From M.E. back to "me"

   Since having my CPET testing  several weeks ago, I have finally acquired my "magic number". It's been determined that my body hits anaerobic threshold somewhere around 100-110 bpm. I've been wearing a heart rate monitor for about a week now. I have the alarm set to alert me when I hit 110, so I can rest. I started out with 100, but I hit that when I stand up, so it was kind of pointless and was going off constantly.

    At my last doctor visit, we discussed the potential uses for this new information. Obviously pacing is key. Learning when to stop an activity before pushing my body over its limit will keep my symptoms under control and help me to avoid needless crashes. But I wanted to take this a step further. Having heard the great results Dr. Nancy Klimas has with exercising her patients within this heart rate limit, I wanted to give that a try. Being mostly housebound has made getting out to appointments on a regular basis challenging, so we set up for a program of physical therapy at home. A physical therapist will come to my home at a schedule we determine and will do my physical therapy here until I hopefully reach such a point that I can go to the facility.( If you are similarly confined to your home because of disability, check with your insurance to see if this option is covered and ask your doctor to request the services for you if he or she feels it will benefit your progress.)

   Just like with the CPET test, the challenge I face is to learn all I can about the "right" way to exercise for ME/CFS, so I can pass on this information to my new PT who may not have had an opportunity to learn the variables involved in ME/CFS cases or may not fully understand post exertional malaise or how seriously an ME/CFS sufferer can be hurt by being pushed too hard or past their limits. Having both exercised on my own and having done physical therapy in the past when I was not this severely ill, I know all too well how big the set backs can be.