To Exercise or not?

Hey everyone,

I have been flaring pretty much since dx. Pred works for me, so I did have periods where I felt well, until I went off pred.

Since Dec (being off pred), I have not had the energy to exercise. It seemed that every time that I tried, I would be zonked for 2 days afterwards. I decided that my body needed to heal more than it needed to exercise, so I gave it up entirely.

Fast forward 6 months, and I am on Remi and a bit of pred at the moment. The remi is not cutting it by itself yet, it seems. So, I am feeling better these last two weeks than I have in months. It is still not great - still bleeding, still going quite a bit. I would like to try exercising again, to relieve stress, get my body back and stronger, and for my overall well being.

My husband says no. He doesn't want me to waste energy exercising when I am still not well. He would like me to stay off exercising for an entire year, or until I am completely better (in full remission).

I am concerned that surgery might be in my future and want my body to be as strong as possible going into that, if need be.

BTW - the exercise that I do is soccer, kickboxing and some cardio/strength training. I love it and I miss it. I also like yoga but I find the bending exercises tend to create movement in the bowel. I am not sure if I can even do my regular exercise, but would like to try.


Thoughts? To exercise or not?

Thanks m2p for posting this. I've been wondering that myself, but I'm in remission though.

If someone like me who is at this stage exercises, what is the limit? Can they do extreme workouts if they're not struggling with fatigue? Or is it recommended not to push the limits and simply do moderate exercising? I've read in previous posts that some can and some can't exercise. I've been hesitant on trying. Maybe just chicken to start really.

My opinion is no exercise would harm the body more than it helps. The meditation/breathing/heart pumping of Yoga makes it my first choice. And if you are flaring you can do at home. Maybe you can kick box at home as well? Not sure about soccer, would be a boring game Interesting some poses causes a BM, at home is that bad? Or you can skip those poses. I'm just discovering that the twisting poses, seated and reclining are really good for ringing out the organs of bad toxins and deoxygenated blood, and great for re-energizing them, and yourself.

You could always give it a try and see how you feel. You could ask your doctor what he or she thinks too. I have exercised while flaring very mildly and I've been fine. The only thing that makes my gut hurt sometimes is doing lots of crunches/ab work. I would say strength training and walking would be a good place to start.

When in doubt, exercise. Only time I would advise against working out is if you have muscle aches.

I have to exercise every morning before I start my day,  when I was flaring I still exercised but not as hard.  I'm in remission now and make it to the gym 5 days a week, I find it calms my stomach almost immediately,  relieves stress and relaxes my mind.  If I don't go I find my gut is worse when I stay home,  and I always feel better after working out.   The exercise does give me more energy and sometimes I do find I'm exhausted after but if I can on those days I do try to lay down and rest.

Overall I just feel better when I exercise.

When I'm flaring, I do an exercise DVD at home (fares better with the urgency & frequency). Even when I'm in remission, it's hard for me to do strenuous things outside, like running or tennis, because I get anxious that I might have to go. But exercise definitely prolongs my remissions..