Crohn`s and crossfit.

[Darragh Farrell]

Hi all,

A number of years ago i was diagnosed with a very slight case of crohn`s disease, It never really slowed me down or affected me after the first diagnoses until 3 months ago. It came back like a bat out of hell, had spread and become more serious. I was very ill and was in the ICU for a week, the weight loss over this week and any hard work id put in through Crossfit was wiped away. I lost 20kgs or 44lbs in 11 days and my body hasnt been the same since. Im literally skin and bones but if iv learned anything from crossfit is to stay strong when times get hard and pick yourself up no matter how bad it hurts.Iv been recovering since that hellish week at the start of July and today i had the first good news from my doctor since the start of June, he said my bloods had come back and things seem to be getting a whole lot better and even said a brisk walk or slow jog would be a good idea.

What im wondering is does anybody else crossfit with crohn`s and if you do have you had to come back from a bad flare up and what was it like. Failing that does anybody know they best way to get back into it, safest method possible??

Many thanks

Regards

Darragh


"You never know how strong you are, till being strong is all you have"

[Lisa Reed]

I've sent you a PM.

[Darragh Farrell]

Hi Lisa, thanks for the reply but i havnt received your PM. If you would like an email address i can send you one.

Regards

Darragh

[Brett Dartt]

i have colitis and spent a month in the hospital as a result of a bad flare a year and a half ago. give your body time to rest. go easy. i do not crossfit as much anymore mostly just a wod here or there as conditioning while i strength train. i cant seem to go easy on crossfit and the stress it puts on my body (unneeded it seems) is just to much and sends me into a flare everytime i go more than 3 wods a week. so i dont anymore. but thats just me alot of others are fine. when you know you are out of your flare start again slowly. and never EVER train while flaring. this is advice that is hard for me to do my self but if i dont heed it, it ALWAYS gets worse. much worse. you can pm me if you have any questions

[Lisa Reed]

Hi Darragh,

Yes, please send to me. Someone in my family has Chrohn's, and I am personally familar with immune dysfunctions.

Lisa

[Jonathan Elliott]

I had ulcerative colitis and after many months of failed drug treatments i opted to have the surgery to remove the infected region. Initially my story was the same as yours. I am 5'11" and made it all the way down to 109lbs from my 150lbs. that was about two years ago and I have finally surpassed my previous max body weight and am stronger than ever. even on a restricted diet ( cannot eat whole vegetables unless its gone through the vita-mix).

Start with the walking and jogging. then slowly progress to the easier body weight movements (air squats, etc.) My best suggestion would be to take it slow and listen to your body. Also make sure your giving your body the proper nutrition. I know it can be hard to eat during/ after a flare up.

[Vanessa Vy]

Hi Jonathan that is great to hear you are doing well after surgery!
I was just told today I have to have my colon removed due to FAP (no bag though). Really nervous how this will set me back with my CF. I already struggle with having IC so this is all new to me.

[Jonathan Elliott]

Hi Jonathan that is great to hear you are doing well after surgery!
I was just told today I have to have my colon removed due to FAP (no bag though). Really nervous how this will set me back with my CF. I already struggle with having IC so this is all new to me.

There is a huge adjustment period. I'm not going to say it was easy to adjust into the lifestyle i have now. There were many times that i really regretted my decision to get the surgery. and spent many days (months) depressed about it. Eventually though you adapt. When i had my surgery i wasn't crossfitting but was itching to get back into the gym because i had been going a lot before, so i think if your fit and try to maintain that after you will have a major advantage.

Since starting cross fit I have actually been quite surprised at what i have accomplished since.

But like i said earlier take your time, listen to your body, and invest in a vitamix!

[Terry Gibbs]

I think Gail Devers had Crohns disease, it hit her very bad in the early 90s.
Still won 2 100m titles in teh Olympics.

Suggest looking into her storey

[Vanessa Vy]

There is a huge adjustment period. I'm not going to say it was easy to adjust into the lifestyle i have now. There were many times that i really regretted my decision to get the surgery. and spent many days (months) depressed about it. Eventually though you adapt. When i had my surgery i wasn't crossfitting but was itching to get back into the gym because i had been going a lot before, so i think if your fit and try to maintain that after you will have a major advantage.

Since starting cross fit I have actually been quite surprised at what i have accomplished since.

But like i said earlier take your time, listen to your body, and invest in a vitamix!


I might be stuck with a bag. Really hard to deal with. I wonder if there are any crossfiters that have an ostomy/stoma and do WODs. Totally terrified over this new disease. It is either have surgery or be dead in 2 years at age 37.

[Andrew Perlot]

Hey.

I had colitis, which is a very similar disorder to Crohns.

I tried all types of diets to fight it, but it kept getting worse as I aged.

I tried hardcore paleo of several varieties, including no grains, no dairy, lots of meat, lots of eggs, some cooked veggies, no fruit.

This not only didn't work, it aggravated the problem, and I ended up eating cooked vegetarian food, which didn't work either.

The best solution I've found, and it's kept me symptom free since 2005, has bee eating only raw fruits, raw vegetables, and some minor amounts of raw nuts and seeds. That's it.

Because raw food, and especially raw veggies, irritated my system so much when I first started, I ate nothing but very ripe bananas for the first 30 days, and then started to expand what I was eating after that. Now I can eat all kinds of raw fruits and veggies with no problem.

Probably seems restrictive, but it's worked wonders for me. I have my life back. Actually, there are many side benefits. Recovery time from my exercises of choice, running and biking, has plummeted while staying power has increased.

I'm new to CF, so I can't comment on that aspect very much.

I'm not sure if we can post outside links, but I write about raw foods here (http://www.raw-food-health.net/#axzz1afLUWMAV).

[Darragh Farrell]

Hey guys, sorry i havnt been back online iv been back in hospital with this god damn flare up.

From what im reading here it all seems to come down to time and diet. Both of which i need to address a whole lot more.

Andrew, thanks for the link but at them moment raw foods and nuts are a huge no no. They seem to really set me off for some reason, when im not in a flare i really enjoy most of my fruit and veg raw so ill check back in with you when i kick this flare up. For the moment its chicken breast, mashed potatoes and mashed carrots and as much low fiber foods as i can handle. Which isnt much as i havnt finshed a meal in weeks.

Still only able to manage a brisk walk and nothing more. I tried some light workouts but it just wasnt happening for me. Im still to weak to but my body under that stress.

Again thank you all for your advice. Its really been helping.

Darragh