Can exercise make IBS-D worse?
#281833 - 09/12/06 12:00 PM
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Ulrika
Reged: 08/20/06
Posts: 581
Loc: Uppsala, Sweden
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I like yoga and walks but want to do some other exercising too. I used to do weight lifting when I was in junior high and now I've found a nice gym that offers things like weight training, cardio in the form of crosstrainers, exercise bikes, et.c. plus group training like spinning and boxercise. Does exercising always help IBS symtoms or can it make IBS worse? Should you take it easy if you feel like the IBS is a bit worse at the moment? I typically need my bowels to be a bit slow since I have a nerve damaged sphincter.
/Ulrika, IBS-D
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There have been a lot of posts about this, if you try doing a search I'm sure you'll come up with some. I find exercise such as running and ab workouts make my D worse, but my body adjusts to it the more I do it. Ab workouts seem to help in the long term with doing other forms of exercise, as my stomach muscles are stronger and used to movement and strain.
Another thing is to make sure you are eating/drinking properly. Don't over-drink during exercise as this will cause more D. I tend to try to drink well before my workouts, so that my stomach is not full of liquid when I am exercising. Only sip at water to relieve dryness in your mouth while you exercise. Then keep hydrated by drinking small amounts often the rest of the day. Also try to eat something safe, and a small amount, about 45 mins before working out. Having an empty stomach will make things worse.
Hope that helps,
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Kat
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Hi Ulrika,
I agree with what K2 said - I find that stuff like heavy cardio and the ab stuff makes my D worse.. but not all the time.
If I am having bad D, I won't do any cardio when I am exercising regularly and will skip ab stuff. For me, anything that makes me feel sweaty and like I am straining tends to make my D worse.. but only if my tummy is already on the bad side.
Today, for example, my stomach is upset but I wanted to exercise and about half way through my 30 mins of elliptical I got all crampy and wanted to run to the potty. I carried on, though (as I knew the washroom was only steps away) and was got through the other 15 mins. Then I pottered around a bit and when I went to the bathroom, I did have really bad D.. but I know the exercise wasn't the cause.
I would start off with just doing easier cardio when your tummy is feeling more stable and just seeing how your body reacts. If you have no problem with walks, maybe try a faster walk on a treadmill or something?
For ab stuff, I would wait 'til you are having a really stable day.. as if I do ab stuff, and have an attack I feel like it hurts so much more.
I dunno if this rambling helped, good luck! Let us know how it goes!
Steph
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~~I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell-I know right now you can't tell~~Matchbox 20
IBS-D,pain.
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