[Anonymous]

#1076445

There are several reasons arguing against exercise while hyperthyroid. The first is that the heart is beating too rapidly, all the time. The second is that excess thyroid hormone can cause arrythmias to occur in the heart beat. (I’m not speaking of palpitations, here, but arrythmias. Palpitations are, generally, not arrythmias.) These are extremely dangerous. In addition, hyperthyroidism causes us to lose muscle, and the heart is a muscle essentially. Muscle starts to come back after normal levels of hormone are achieved and maintained, but it takes some time.

In addition, there may be other reasons any one patient’s individual doctor advises against exercise. You would need to talk with your own doctor to determine what those reasons might be.

There are, typically, some things that you “can” do, if your doctor prefers that you not start an exercise program. First, you can do stretches, sitting on the floor, etc. Or, you could rock in a rocking chair, if you own one. Rocking uses muscle. I realize that you are not talking of this type of exercise, but in truth, there are times when this is the only level of exercise that is safe.

When you are given the go-ahead to resume exercise, please start out cautiously, taking baby steps. You might be much weaker than you can even imagine, and could hurt yourself if you try to do too much, too soon. I was evaluated by an exercise physiologist at the local hospital, and was told that my strength was 8% compared to other women of my age!!! My rule of thumb at first was that if I felt exhausted after a session, I had done too much, no matter how “little” it seemed to me at the time.

I hope you can get back to full exercise, soon.
Bobbi — NGDF Online Facilitator

[Anonymous]

#1020231

Hi all,

I was just wandering how long before you all were aloud to work out and get back into shape not to mention strengthen your muscles? And is it ok to at least walk on a treadmill while Im still trying to get well? Just curious I do realize this is a long process, I am just getting a little anxious to get some of this wieght off or to at least keep it from coming on while Im working on getting better. thanx all for your input. One more thing.. Does anyone know why I would not be aloud to work out if I am feeling up to it?

[Anonymous]

#1076446

Hi standingfirm,

I just wanted to add one tiny comment to Bobbi’s message (she is THE expert, and I wish she could bottle the motivation she came up with for herself!).

The fact that we are losing muscle mass while hyperthyroid is very relevant to our heart, and also relevant to the muscles we are trying to build up. When we are hyperthyroid, the “tear down” function in our muscles works overtime, and the “rebuild” function in our muscles doesn’t seem to work at all. When we exercise, we “tear down” muscle (a little) in order to strengthen it, but if we are hyperthyroid, we do not get ANY benefit from that because we have no “rebuild.” In effect, you can do your muscles MORE damage by exercising. I realize that you want to get back to regular function, and I know it’s hard to wait, but it’s truly better for you to wait until all your body functions are working correctly. Starting too early can make it even more difficult later on.

~Ski
NGDF Assistant Online Facilitator

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