Question for those who exercise regularly

I am curious if anyone has the same response to exercise that I do. I could be in quite a bit of pain prior to starting my workout, but once I get about 5 minutes into my cardio, the pain reduces or temporarily disappears. I feel great for a while after I finish my cardio & strength training, and then the pain creeps back in.

I am theorizing that this temporary pain relief is due to endorphins and increased blood flow and oxygenation to the muscles. Interesting, since TMS is linked to mild oxygen deprivation to muscles and other tissues. Definitely supports Dr. Sarno's recommendation to exercise when it can be tolerated.

 

In the same boat when I start to workout have pain then it disappears that goes with cardio and weights

 

Yes, that makes perfect sense to me and explains why you have some relief.

 

Yes, that happens to me. I will feel a low grade migraine, then once I get 15-20 min into zumba or dance class I actually feel nothing. Then, it creeps back by night time. Sometimes it doesn't though so it's been keeping me motivated to keep going. Good thinking about the oxygen and blood flow. That's probably what's going on.

 

Absolutely true for me, too. Every morning I wake up and can barely stand up straight, but then as soon as I get on my bike to go to work the pain disappears. It usually comes back after 10 minutes of getting off of the bike.

I also run. Sometimes it might take up to 10 minutes until the pain disappears, but it almost always does. I recently ran a half marathon and went a whole week before my TMS symptoms came back.

The only exercise where the pain is too debilitating is doing sit-ups. Squats, lunges, and even deadlifts give me no pain while doing them.

 

Yes, exactly as you described it for me too.

 

Your post reminded me of something I read about chronic pain 20 years ago. If I remembered correctly, the article/study was stating that chronic pain was due to a disruption in the energy systems and nervous system. The gist of the article was they were managing their patients with long-term aerobic type activities. When you mentioned that you ran a half marathon, and your symptoms didn't return for a week, it made me think of my experience with Training and TMS. Before I explain, my background is I broke my neck over 20 years ago playing Football. Long story short, I had a 14 hr surgery removing the facets in my spine fron C-2 to the Thoracic. Which has resulted in chronic pain for a long time. Anyway, I have trained in Fitness and Strength training since I was 11yrs old (46 years). I am not stopping for anyone or anything until I am 6 ft under ) I still train with heavy weights (DeadLifts, Benches, Rows, Overhead ogresses, etc.) except for squats. I perform TrapBar DeadLifts. During my workout, I feel great. A few hours later, I feel a little more pain, but I stay pumped all day, so this definitely helps with the pain. The funny thing is, the next day I may have a little DOMS, but my regular pain is diminished. This may be due to the affect on my CNS, which I believe is highly involved with TMS. Anyway, this is a very good thread (all posts), and I consider myself a success story due to this website and Dr Sarno.

 

I always find that vigorous exercise gets rid of my pain and yes I think its due to increased blood flow and endorphins, but also because I am showing my mind that I will treat my body as if it is strong and healthy. This just adds to my evidence and puts me back on track.

 

Your condition exactly same as me.