Exercise and Lyme Disease
Important for Healing, but Don't Push Beyond Your Current Limits
It's a given that our bodies were designed to be physically active. Exercise is an imperative for many functions of our bodies to remain in a homeostatic state. Before Lyme Disease hit, many of us were willing participants to engage in the activity of physical exertion or at least were more active than we are now. There is no doubt that if you've been hit with Lyme, the amount of time you spend using your muscles and increasing your heart rate has been dramatically reduced. Each Lymie has their own reason to remain reluctant to exercise to some extent.
Zero EnergyOne of the most common reasons Lymies may be reluctant to engage in a form of exercise is simply because they don't have the energy. Many times a lot of us have the mental stamina to run a marathon but our bodies just aren't on the same level. Fighting and detoxing a bacterial infection for such an unnatural extended period of time can surely drain your body of its physical energy. If you're fatigued, don't force yourself to exercise. Listen to your body and rest. The fatigue is your body's indication of letting you know it has some unfinished business to take care of with a certain invader. It can't do so if it's focusing its attention and energy on the demand placed by physical exertion.
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Physically Unable to Exercise
Some of us may have the energy and mental stamina to exercise but psychical inhibitors such as joint pain, muscle pain, or shortness of breath is all the more reason to make Lymies reluctant to exercise. It's common sense that if you're physically ailing, any type of stress placed on your body can further increase the intensity of the ailment. Listen to your body and don't force it to do what it currently can not.
Avoiding a Herx and/or a Flare Up
As we all know from personal, first hand experience, exercise raises the temperature of our bodies. This is great because you're creating an artificial fever and we all know a fever's purpose to is to destroy foreign invaders. Heating up the body is great for killing off Spirochetes. In some countries, the practice of heating up the body is used by some physicians as part of a Lyme treatment but through nonphysical means. The heat also forces you to sweat and release toxins through your pores that were stored in your fat cells. This takes a huge burden off of the kidneys.
You must be vigilant about not crossing the fine line between detoxing and herxing. When you heat up your body, you kill off spirochetes and sweat out the remains but having your body remain at a spirochete killing temperature for too long can induce a herx. You'll end up killing more spirochetes than you can detox and ultimately a herx will surface. Detoxing will turn into herxing.
Exercise can actually induce a flare up so be careful as to not push yourself beyond your limits. If you encounter a flare up while exercising, sit down and take breather. Your body is telling you that it is not physically able to exercise at the moment so be sure to listen to it.
Exercise is Great for the Mind
If you've had your life turned upside down, chances are you're going to get depressed, stressed and generate anxiety at one point or another. Many Lymies look to supplements or herbs for relief from the side effects of Lyme Disease but believe it or not, getting a little exercise will help to reverse, if not eliminate them. Go outside for a walk and notice how different you feel when you return.
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Exercising releases endorphins which are pain relieving hormones secreted in the brain and nervous system. They're also your body's natural antidepressant as they will create a euphoric, happy and pleasant mood.
Exercise Helps DetoxExercise is excellent for the circulatory system because it makes the heart muscle strong and increase the amount of oxygen to every part of your body. But there is another circulatory system that is often over looked and it's just as vital as the one our heart controls. It's called the Lymphatic System.
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The Lymphatic System simply is in charge of removing waste and toxins from different parts of your body. The only difference between your Circulatory System and your Lymphatic System is the Lymphatic System doesn't have a heart. In order for the Lymphatic System to circulate normally, it relies 100% on the contraction of muscles to move toxins out of the body. If you're physically inactive, chances are good that you're not removing or detoxing the toxins generated by Lyme die off at the rate you could be. Depending on how backed up the Lymphatic System is with toxins, the reflection will be in the intensity of your herxes.
Know Your Limits!
When it comes to exercise and Lyme Disease, there are only 3 words you should keep in mind and that is know your limits. Exercise can be a huge beneficiary in our fight and recovery against Lyme Disease but it can also make the experience a little less enlightening. If exercising constitutes doing 1 push up or walking on a treadmill for 30 seconds, then so be it. Only perform what you're physically able to handle. Don't push yourself beyond your limits.
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