Crohn's Disease & Working Out

[galaxy]

Bit of history: I used to weigh an unhealthy 220lbs and lost 80lbs with diet & exercise. Then I started showing Crohn's symptoms and had to stop working out because any time I put in even a bit of cardio my stomach would HURT. I put on 40lbs over the next year from not being able to eat the leafy greens, nuts (etc. good foods that cause me trouble) or workout without flare.

Today, my CD is under control with 200mg Imuran daily (& coming off Remicade treatments) but I'm still having trouble with exercise. If I do cardio and work up a sweat for more than 10-15 minutes, 12-24 hours later I will be in agony with stomach pain. Even just walking home from work one evening (3.5miles) put me in misery.

I told my GI this and he thought I was a bit of anomaly but send me to physical therapy to get things under control. Today was my first PT and my therapist made me do a bunch of core exercise. I'm not sure if this is what I should be doing though- it's not muscle pain I am experiencing from exercise it is pain in my abdomen from Crohn's pain/flare. It's cardio that flares me up, anything that gets my heart rate up and gets me sweating. Is my therapist possibly confused when she thinks I should be tightening up my core? Shouldn't I be doing cardio to get back in to things? I think my therapist doesn't really understand CD and is making me do workouts that aren't right for my problem.

But before talking to her about what she's having me do or requesting another therapist I wanted to talk to you all first. If anyone has any experience with my concern or can offer insight I would really appreciate it.

I'd also be happy to answer questions if I missed any information that might be important.

I really want to get back to the gym for mental health and energy reasons.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Hi, welcome to the forum. It sounds to me like a couple of things are happening - you might want to switch physical therapists to someone who understands your individual needs and issues better, and it also kind of sounds like your Crohn's may not be totally in remission if even walking puts you in that kind of pain.

We're all different of course, but personally, during my first year of flares, I had a really hard time with anything physical, too. Then I got into remission and I was able to lift weights, do cardio, etc without trouble. I saw a physical therapist for my hip arthritis and she really worked with me and didn't push me too hard (particularly in the abdominal area) and she got me feeling better without pain or symptoms.

If it were me, I'd have some tests done to ascertain that I'm really in remission (scopes, bloodwork, etc). It's possible that you're feeling better than you were but that you're not yet in deep, lasting remission - it's also possible to be in a flare with minimal/no symptoms, so tests really should be done to see what's going on if you haven't already recently had tests done.

Does your physical therapist know anything about Crohn's? I went to PT for arthritis, and at my first appointment, I mentioned to my physical therapist that there is some sort of link between arthritis and IBD - she didn't know about it, but she did tons of research and was well-prepared at our next appointment to help me. I was very impressed that she did that. But based on that, it seems to me that not a lot of physical therapists know about stuff like that - you may either need to educate your physical therapist, or switch to a different/better physical therapist who takes the time to understand your needs. Good luck!

 

[galaxy]

Thank you for replying to me and welcoming me here.

I'm definitely in remission. I have frequent bloodworks plus I've had a scope in which my GI was pleased to tell me after that I was in remission. My PT doesn't seem to know a lot about Crohn's... she knew of it, but I'm not sure if she knew much about it. Do you think her having me work my core would actually have anything to do with my problem? If it makes sense I don't feel the need to switch PTs but if it doesn't make sense (which I feel like it doesn't) that I am more than willing to find someone else.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Yes, go with your gut feeling (no pun intended). If this physical therapist doesn't seem right for you then yes, try someone else. It's just like with doctors, they're people like anyone else and sometimes their style/personality/whatever just doesn't mesh well with yours. Sometimes you have to go through a few before you find a good one that you want to stick with.