise, every day on a treadmill with time/incline slowly increasing by 1 minute daily. I was ok for about 1-1/2 weeks and then while on the machine I would get the blurry vision, light headed and chills. Instead of slowly improving I was getting worse, and I was the only participant who had that problem. Fatigue seemed to be a bigger issue for me than the others too. The PT said occasionally there will be participants with the same problem. I'm thinking maybe that is a sign of other condition (like CFS) but they just kept telling me I needed to pace myself more or that I was deconditioned.

Since exercise is recommended for Fibro, we were told to join some sort of exercise program following the course. I joined a seniors exercise class (average age was 70 - I was in my 30's). It was mostly walking briskly or moving arms to music, they carried weights, I didn't. I realized I couldn't do it, and each week I spent more time in a chair pacing myself. But by the end of the hour class I felt awful and I would immediately come home and spend the next 4 days sleeping, freezing and flu-like. I learned I can stretch and do mild exercise but not raise my heart rate.

I tried to tell my GP this didn't seem right but she just said this is Fibro and I simply didn't know enough people with Fibro. I'd love to know if that is really true, because I have a feeling there could be something else going on.

Sorry for the rant :)

This does sound like CFS post-exertional malaise ( but obviously I'm not a doc and can't diagnose you).

If it is, you must be very careful. Overdoing on exercise can permanently lower your functioning if you have CFS. Don't let these people guilt you into doing what your body can't handle.

And doctors don't really understand FM or CFS. The medical schools haven't trained them.

Good luck.

I've always wondered if it was CFS, I fit the other criteria, so it wouldn't surprise me. I just wish I had a doctor who wouldn't attribute every symptom I have to Fibro so therefore no reason to look into anything further.