Should I Exercise While Treating Lyme Disease?

There is no simple answer to the question of whether you should exercise while in treatment for Lyme disease. As a lifelong athlete, this question plagued me for the two-and-a-half years I was in treatment. I did some digging around and found a few articles regarding exercise and Lyme disease. I’ll share those with you as well as my experience with exercise while in treatment. It’s important to remember that every case of Lyme disease is unique, so you should listen to your body and always seek answers from your doctor.

Since I am not a doctor I can not give you advice on whether or not exercise is advisable for you. All I can do is share with you my experience. It’s important to point out as well that my case of Lyme disease was quite advanced. My Igenex results came back showing multiple forms of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, indicating it had been there long enough to proliferate. Because of the symptoms I had, I believe that I had been living with Lyme disease for at least fifteen to twenty years, quite possibly since childhood. With that in mind, this was my experience regarding whether to exercise while treating Lyme disease.

My Doctor’s Advice

My doctor advised me not to exercise, at all, for at least the first year that I was in treatment. It is my understanding that she advised this due to two main factors:

1. Exercise would exacerbate my symptoms and cause a Herxheimer reaction.
2. My adrenals had been seriously affected by the disease and my immune system was barely functioning.

My body simply wasn’t strong enough to overexert myself at all. In fact, my doctor intimated that it would be detrimental. There is one day during my treatment that still resonates with fear in my memory. It is a great example of why I chose not to exercise while treating Lyme disease.

My Experience with Exercise During Treatment

 It was mid-afternoon on a hot summer day and I had just awoken from my two hour morning nap. Naturally, my beagle Oliver was ready for his afternoon potty break. So, I lugged myself out of bed and prepared for the long (50 feet) walk to the yard outside of our condo. For some reason on that day, I walked past my usual confines of our front yard and continued at a snails pace down the sidewalk. Like a sudden bolt of lightning my body sent out flares of alert, warning me I had gone too far.

The heat of the day wrapped its arms around me and weighed me down. My heart began pounding against my rib cage and thundering in my ears like a brass symphony. I was too weak to walk and thought for sure I was going to crash to the pavement and crack my skull open. With wobbly legs I hunched over to shorten the distance to the ground if I did fall. I imagined the concrete scraping my knees and hands, the heat of the pavement searing my skin.

As cars drove by I frantically tried to make eye contact, hoping they would see the desperation in my eyes and offer me a ride home. No one stopped and I had no option but to keep walking, slowly and carefully. Measured step by measured step, I made it back to our cool condo, then wept at the immense feeling of vulnerability that enveloped me. I felt like a delicate piece of blown glass. One wrong move, one step too far, and I would crash to the ground into a million tiny pieces.

From that day forward, until my body got stronger, I heeded my doctor’s advice and listened to my body. My body was really sick and it needed rest.

If You Decide to Exercise Here’s What I Found on the Subject

If you decide to exercise while treating Lyme disease you should stick to very light cardio, stretching and low weight/high repetition weight training. You should also keep your exercise routine to only a few days a week, no more than every other day. From what little, and outdated, information I could find on the subject that is what doctors recommend.

I do believe this is a personal decision that depends heavily on how sick you are. Obviously, you should also make sure to discuss any exercise routines with your doctor. It has also been about five years since I was initially diagnosed so it’s possible that new research has emerged since my time in treatment. The most current information I could find regarding exercise and Lyme disease was from 2019.

Listen to Your Body

We live in a society that frowns upon people calling in sick to work. The idea of laying around and recuperating for any extended period of time is considered lazy. Hell, most people aren’t aware that Lyme disease is severe enough to keep you laid up for years. Only people with cancer are sick that long, right? Nothing could be further from the truth.

Remember that you are sick and honor your body. Listen to your doctor’s advice and shut out any voices of judgment or guilt. This is your time to take care of yourself and get better. Whatever that looks like for you is a personal decision and is completely acceptable.