Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion Sporting ASKickers help me be athletic again!!!!!

This post is for those who have had major flare ups and have returned to the sports they love. I want to hear your stories, I want to hear how bad things were and how you went about making things better. How long did it take? What can you do now? How did you do it?

I have had pretty good success. I've gone no starch, I've gotten back a lot that I thought were gone. I can ski, I can take my dog for a walk, I can stand at work, I attended my best friends wedding and danced all night with the bride's maids, I went on a week long motorcycle trip, I can ride my bike again....All good, I'm happy.. But I'm not the same as I was before. I can't seem to go any further. I feel stuck.

I want to be a competitor again. I want to hike mountains, I want to run races, I want to take a breathtaking ride at sunset, I want to do back country skiing, I want to rock climb and I want to play hockey again.

I want to feel my heart pounding like thunder in my chest while sweat spills off my nose, I want to feel the high of getting 'there', I want to peer pressure my friends into some crazy weekend trip only to realize that they just might kick my butt, and most of all I just want to come home dirty and tired so that every drop of my shower feels earned and my sleep restful only to wake up with excitement again the next day so that I can do it all again, or just make breakfast for my girlfriend with a spring in my stride.

I've come along way, but I want more. I want to hear your stories!!! I want to be motivated and I want a goal that I can reach. If you were in so much pain once that you thought you'd never walk properly again, let alone run, but now you run races, then I want to hear from you. Can you help?

well, i don't know how motivating this will be as it will be both optimistic and practical at the same time. i think in some ways, i've been like you where i was so bad i really doubted i'd return to any resemblance of normal. in the first few years i went downhill with no one in the medical field helping me until i finally found someone who was knowledgeable. when i finally got help i was in constant pain and just getting through each day was a struggle...after a few years of help, my daily pain level was very manageable and i could once again walk and swim and do the more gentle exercises. then i injured my hip where i couldn't even walk or swim for an entire year, but finally they healed and i could walk and swim again (i've been thankful just to be able to do that). in that same year i had injured my wrist and couldn't use my left hand for anything for about a year and a half, literally, so now just being able to type or make an apple crisp is a delight. but every so often i get restless and say, i wish i could run a marathon or take a bike trip or hike the appalachia trail again....then i remind myself that even if i didn't have this chronic illness, at the age of 45, i probably wouldn't do these things anyway. i don't know how old you are, but i know for me, some of these feelings are a natural part of getting older, chronic illness or not.....sometimes i lament not being able to do the things i could do when i was younger, but more often, i just realize its a natural part of getting older and enjoy where my life is now.

there is one activity (not athletic) that might fit into "these stories" that you are looking for. in 1998, i injured my upper back and had trigger points so bad, any travel was out of the question. i had lots of trigger point injections and years of therapy and now i can sit in a car for an hour or two, or fly on a plane for an hour or two, so i can take short trips once or twice a year. i am finally getting brave enough that i plan to go to europe for a conference next summer. i really think i will be able to do it and this is something i didn't think i'd ever be able to consider. i miss traveling the way you miss the athletics and just the idea of being able to travel to europe is exciting and scary at the same time. if i go and have a successful trip, that will really be something for me.

sue

You can sweat just as much push just as hard and maybe do better by just competing smarter.

Maybe I'm not the type of example you want but I loved sports with all the childish enthusiasm of a 10 year old when I was 20 and probalby still at 30. Lost the ability to participate n many things.

Golf didn't require any running so I took it up. Was very good early on and played in local competition. Still its a sport where you can compete with yourself. 25 years later I can't hit the ball even 75% as far but I score nearly as well and moeover its kept me sane and moving.

I am a runner and a snow skier. I don't win any races, but just finishing gives me enough thrill now days. I didn't ski for several years, and my first day back was great just to go down the slopes. I still can't ski the way I did in high school, but I was indestructible then. The one thing I don't do now is ride dirt motorcycles. I raced motocross for a couple of years when I was just out of high school. I would like to get a motorcycle, but haven't.

Good luck, take pleasure in what you can do, and don't worry about what you can no longer do. Some times you may get a surprise and you can do something again that you thought was lost. That is the best.

Steve Orchard

Hello, it is always difficult to leave sports, when it is for us something more than a way to stay in shape.
The boy always participated in all sorts of sports and eventually I went left with athletics. I liked to run marathons, races mountain .... now I make up with jogging once in a while, swimming, hiking .....
We must put in a balance, the risk posed by sport, especially when an impact on the column to jump, if there is a clash with another person ....., but that only live once and can not stay at home . Have a desire to do things is a good therapy and depends on each run that risk.
Luck, I hope you find the balance and enjoy the sport practices.

