Is it OK to exercise during active flare up?

Hi,

   I want to know what kind of exercises are OK to do around the house while I have a very active flare... without causing strain on the colon... I am not daring to go out even for a walk as the urgency hits any time .... or should I wait till the bleeding stops and only then look to exercise?

Thanks

Victor

I'm not sure, honestly. I've gone for runs during flares, but not very long runs, and not very often. I can't run very far, given that this flare + surgery two years ago have made it impossible for me to get in shape and stay there. But mostly, I don't exercise because I am quite frankly too exhausted to do so.

yeah, it's fine. as long as it doesn't make you feel worse, it's no biggie. obviously, if you are having tons of diarrhea you will get dehyrated and exercise makes that worse. just listen to your body. it's hard to ignore it and will let you know if you are pushing yourself too hard.

I exercise all the time while flaring - one of the few things that take my mind off of it! I'm lucky to have a gym with conveniently placed bathrooms :)

I guess it depends on how bad your flare is. My flares ramp up quickly and I find that after a couple of weeks when bleeding starts, I can't risk going to the gym because I'll soil myself in the car, or worse yet, be doing pull ups and suddenly have brown diarrhea running down my pant legs and have to run to the bathroom and make a joke out of myself and be too ashamed to come back.

I also did find heavy lifting made my symptoms worse slightly the following day or two.

Word of caution: if you're bleeding heavily, I would *definitely* stay away from hard exercise. I didn't know, but my last two flares my blood count was at 6 and iron were depleted to the point the doctor wanted me to go to the emergency room for a blood transfusion immediately. I was exercising at the time and felt dizzy during and after working out but thought it was normal. I could have easily fainted or worse and did not realize.

So if you're bleeding badly and have mini blackouts when standing up, don't exercise! To be safe I would at least have a CBC test if you want to work out while you having symptoms.

"I found that exercising boosts my immune system, and the problem is my haywire immune system will attack my colon."

huh ?

can you explain what you've experienced - in what ways has it affected your colon ?

Glad i have came across this thread, i have just come into a flare and i have caved in and had to resort to taking pred, the thing is it works so well with me.

I used to be a fitness instructor around 4 years ago and i remember i had a flare around that time and exercised through it i do alot of crossfit racket ball and soccer, so as you can imagine dropped a serious amount of weight. Thinking back i notice the flare did not last that long compared to lately ive been having flares and for some reason not trained and sort of give up and just try to get as much rest as possible and the  flares have been longer lasting.

Next time i flare (hoping this never happens again) i am certainly going to carry on the exercising

thanks for your point protocolteck if you can do crossfit and mountain running with UC i have no excuse!

soystud: going back to jenny2healthys post exercising boosts your immune system and therefore the immune system attacks the colon more... that kinda makes sense is this actually what happens though?

 

"thanks for your point protocolteck if you can do crossfit and mountain running with UC i have no excuse!"

Thanks, Derby, Please keep in mind, I did not have D or urgency, which would be very problematic.

I totally agree that it boosts the immune system and helps you to be mentally stronger.

Keep up the good work.

Tom,

My major symptoms were Blood and Mucus that simply would not stop. I have it in check now, for the most part.

I do have friends in Crossfit with full blown UC with D and urgency. The problem they have is staying hydrated and simply wearing down too much.
Each individual is different and hope your able to keep exercising and pushing yourself.

Best...