Returning to running after a flare

Hello!

I had a colonoscopy last month and got great news: Colon looks totally normal, save for 4 inches of quiescent inflammation in the rectum. I’ve been feeling great — not perfect, but it was a two-year flare so I’m keeping my expectations reasonable.

I’ve felt well enough to stage an excessively gradual return to running (was previously into distance; marathons and halfs). When I attempted a return to running last year, after getting a bit of improvement, my guts immediately got very, very angry. My meds were upped and I resolved to wait until I felt substantially better, talked to my doctor about hydration, etc. But since then I’ve stuck to spin/cycling and yoga.

For the past three weeks, I’ve been doing a very easy interval program, and have progressed to a whopping 2 miles of 1:00 run/recover intervals. I’ve also noted a marked spike in number of BMs (was at 1-2, now pretty consistently at 2-3/day with a bit more discomfort). This doesn’t really bother me, as I’d expected I might have some breakthrough symptoms to start but I have 2 questions:

1. This timeline also coincides roughly with my colonoscopy - so I think it’s also possible that things were a bit shaken up by the prep, though I’m not sure how long I might expect scope-related weirdness to persist?

2. For anyone that’s been able to successfully return to running, what was it like? Any strategies that helped?

Thanks!

Thanks!

I am about 3 weeks post-scope 😂

That’s awesome! Do you ever experience breakthrough symptoms when starting back up?

Celeriac said...
That’s awesome! Do you ever experience breakthrough symptoms when starting back up?

The two times I had really bad flares that put me in the hospital and on I.V. steroids, I rested up for months as I recovered and started back exercising very slowly. If you are run-down from a bad flare, excessive exercise is a bad idea. On the other hand, if you are feeling strong and fully recovered, and it sounds like you are, then go for it.

I agree with Sara14, you are either flaring or you are not, and if you are not, just live your life to the fullest. Of course avoid antibiotics, NSAIDS and triggery foods, but exercise is good for you.

The main reason I wouldn't run if I was in a mild to moderate flare, is because I would likely feel like I was going to crap my pants the whole time, and that's no fun.

I'm not a runner....but use common sense to not push your body beyond the point that IT has had enough long before you see the obvious symptoms.

Stress is stress....we may logically be able to determine it, but the body that is in a recovery or after recovery has limits much lower than previously.

Go for your run...push it hard...if it doesn't work, its on you to retain the lesson for your future decisions.
Been here long enough to see that most eventually get it.... although, some never do.
I've learned for myself that justifying symptoms doesn't mean it's true.

Baby steps maybe? There's a wide range from 0 to full out. Find your OK area.

q

I kind of figured - I also poked around a bit here and didn’t find anything. Docs just say go easy and emphasize hydration. My assumption currently is that it’s just going to take awhile to adjust, so I shall carry on at turtle pace. I initially had similar issues when increasing cycling intensity, but I was still technically flaring at that point. Just figured I’d throw the Hail Mary in case anyone was going through something similar at present.

Thanks!

https://autoimmunewellness.com/could-exercise-intolerance-be-impacting-your-recovery/


I didn't have to look too hard for a link.

q

I’m familiar with exercise intolerance - in my case, that seems to fit less well, as I’ve been cycling/spinning at a much greater effort level than the running I’m currently doing. I’m also familiar with ischemic colitis/runners colitis (this the emphasis on hydration). I seem to be more sensitive to running, specifically, and it’s taking longer to adjust than it did when I ramped up cycling intensity. Which is fine; just wondering if anyone else had similar experience and, if so, how they proceeded.

There are lots of threads on running with UC, I was specifically wondering if anyone had any experience with returning to it after an extended flare. There isn’t any good info on that, specifically, that I’ve found.

RyanC - Ugh, I’m sorry. ☹️ Hopefully things will get better for you. We’re you having issues with fatigue while on the biologics?

It’s very frustrating, having to scale back so much when you’re used to distance.

I miss running, too. Hopefully we can all get back to it soon! I am starting at scratch now and super out of shape. Used to be able to go out for a 25-mile training run! I also heard Humira takes 3 months to get out of your system! I'm at 1.5 months and counting!