When you have fibromyalgia, your cardiovascular system can be significantly impacted. Everything from your breathing and blood pressure levels to blood flow and energy levels can get out of whack if your cardiovascular system isn�t working properly. While in some cases, your cardiovascular problems could be caused by your fibromyalgia, in other instances, you may suffer from a disorder known as orthostatic intolerance. Regardless of the cause of your problems, there are steps that you can take to improve your cardiovascular health.
What is Orthostatic Intolerance?
If you suffer from fibromyalgia, you are likely used to experiencing waves of dizziness and nausea upon standing up from a chair or getting out of bed. Recent research has revealed that people suffering from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are prone to a disorder called orthostatic intolerance
Orthostatic intolerance is a drastic drop in blood pressure upon standing up. This disorder is directly related to reduced blood flow, low blood pressure and lowered heart rate. Reduced or limited blood flow has long been known as a significant contributor to fibromyalgia.
Symptoms of Orthostatic Intolerance and Reduced Blood Flow
Many of the symptoms of orthostatic intolerance are similar to fibromyalgia symptoms and can include:
- Dizziness
- Decreased concentration
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Blurring of vision
- Headaches
- Sleeplessness
- Rapid breathing
- Tiring easily with exercise
However, you do not have to have orthostatic intolerance to experience these problems. Fibromyalgia itself interferes with the regulation of the autonomic nervous system that controls heart rate. As a result, fibromyalgia patients suffer from low heart rate and hypotension (low blood pressure) and often have reduced blood flow in the thalamus and caudate nucleus areas of the brain.
Improving Your Cardiovascular System
It can be frustrating to receive the advice to exercise on a daily basis when you have considerable difficulty performing daily activities and getting work done around the house. It has been well documented, however, that daily exercise can relieve many of the painful symptoms of fibromyalgia while strengthen your cardiovascular system at the same time. If you find that many types of exercise are painful, put too much stress on your joints and leave you feeling exhausted, what other aerobic activity can you do?