Rest and reduced exercise

I can tell you when I was in a bad flare I was exhausted all the time. Some days I would try to go to work, and other day/most days, I was home pooping and sleeping.

I think that feeling so bad has made me depressed, which makes me tired, which makes exercise much harder, which makes me do less, which makes me more out of shape, which makes me feel bad, which....etc...etc... vicious cycle.

I asked the same question a few weeks back - is exercise related to UC.

The conclusion, as ever with UC was that there is no particular answer. What's good for some is not for others.

Speaking for myself, I purposely cut out all 'extreme' exercise (running, playing team sports) about 5 weeks ago to see if it helped. My theory was; whenever we're ill (whatever the disease), we rest to help the body repair itself so why should it be any different with UC? It also gives me a chance to lay infront of the TV instead of always doing something!!!

So, what's happened to my UC since I started this resting regime? In the past 5 weeks, urgency has gone, blood & mucus has disappeared, BMs have become less frequent and more solid.

However - I'm not going to say this is only due to resting, in the past 5 weeks I've also kept a fairly bland diet & taken probiotics. So, as usual with UC, it's difficult to say if 1 thing or a combination of things has helped. Personally, I think it's a combination, with diet change the largest reason for the improvement.

One interesting fact I read about professional athletes was that there is larger than average cases of bowel related problems. This could be put down to the fact that exercise speeds up the metabolism. For UC sufferers, speeding up the metabolism isn't a good idea.

Food for thought!

I am a runner and am currently training for a half marathon. I refuse to stop running, it's the only thing that makes me still feel strong and capable after all this time of dealing with this stupid disease. Ironically, I feel my best while I'm running...no pain, cramps, rushing to the bathroom. I do need to make sure I get a lot of sleep (about 10-11 hours a day) and pay special attention to my nutrition and hydration. More so than before I was sick.

An overactive immune system (which we UCers have unless we are on immunosuppressants) gets triggered by stress, one of them being exercise --

I can be feeling fine, no symptoms, then I exercise hard and the symptoms return.

The immune system in overdrive causes a response of inflammation.

It's unfortunate. I'm trying not to exercise so hard, and build up a little, but I'm always running that risk.

With that being said, you are on remicade which should suppress your immune system, but you just went on it so it might have not kicked in yet. Has it?

Thank you everybody for discussing this issue.
Lack of sleep immediately worsen the symptoms in my case. If I have too deprive myself and wake up too early, as I wake up i feel pain in the abdomen as well as mild symptoms of bronchitis. If i can sleep and not get up, as I get up these symptoms may have disappeared or become very mild. I am delighted to see that some of us need 10 hours sleep a day, I feel less guilty for my long nights sometimes, although I try to stick to 7-8 hours. Since I am sick I need definitely more sleep than before (7 hours before, now rather 8 or 9) but unfortunately my life style is irregular.
As for exercise, I have to push myself a lot because general weakness makes me lazy. Last summer with a group of friends, we did 1-2 hours energetic yoga together every day for 2weeks, since 2 members of our group were yoga teachers. At first I did not want to join, because i felt to weak, to lazy. Then I did it and it was amazing. Well the 2 first day were a bit tough, but still I could feel sort of overall improvement of the whole energetic circulation in the body, feeling better, stronger, happier. Being together was great fun, great... Later in September I tried to keep doing the exercise by my own but then after some travels that lasted several weeks, I never did it again. i feel like having a group to support me.

So to resume, both sleep and exercise (not violent one) had been great. Mere 'resting' for me doesn't work, because it makes me sort of sluggish, lethargic, and mind also goes dull and depressed. But sleep is good. What works best is to have a fixed routine. Our bodies like that since everything in nature is cyclic and regular. Regular sleep, regular meals, regular exercise, all nicely programmed in one's day. Yet to me, regularity and routine are very very difficult to set up, even though it works quiet well...

One great thing is meditation. Resting the mind. Then I can cope with both mild depression and whatever pain and distress.