Have any of you noticed any intollerance to excercise? I'm just wondering if this goes along with Addison's at all. It sounds as though stress effects all, but does physical activity you are not accustomed to effect you in any way? My son is having problems attempting to do any form of exercise. He feels sweaty and hot and profoundly weak. If he continues, he begins to see black dots in his field of vision, and as if he needs to sit down or he will collapse. This has been his response ever since the onset of his symptoms back in November. He has not been active, other than walking around the house, to the doctor, mall or up and down steps at home. But this extreme reaction was present from the onset of his symptoms, not only after sitting around the house vegetating for mos. Does any of this sound familiar to anyone? Don't know if this is consistent with Addisons or with thyroid or something like CFS. Thanks for all feedback. :wave: ~ Tracy

Exercise intolerant? OH Yeah!!

This is one of the major symptoms. You've got to overcome it, but I imagine it's going to be hard to help a kid get over it.

I used to either figure skate or rollerblade every day. But I kept getting in worse and worse condition -- shakey after exercise, sweat pouring off of me (literally -- objects nearby would get soaked), legs hardly working. Then in October, 2002, I broke my hip, and got pneumonia (again). My ability to exercise continued to drop, and got much worse after I was hospitalized with influenza Dec 2003, until March 2004 when sitting up for a hour became major exercise. Even ended up getting an emergency angiogram in Feb 2004 (OK). Finallly, on Marchh 26 I got the word to start prednisone and things started getting better.

There are several factors at work: Muscle strength, electrolyte balance (low sodium, high potassium), dehydration, losing salt through sweating, low cardiac output due to heart muscle inelacsticity (due to low cortisol), hypoglycemia, and possibly steroid myopathy. (And in my case, neuropathy and a damaged hip).

If your son is sweating excessivly, it may be he needs more florinef. That also addresses electrolytes and dehydration, and helped me enormously. The heart output will improve with time with steroid replacement. Hypoglycemia -- eat lots of snacks, especially before and during exercise -- and test! It's worth getting or borrowing a glucose meter for this even if he's not diabetic, just to make sure he's not having problems; it's a common symptom of Addison's.

Work on muscle strength. I've gone from not being able to climb a flight of stairs without suffering fatigue, to being able to cut weeds in the garden for 10 minutes, to doing it for about 20 minutes. I have a lot more upper-body strength, and my walking is getting to the point where I can envision abandoning my cane. I was using a wheelchair for some trips as recently as 6 weeks ago. (I thought the problem was my hip and neuropathy, but it turns out to be the Addison's that affected my walking most of all!)

You need to push a little on the exercise, but focus on strength, not endurance or aerobics at this stage. (I don't know what happens later!) Don't push it too hard, just keep on pushing it a little, and do it regularly, and be patient. It's going to take some time, but it pays off.

If he's pushing on the exercise, he may need a little more steroid to cover that. Based on my limited personal experience, in the early stages there's little tolerance for under-replacement at any point; I think it makes sense to start a little on the high side and reduce it once some of the strength comes back. I've had to be on extra for some of the time due to asthma, etc., and I think it's helped me recover and be more stable -- but the proof of that will come next week when I get back down to normal on my current taper. But I've been feeling better and better as the taper has proceeded and gotten lower.

Try doing some sort of gentle strength exercise together with him for a few minutes each day. Maybe put on ankle and wrist weights, and strike funny poses at each other and be silly for 10 minutes or whenever he shows signs of fatigue. Skip a day if he's wiped out the next day from it, but keep at it. Be creative! Let him be creative!

Good luck!

Thank you, RWK and Chris! This seems to be an important thing for us to tell the doctors. We will visit one new doctor tomorrow, and another the next day. We're looking for the right one to switch to. Then we can go on with pertinent tests and be sure to have enough funds to cover all that needs to be done. Are paying for initial visits to see if the doctors seem interested and cooperative, informed, etc. Then hopefully a good one will refer us to specialists when needed! This is the theory, anyway. It's a little like trying to knit with one's hands tied. :wave: ~ Tracy

i suffered from exercise intolerance for approx. four years. i did a lot of tests. my internist said there was no reason i should have it and there was nothing to do for it. his advice was "learn to live with it". at my worst point i could do no exercise and i spent about 20 out of every 24 hours in bed. i was unemployed. i was running out of money. i decided i had to start eating the cheapest foods i could find. i started eating oatmeal, rice and cornbread everyday. these are some of the cheapest foods you can find. after a month of this i began to feel better. i didnt feel tired all the time. i decided to go for a two mile walk. afterwards i didnt feel exhausted like i had before. i didnt fall asleep. the next day i felt okay. sometimes when i exercised i would feel okay that day but exhausted the next day. i started making other dietary changes. i switched from white rice to brown. i started eating lots of canned spinach, raw carrots, fresh fruit, i drank bottled water[the cheapest i could find] i drank 1% milk, ate lean meats. i kept getting better. then i discovered flax seed. i started eating it. i started with 1 tbsp. by june 21 i was up to a half cup. i boil 2 cups water, add one cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup ground flax seed, cook on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, it gets real thick. the results have been phenomenal for me. i've gone from riding the exercise bike for 45 minutes four or five times a week to riding it an hour or longer six days a week. i've been off my antidepressant and anti-anxiety meds for a month now. i no longer feel cold[serious problem for ten years] my allergy and asthma med use has gone down 90%. i feel great. i take a multivitamin/mineral supplement, too. i believe as long as i eat right i won't have any more problems with exercise intolerance. by the way, last week i started lifting weights, also. it's been seven years since i lifted any weights. i'm back to working part time and i'm looking forward to working full time again. i'm 48 yo. good luck.

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