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Water Aerobics

Yesterday I had a migraine from hell and two syncopal episodes. I ended up spending most of the day resting and trying various things to remedy the migraine, with little success. Finally, I fell asleep at around 5 this morning. 

Today, I woke up with a slight ache but by this afternoon it was gone. Feeling a little better, my mom and I decided to try some water aerobics. We've read online and heard from other POTS patients that water jogging can be a helpful exercise to recondition your body to vertical exercise and orthostatic tolerance. My aunt and uncle live down the road from us and have a pool so we spent the afternoon working on some water exercises. 

I started by speed walking the border of the shallow end of the pool. Using my super awesome Fitbit Charge HR, I monitored my heart rate. Because this speed walk was a warm up, I aimed to keep my heart rate at "Base Pace," which is 145 bpm for me. 



Then, I jogged in place for 30 minutes. I wanted to keep my heart rate at the "maximal steady state," which is 170 bpm. However, I became slightly symptomatic at this level so I kept the rate between 155 bpm and 165 bpm. By the end of the 30 minutes I could feel the muscles in my calves start to fatigue but felt no other signs of tiring. 


To cool down, I did another 10 minutes of speed walking at a HR of 145 bpm. 

The great thing about running in the water is that it provides the same support in my legs as my compression socks while also allowing me to move around with less gravity. It was also easier to jog with less gravity and impact that causes joint pain. The cool water helped keep my temperature low, something I struggle with due to the dysautonomia. 
This is the most physical activity my body has tolerated since I got sick. As I'm sitting here writing about it, my legs are tired and I can feel the familiar fatigue that follows a long day at the pool or working in the yard in the sunny. I'm familiar with muscle fatigue but this is the first time in months that it's from real exercise and not just from being sick. There is something much more comforting in being tired from a rewarding workout. 


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