Okay so my roommate got a treadmill a few months ago, and she said I could use it as often as I want. So when I am home alone, I hop on and burn some calories. For the last 3 months or so, I've been using the treadmill 3 to 5 days a week for 30 to 45 minutes at a time. It's usually closer to 30, to be honest. Everyone says exercise is soooo good for you, so I figured it would be good for me, too, as long as I kept it "EDS friendly."

So here are the precautions I take:

- No incline
- No running; I keep the speed at around 1.7 to 1.8, which is like a brisk walk I guess?
- Lots of hydration
- If my body says stop (pain, overwhelming fatigue, feeling faint, pulse over 120-ish or under 45-ish, etc), I stop.
- Temperature control

Things like that. And it's not that I was *horribly* out of shape before. I started. I'll never have outstanding stamina for obvious reasons, but you get what I'm trying to say.

So here I am, three months later, just waiting on all the good things that are supposed to happen. And they haven't. I don't have more energy, my joints don't hurt any less, and I feel no more prepared to get through a day than I did before. I literally feel absolutely nothing in the way of benefits, and I'm only doing it at this point because "they" say you should, whoever they is.

The only effect I've been feeling is that my appetite has quadrupled, and I'm just more tired now. I'm at the point where I can stuff myself blind, and two hours later, I'll want to eat again, because it feels like there's nothing in my stomach. All I can do is just try to stop myself. I cannot shovel food into my face fast enough. And I'm not bored, depressed or anxious, either (yes, I'm sure). It's not Prader-Willi syndrome, and my bowel habits haven't changed, so I doubt it's dumping syndrome.

My appetite only does this when I have to overexert myself. And the whole "do more, eat more" rule is pretty universal. Except, in my case, it's "do a little more, eat a wildly disproportionate amount more." I can't keep doing treadmill stuff if I burn off an extra 100 calories a day, but my body screams at me to eat an extra 600 calories a day and sleep the rest of the time.

Which brings me to my next pont. Exercising is also just making me more tired. Not just during or for a few minutes afterward. I mean more tired period -- indefinitely. All I can manage now is treadmill, shower, and nap for hours. I sneak my meals in there somewhere, too. I have less energy than ever, not more. My stamina is no better . . . nothing at all except a ravenous appetite and needing to be in bed more than ever. It doesn't really feel worth it, to be honest.

The exercise I do has to be indoors, because of POTS and vitiligo. And I don't have access to a pool or anything like that. I had a yoga DVD at one point, but the laptop I have now doesn't have a DVD drive. And even if I find it on YouTube, yoga can be iffy depending on the type. So a treadmill is probably going to be the best bet for me.

I just don't know what I'm doing wrong! I am a lifelong non-smoker, and that includes cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, weed, etc. I do not use recreational drugs, I do not have a partner who smokes, and I am not exposed to anything that would affect my breathing. I already use an inhaler and I take Claritin, so my breathing is not an issue. I recently visited an immunologist and found out that a nebulizer (breathing machine) only increases my lung function by 3%. My lungs already function at 111%, (yes, one hundred and eleven!) and I am negative for all 80 allergies. My only other medications are acid blockers for stomach ulcers and Aldactone. I eat a reasonably healthy diet with no sodas (not even diet) and no fast food or fried food. I watch my sugar intake, and I try to avoid white foods, too (potatoes, white bread, white rice, etc.)

So as I said before, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Help?