I'm not going to be much help to you. I'm new to this and struggling. But I have a question for you. You sound like you've had great success with the NSD. Are you also taking medication or are you just managing this with the diet. I am having trouble taking the meds to I'm hoping the diet alone will be enough. Good luck in you pursuits.

It sounds as if your true passion is serious sports and it makes you feel good to really work up a sweat and make yourself tired. You are able to be active now, but can't do what you used to be able to do or hope to be able to do.

I'm wondering if you know how much permanent damage was done. Before you went NSD, what parts of your body were damaged by the AS in ways which cannot be undone? Permanent damage could be a major limiting factor.

The other limiting factor will be how much AS is still left. Do you feel like the beast has been completely vanquished or is there still some inflammation going on, less than before but still present? Ongoing inflammation will be another limiting factor.

Finally, how much older are you now than you were back when you were serious about sports? Even without AS, bodies lose resilience with age. The changes brought about by age may limit the level you are able to achieve, but may not limit your ability to do this:

heart pounding like thunder in my chest while sweat spills off my nose, I want to feel the high of getting 'there', I want to peer pressure my friends into some crazy weekend trip only to realize that they just might kick my butt, and most of all I just want to come home dirty and tired so that every drop of my shower feels earned and my sleep restful only to wake up with excitement again the next day so that I can do it all again, or just make breakfast for my girlfriend with a spring in my stride.

You'll be able to work to that level of fatigue, but you might get there sooner than you used to.

You say you, "can't seem to go any farther". Do you know what is holding you back? The very real limitations of your body? Worry about how fragile your body could be now? Damage from the AS? Age?

If being active is what you love, then give it everything you have to get back there without hurting yourself.

I hope you can achieve your dreams.

Karen

When things were bad I took meds. Dmards, Nsaids, steroids. I also started the no starch diet because I wasn't happy with the results and I don't like taking meds. I also tried limiting other things such as refined sugars and acids (coffee, beer). I was able to ge back skiing and I had almost no pain at all. I was then able to drop meds. I was able to get pretty good results, but I still had the occasional moment of pain. I was pretty sure that a lot of damage had been done to my joints so I took condroitin, amino acids and protein as well as accupuncture, in an attempt to help me heal. This year I had hoped to shed the disease once and for all. This is where I'm stuck. I tried to add limited alcohol, sugars and starches into my diet as well as increase my activity level. Things were going well, but a little slower than I hoped. I had a ski pass this year and probably skied 30 days. I also have no pain when I drive or ride my motorcycle and I can ride my bike for commuting. I tried to play hockey again but I just wasn't in shape to keep up and I quit. For the most part I was willing to accept a little pain in the mornings because I need time to get back in shape. Problem was the pain was the disease and I let things get out of control. I did too much exercise (got carried away on a great ski day, ate too much starch and no meds. I put myself back into a flare. Ran back to the doctor and I'm on meds for two months, as well as low starch, no booze, low sugar, high protein diet.

So it would seem I have to stay on the diet as well as monitor my body a lot more than in the past. I'm not sure I will totally rid myself of meds. I would like to , but only time will tell.

Hope the story helps.

kris

Hey Karen,

Ya, I've been thinking about all this. I feel too young to be in the pain I'm in. I'm really pissed about the brick wall I ran into. It really bugs me when my drunken friends (same age as me) get out and do something while I sit and second geuss if I really can do it. I used to idolise my friends retired dad, he retired and moved out to the mountains to ski with us. He didn't rip as hard as we did, but he skied a lot. Claude (my friend's dad) was who I had intended on being when I turned 55. I still want to be like that, a fit old guy. I don't want to be 25 again, just fit for my age. I'm only 34. I have more to do but now I went and pushed myself into a flare and the old doubts have crept back in. I was on the verge of saying "I'm getting there!!! Just keep at it!!!!" This flare has been a big step back, back on meds. I'm just looking for stories of others who have gotten to where I want to go. I geuss I need the encouragement.

These days the pain comes before the sweat......I don't mind being out of shape, I mind being in undeserved pain.

My friends and I had a saying. "You gotta earn your turns". It means you have to put sweat, time and pain into it before you get the reward of sweet sweet bliss. You had to hike up the mountain before you could rip down it with some fat turns. It just seems that I'm getting stopped before I can put in the work needed. It's very unmotivating.

O-well, at least this time around I'm prepared. I'm back on the recovery path within a month, rather than the year it took previously to get out of dodge.

kris