Exercise with UC ?

Ive been told that while im flaring to stop working out because my body need to focus its energy on fighting the UC and not rebuilding/repairing muscles. Last time my relapse ended  (may 2010) and i was in remission for a few weeks, I started working out again for 3-4 weeks and i went right back into a flare-up....but this could be a complete coincidence. What are your experiences?

I used to be in great shape and now because of UC (lack of energy and the fact ive been told not to) I hardly can ever put together more than a few months of steady weight training and cardio and its really starting to bother me, especially now in the summer months.

Any advice/comments would be great. Cheers.

 

I hike and do cardio but my doctor would prefer if I stuck to very low impact activities like yoga. She did say hiking is okay but she thinks too much cardio is a bit of a strain. When I was flaring badly, she said not to work out because I need the energy to heal. I didn't work out for a long time and now I am feeling terrible about myself because I've allowed myself to gain weight - I look awful! I am back on my workout schedule. I have to take off weight. No more fast food and bread.

Thanks for the replies but not the kind of responses I was hoping for. Some days I dont have any energy at all, but other days I get so antsy I need to go workout...but my doc keeps telling me I shouldn't. Very frustrating.

On a side note, a body building friend of mine said I should look into taking Anavar, a mild steriod. He said doctors use it a lot for burn victoms as it has a great success for healing tissue. His idea was maybe that would help heal the colon. He's been taking it on and off for a long time (for body building reasons of course) and said there are very little side effects. Helps with energy too. He said it may also help with assisting the body in healing both the muscles and colon during flares. What say you?

Cheers.

notsosicklygirl,

My flare is mild, not severe. But my last one lasted 4 months (longest ever) and then this one started 4 weeks after (usually I got a year between flares) so I know my GI is going to say go on pred (he said that last time but i ignored it and thankfully the flare ended) so im trying to do anything else to see if I can end this flare before seeing my GI.

I dont think my doc would prescribe me with anavar...Id get it from my friend. Its not like pred where you need to taper off. Im not one to take a non prescribed steriod (never taken any even when I was really into weight lifting) based on the advice of a friend lol but at this point im willing to try and see what happens. I was just posting to see if anyone had heard of it or had any similar ideas. Cheers.

I used to figure skate. The impact of jumps and centrifugal force of spins would make my condition worse when I was flaring. I stopped figure skating.

I now concentrate on yoga and Indian classical dance (Kathak and Bharatanatyam).

Yoga keeps me flexible. So does Bharatanatyam.

Kathak is a high impact dance, although not as high impact as jumping. We do a lot of rapid stomping. As with most high impact sports, Kathak helps keep my bones strong.

Kathak is very cardio. I always sweat like a fish when I do Kathak. I find that doing Kathak gets toxins out of my body. My digestive system always feels better right after Kathak class.

I loose a lot of blood when I flare. So yes it does affect my stamina, especially in Kathak class.

I work out near the bathrooms when I'm flaring so I can make it to the toilet if need be.

I find that my body heals when it sleeps; so I always get extra sleep when I'm flaring.

The drug Anavar is mild compared to most steroids; however, it can still cause liver and heart problems. I have no interest in taking it.

Exercise has helped keep my resting heart rate and blood pressure low. I just measured them. My blood pressure is currently 86/56, and my resting heart rate is at 54 right now. A lot of times my resting heart rate is in the high 40s.

This is a very emotional topic for me.  Before I got this disease, I was training for my second degree black belt in taekwondo and working out like 15 hours/week.  I loved it.  My husband (then fiance) and I went hiking regularly and did swing dance together on weekends.

When I first got the disease, I didn't know how to manage my energy levels well, so I couldn't workout more than 5 hours/week, and even that was at lower levels than before.  I never got the second degree black belt.

During my really bad flare, I couldn't do anything, lost all my muscle tone, and was lucky if I could walk like 3 km in an hour.  Finally, after being off prednisone for 6 months, learning how to manage the disease, and taking a regular multivitamin (I think it's the b-complexes that don't absorb as well with UC and those can have a major impact on your energy), my body is starting to feel a bit normal.  However, since I've spent the last year + at such comparatively low levels of activity, I have to build up slow.  Hiking and swimming seem to be good for me, even though I'm painfully slow compared to where I was.  Yoga and walking was all I could manage first out of the hospital, though.

What I decided (and it's been working for me lately) is that 4-6 days/week I do something for an hour or two, but that I can choose whatever feels most comfortable on that day.  When I'm having a low energy, stomach pain-y, or high BM day, I usually choose just walking or biking at a slow pace.  When I'm having a high high energy healthy day, I take advantage of it by jogging or climbing a tough mountain.

But the disease has (so far) left me unable to "train" in a traditional sense because I can't just set a schedule and expect my body to comply.  Perhaps when I've been more stable for a longer period of time and have built back more of my base strength, I can train again and maybe even return to martial arts... but for now, I'm just so grateful I could climb the mountain I did yesterday or swing dance for 2 hours a few days ago.  There was a point at which just walking up the stairs at work gave me tendonitis from the strain it put on my body.  I'm glad I'm past that...

Good luck to you!

I'm in best form of my life. I run every day 7 km(low tempo) with short sprints,play basketball,soccer,push-ups,abdominal exercises,biceps,triceps etc...my blood work is great(my doctor says for UC is fantasy),i have very minor flare since January(no gases,no stomach pain,cramps).I have one stool in two days with very small amount of blood in it( 2-3 small lines of blood through the stool).

I had to stop my training in Tom Venuto's summer challenge where contestants transform their body-fat content through diet and exercise. now i can't exercise and it feels terrible and i don't know what to eat anymore, so made an appointment with a nutrition center for next week. hopefully i can get back into the competition soon if this annoying flare-up goes away. was going 20-25 times per day. is slowing down a bit, still feels bad not to be able to exercise or lift weights.

I would think it depends on how reactive one's body is. Exercising enhances/activates the immune system, with autoimmune, whatever disease one has can be exacerbated and cause worsening of symptoms.
I'm not saying it will trigger a flare, but if one is flaring...extreme exercise might be contraindicated.

One can always adjust exercise to a light form....if it distresses one to cut back, then psychological adjustment might take a bit longer to find the right balance.

q

If you are flaring so badly that you already feel weak, then it doesn't make sense to do exercise that leaves you exhausted. But I think some exercise in moderation is good for any body.

My biggest problem was urgency, so I invested in good home gym equipment, along with personal trainers to help design an exercise program. It's been a good investment. I also play a lot of golf, and have needed to take off for the restrooms now and then, but I manage it pretty well by not eating right before I go out. It's not strenuous exercise, but better than nothing!