Muscle fatiguability after exertion

[Hoopoe]

My muscle strength declines rapidly after a certain time walking and then takes a while to come back. It also likes to decline shortly after stopping the activity (usually walking), as if the body was waiting for an opportunity to start resting. The recovery time seems unusually long.

I also tend to get hungry around this time and eating seems to improve this a little (sometimes a lot).

I don't think this is a manifestation of PEM. To me it looks like an energy production problem.

Also I've discovered that I probably had muscle pain all this time since illness onset (maybe even before that). I just thought it was normal to have muscle pain after a walk, even the ones I was accustomed to. If it's mild and you're used to it, a symptom can feel like it's a normal thing to happen.

 

[DokaGirl]

I think you're right @strategist about mild syptoms just seeming normal.

I think if someone has a condition for a long time and it's bearable, then it might just fade into the background for them.

I usually have leg pain with walking. It can get so bad I have to stop, and wait till the pain subsides. I've had this pain with walking for about 30 years plus. It happens most days, so I wouldn't say it's part of PEM either.

 

[Inara]

To me it looks like an energy production problem.

Could be sth. else, too, like neuromuscular. (Wasn't there sth. myasthenic-like that behaves like that? And in order to find it it needs a certain EMG that mimics "exercise"? But I think this is also typical in other neuromuscular diseases...)

The classical "energy production problem" are mitochondriopathies. If what you observe looks a bit like that, it might be energy related. If it looks more like other things, it's probably sth. else. Just my guess.

I also tend to get hungry around this time and eating seems to improve this a little (sometimes a lot).

I can get hungry when potassium level is too low. I don't think this hunger is energy-related, I think the body wants to make me eat potassium-rich food, like fruit. Just to say it might be energy-related, or it is not.

 

[Invisible Woman]

I also found I soon learned to ignore a high level of background pain. I only really noticed it when it improved and then came back again. I thought, wow, I'd forgotten how bad it was and wondered how I'd coped.

I'm simply not able to go for walks or exerc now but when I did I would get very hungry quite suddenly afterwards.

One of the signs of PEM for me is a tendency to carb crave. A little carb is one thing but if I give in to this my inner carb monster is hnleashed. Oddly, I've discovered eating more protein helps reduce the carb craving when it happens.

With exercise, especially repetitive exercise I could suddenly experience extreme muscle weakness. So much so that I lost all power in my arms or legs or whatever I had been using most. I could still move them a bit, but didn't have the power to lift them or bear weight. Quite dramatic. I'd be minding my own business then....down I'd go like a sack of spuds.

This happened more earlier in my illness when I was less severely affected. Nowadays, I just don't have the capacity to do this level of activity.

As I practised yoga I learned there were warning signs that happened along the way that I simply didn't see. First I tend to lose fine motor control, then the internal tremors, then the visible shakes and then I'd hit the deck. Unfortunately, sometimes these happen so close together I'd fail to see the signs altogether - especially doing something where I wasn't paying attention. Like a lovely walk while I looked around me or something.

Another issue I noticed - I think @Simbindi mentioned it elsewhere- muscle stiffness. As I've deteriorated my muscles tend to get very, very stiff. Well within the bounds of activity where I would expect muscles to warm up and loosen, they don't behave as they should as get stiffer and tighter instead. We're talking gentle warm up stuff here not vigorous exercise.

That stiffness can lead to a world of pain. Imagine being put into a stress position - maybe a crouch/squat against a wall with your arms held out in front of you and being made to hold that. That's the kind of pain you can easily end up experiencing, even when at rest.

Whether it's energy production, utilising that energy or some other biochemical failure I don't know.

 

[Mij]

With exercise, especially repetitive exercise I could suddenly experience extreme muscle weakness. So much so that I lost all power in my arms or legs or whatever I had been using most. I could still move them a bit, but didn't have the power to lift them or bear weight. Quite dramatic. I'd be minding my own business then....down I'd go like a sack of spuds.

I experience this too, but for me it's not a permanent thing, which tells me it's not 'energy related'. In general I can power walk with no problems, but I have had episodes when my legs almost gave out on me. Not a good feeling at all.

 

[Invisible Woman]

I experience this too, but for me it's not a permanent thing, which tells me it's not 'energy related'. In general I can power walk with no problems, but I have had episodes when my legs almost gave out on me. Not a good feeling at all.

Sadly I've slowly deteriorated where I simply cannot do any kind of activity like this anymore. Anything that causes me to breathe more heavily and raise my heart rate flattens me. The odd thing is something I can't do today without pushing myself, I might comfortably do next week so it's not just diwn to aerobic fitness either.

From an engineers perspective of troubleshooting complex systems, it isn't impossible that other faults can occur that may or may nit be related to the first fault before the cause of the initial problem is found.

It might be we all have an initial, similar problem. Then some of us happen to develop other faults & fall into subgroups along the way. The differences between groups might possibly be because of genetic differences, different exposure to viruses or a bit of both some of us experience a different series of "faults" .

Or something completely different.