Exercising with Crohn's Disease

BlissfullyUnawareCanadian

BlissfullyUnawareCanadian

Member
Location
Kingston, Ontario
I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2004. At that time I was a regular medium distance runner. My husband and I would regularly run 10 to 15 km about four times a day. I worked at a police service and I was on their running team. As much as I hated the running I loved it at the same time. It gave me a runners high that I had never experienced doing anything before, and it kept my weight down which I loved!

But things started happening when I was out running, all of a sudden I had to do a number two in the bush because there was no bathrooms inside. It was really embarrassing, and I was getting angry because my doctor wasn’t listening to me when I told him there was something wrong. So I got very aggressive with my doctor to the point he did refer me to a specialist who did a scope and I was diagnosed with Crohn’s. I had to give up running, and became almost depressed and gained over 50 pounds quite quickly.

now my Crohn’s is somewhat under control with Humira injections every two weeks. But I still find it difficult to exercise especially during Covid. I can’t go out walking because I don’t want to risk having an accident especially when there’s not as many bathrooms available during Covid. The gyms here are closed, so that’s not an option. I do have a recumbent bike at home but I just can’t motivate myself to use it, and I don’t know why.

I am curious, how do others address exercise when they have Crohn’s?
 

Blissful,
I'm sorry to hear you have Crohn's. My niece has Crohn's and was diagnosed at a young age. She also shares your problem of weight gain. She lives very far away from me so I don't have much contact with her now, but when I see her posts on facebook, she still has not shed the pounds.

I don't have Crohn's but I have been diagnosed with IBS-D. I understand totally your concerns about bathrooms. Probiotics were my saviors. I started using Digestive Advantage IBS that I bought at Walgreens. That turned my world around for the better. I drink Kefir and kombucha which also helps. Interestingly, another thing that helps is the Estroven supplement I take for post menopausal symptoms. These all have helped enough that I don't have problems like you do anymore. I don't know if any of these would help you or not, but thought I would offer them.

The recumbent bike seems a good idea if you can motivate yourself. Maybe put on some really kick-ass music and get into the beat? Have you tried yoga or Pilates that you could do at home? The only thing I can think of to avoid accidents is to wear a pad.

I do Leslie Sansone's walk-away-the-pounds workouts and they really help me keep off weight. They are a walking workout that you could possibly do right at home. Let me know if you're interested and I can tell you more about them.
 
Thanks Uptosnuff. I saw a naturopath a few years ago who suggested probiotics, and I did try them but me being me I gave up too quickly. I should give it another try.
I read another post on here somewhere about how watching a good tv show can help you keep at the exercise, since you want to finish the show you don’t realize it’s been 25 minutes you’ve been on the exercise bike! I like that idea, although I may have to tell myself I can only watch the show while using my recumbent bike.

I quickly had a look at the walking exercise video, I searched you tube and I think I could easily do that. I like the idea of putting a show like that on as motivation. Where do you watch your videos, are they on DVD as well?
 

I am very old-school, lol. I have VHS tapes and DVDs of Leslie's that are many years old and I watch them on my tape player and dvd player. I bought them at the Goodwill several years ago. They still work perfectly and depending on the mood I'm in I choose what workout I want. There are 1 mile, 2 miles, 3 miles and 4 miles to pick from. Also each workout has different walk boosts.

I would look at the Goodwill or maybe eBay or Esty to search for dvds and videos.

Leslie's walk videos have gone high-tech in the last several years and you can download them now to your phone, I guess. I need a TV to work out from, I can't do it from a phone so I don't use these new walking workouts of hers.
 
Sorry to hear this bad news. I have lost 2 friends to this disease. The second one died last fall in 2019. He may have weighed about a 100 pounds when he died. Normally, he only weighed about 150, but to lose 50 pounds is still quite a bit. I think he was about 57 y/o and the first friend that died from Crohn’s was an elementary school principal and was maybe 50 y/o.

I only know about Crohn’s from what they used to tell me. My second friend that died from Crohn’s played in a recreation league and was on a basketball team, so he got plenty of exercise. We played 2 nights per week.
 
Blissful, you said "I saw a naturopath a few years ago who suggested probiotics, and I did try them but me being me I gave up too quickly. I should give it another try."

I think you really should give it another try. There are so many probiotics out there now. Probiotics in food, probiotics in drinks and probiotics in over-the-counter stuff. You might find one that works for you. It can't hurt. :poop:
 
It's places like this that makes things are great in the US. We can discuss some things outside the doctor's office to make an informative opinion. I wish you nothing but the best in your endeavors. And I hope you can somehow overcome the burden you've been laid with.
 
KenMill said:
It's places like this that makes things are great in the US. We can discuss some things outside the doctor's office to make an informative opinion. I wish you nothing but the best in your endeavors. And I hope you can somehow overcome the burden you've been laid with.
Click to expand...

Are you in the US Ken?
 

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