I often get weak and shaky after very little exertion. Just doing stretches for about five minutes causes this. I feel it has more to do with the fact that I’ve been very sedentary since graduating high school in 2011 (7 yrs ago) although I’ve never been the most athletic. I remember even as a child I would get winded easily. I’ve never been overweight. I was very skinny growing up (a little too thin) and though I’m not that thin anymore I’m at an average weight. I was wondering if chiari could cause this weakness. Anyone else ever had trouble with exercise? I can’t really do heavy exercise because I’ll get a bad headache and I also have a few arteriovenous malformations that irritated with straining. It’s just that I can’t even seem to do light exercise without getting exhausted. So if anyone else has this experience, what have you done about it and how do you stay in shape?
Hi, @Geo! I have similar problems. I have over all weakness in muscles. I think on days when I have had less sleep it is worse. Sometimes in shower when I wash my hair, I have muscle pain in my arms. It feels like cramps, and I have to rest them for a few seconds. I dont exercise, because I get overwhelmed fast and in the past it has resulted in me needing multiple days to recover, until I get to my “normal”. I have only recently learned how to balance my energy and avoid multiple recovery days. I dont know how exactly it is related to Chiari, but seems like it can be.
Because I havent gotten to a state where I can exercise, I try eating as helty as I can, having a few days per week when I eat some sweets or junkfood. I usually have breakfast and dinner. I try to go by time restrictive eating, so that my body doesnt have to process food when I go to bed, and also so that I dont eat more than my body needs.
Wish you the best.
Sounds familiar!!! I’ve made a lot of changes. Aug 2017 saw my last tennis game and intense workouts. I need time to rest and didn’t do anything but light walks for some time. Now I do interval speed walking on good days to get my heart rate up and on bad days a casual walk I incorporate a workout called classical stretch in my routine (does work muscles). I need to be careful about what I do with head positions during this workout so I tailor the workout to my situation - bothered me at first - but it is what it is. The days of high intensity workouts and tennis are over for me. Was very upset at first. Someone from this group kindly encouraged me I’d find another love - and I did. Workouts to fit me feel wonderful and last summer I fell in love with the smells of wild rose bush flowers and clover. July is not to far off 
. Let me know if you make any adjustments and how you feel.
Hi Geo,
I was in a similar state as you, felt exhausted after any exertion. 6 months post op is when I started feeling able to exercise (was doing very little every night) but even that seemed to be too much. All winter I struggled, would exercise when I felt well. I’ve definitely been feeling better the last few weeks. What has worked for me is to listen to my body, if my body or muscles feel weak, I try not to push myself. When I’m just not in the mood, I try to push myself. Haha. I find doing this has helped tremendously. Treat your body kindly, it’s working hard for you every day 