My doctors all suggest exercise as a necessary part of fibromyalgia pain relief. A good article to read regarding fibromyalgia and exercise is from Web MD. Basically, all studies suggest that lack of exercise leads to more pain and degenerated muscles. The goal is low-impact, low-stress exercise.

My family is oddly insisting that I sit and do NOTHING, which is also what my body keeps asking me to do. My older brother’s wife had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Later, she developed Fibromyalgia as well. The pain she had due to muscle degeneration was off the charts. Also, it took something like 10 years for her to get better, and I am not willing to wait that long. So my goal is to not have that happen. Losing weight and improving muscle strength and flexibility will all lessen my pain. If nothing else, it will also make me more in tune with my body.

So I have been working on the Wii for at least 15 minutes each day, unless I do significant exercise that day (a big outing with a lot of walking, such as grocery shopping, would count). But I’m finding Yoga on the Wii to be less than relaxing, regardless of the program. However, tomorrow I will try the regular exercises from Your Shape, and that may be better. Regardless, Wii will be my fitness backup. My primary fitness source will be a local program that gives residents of my town a 60-day membership, complete with two 30-minute personal training sessions each week, freedom to sign up for any of their classes (such as beginner’s yoga, water aerobics) and use their facilities (pools, hot water therapy, fitness equipment, etc.) at any time. I’m hoping to do yoga and water aerobics on the two days that I’m not with a personal trainer, and then I will do Wii’s Your Shape or Wii Fit Plus for 15-30 minutes on the other three days (although any sexual activity may shorten that time, I’ve decided that I will not count it toward my exercise).

I don’t know what will happen in the near or distant future if I’m let go from my job, but I do know that this will help my situation no matter what, and hopefully I can use it in conjunction with CBT to improve my stress and pain management skills, and who can beat such personalized treatment for $60!? As you may know by now, I’m a planner, so at least this is one part of my life that I can control and will get me out of bed and out of the house in the morning.