Is Brain Inflammation the Missing Link? Brain Inflammation Collaborative & Dr. Ina Stephens | Ep 211

Yeah, I can go ahead.

A lot of, uh, you know, our community has complex chronic conditions, so they might have EDS alongside, um, something like ME/CFS or long COVID.

And with ME/CFS and long COVID, one of the most disabling symptoms is called post-exertional malaise.

So you do something, uh, might not even be exercise.

It might be just, you know, getting up out of bed for people who are really severe or people who are, you know, more moderate doing a load of laundry, right? Nothing that a healthy person would consider exercise, but it's exertion, and it can trigger flu-like symptoms.

So that's, you know, it's terrible.

You wanna avoid that 'cause that's an increase in inflammation.

Um, so, but at the same time, there are certain exercises that can be really beneficial for hypermobility as well as for POTS.

And so what I would say for, you know, for people who do have these complex, uh, comorbidities, to make sure to pace.

You know, if, if you wanna try any of these exercises, they can be beneficial for a number of symptoms that people might be experiencing, but pacing is just incredibly important.

So what that means is start off very small, with a very small movement, just a little bit, 10% of what you hope to achieve, uh, eventually.

See how it goes.

And I think, I do think this is the power of symptom tracking apps like the one that we have, um, 'cause you can really say, "Okay, this was my treatment this day.

I did a little exercise," and you can see how this looks like in your own health data for a couple of days or even a week afterwards.

And then just, you can build up from there.

But the pacing component is really important, um, whenever you're introducing exercise into ME/CFS or long COVID.

But at the same time, I have seen people who do benefit from certain targeted exercises.

Not graded exercise therapy, not anything like that, but using your own wisdom and your own body to try to track your progress and to try to help manage some comorbidities like EDS and POTS.

I love that.

That is a great hack, and it's, it's not just a hack, it's a treatment modality that I talk about every day, so I absolutely love your hack.

Thank you, [laughs] Dr. Fitzgerald.

Perfect.

How about you, Christie?

Well, mine's not quite as detailed and long, and, uh, uh, but I did talk to my daughter a little bit about this, um, and there were two things, actually.

She, uh, had a, a lot of trouble with temperature regulation, and we had this gel kind of neck and shoulder wrap that you put on.

Yeah, I can go ahead.

A lot of, uh, you know, our community has complex chronic conditions, so they might have EDS alongside, um, something like ME/CFS or long COVID.

And with ME/CFS and long COVID, one of the most disabling symptoms is called post-exertional malaise.

So you do something, uh, might not even be exercise.

It might be just, you know, getting up out of bed for people who are really severe or people who are, you know, more moderate doing a load of laundry, right? Nothing that a healthy person would consider exercise, but it's exertion, and it can trigger flu-like symptoms.

So that's, you know, it's terrible.

You wanna avoid that 'cause that's an increase in inflammation.

Um, so, but at the same time, there are certain exercises that can be really beneficial for hypermobility as well as for POTS.

And so what I would say for, you know, for people who do have these complex, uh, comorbidities, to make sure to pace.

You know, if, if you wanna try any of these exercises, they can be beneficial for a number of symptoms that people might be experiencing, but pacing is just incredibly important.

So what that means is start off very small, with a very small movement, just a little bit, 10% of what you hope to achieve, uh, eventually.

See how it goes.

And I think, I do think this is the power of symptom tracking apps like the one that we have, um, 'cause you can really say, "Okay, this was my treatment this day.

I did a little exercise," and you can see how this looks like in your own health data for a couple of days or even a week afterwards.

And then just, you can build up from there.

But the pacing component is really important, um, whenever you're introducing exercise into ME/CFS or long COVID.

But at the same time, I have seen people who do benefit from certain targeted exercises.

Not graded exercise therapy, not anything like that, but using your own wisdom and your own body to try to track your progress and to try to help manage some comorbidities like EDS and POTS.

I love that.

That is a great hack, and it's, it's not just a hack, it's a treatment modality that I talk about every day, so I absolutely love your hack.

Thank you, [laughs] Dr. Fitzgerald.

Perfect.

How about you, Christie?

Well, mine's not quite as detailed and long, and, uh, uh, but I did talk to my daughter a little bit about this, um, and there were two things, actually.

She, uh, had a, a lot of trouble with temperature regulation, and we had this gel kind of neck and shoulder wrap that you put on.