Running/exercising

kse822

I asked my RE about continuing to run and exercise during treatments but also during future pregnancy. Since I'm already a runner he had no issues with me running but did mention that it's important to monitor body temp and not overheat. Besides staying hydrated and slowing down, are there any other recommendations out there that you ladies are aware of? Any watches or gadgets that help monitor this!

Sigh202

I found that running just becomes more uncomfortable during stims.

kse822

@Sigh202‌, I have only run once in three cycles because I was slightly uncomfortable too, but I'm trying to keep up as much as possible to keep my mind occupied. I'm definitely slower! I don't want to risk anything but sitting around the last several months is driving me crazy!

RunCC37

Pardon, I'm mobile and can't see siggies. Are you doing IUIs or IVF? If so, you need to be careful of running when the ovaries are producing more than one follicle (like they would for a natural cycle). There is an increased risk of ovarian torsion when the ovaries are enlarged and heavy with lots of follicles. The jostling of running could cause the ovary to twist on itself and tear. It's apparently very painful, could require surgical correction, and worst case scenario you could lose the ovary.

I don't mean to scare you, but if you keep running through medicated cycles just be careful. For IVF you really shouldn't run at all. IUIs are fine as long as you don't have a crazy amount of follicles. Either way, listen to your body.

kse822

Thanks! I doing iui and RE basically said the same thing about not overdoing it.

Justone13

@RunCC37‌ my re never said anything about this!! Their only concern was after the transfer. Thanks for the info! I was literally just getting ready to run. Guess it's treadmill on an incline instead.

pjpahel

As a medical provider I whole heartedly agree with @runcc37.  My Re has told me no strenuous excercise and NO running.  When your ovaries start to get heavy from all the follicles, they are also less stable, and can twist causing torsion which is a medical emergency requiring emergency surgery, and people often lose their ovary from this.  I would be cautious for sure.

Aimothy

Definitely what everyone else said.  Listen to your body.  I did IVF and I got to a point where even walking on the treadmill made me feel very uncomfortable. I did feel better getting to the gym throughout the cycle, but there was no way I was running after I started stims. 

kse822

I'm on the tww and had iui #3 done about 5 days ago. Still a concern at this poin of tx?

ekc0630

During my cycle I did the elliptical.  I was in Vermont for my stimms and it was in march so it was too cold.  I was alble to do the elliptical until the day of retrieval.

SKLH

I was told NO running during stims and afterwards, I had 25 eggs retreived ... My RE wouldn't let me run again until my ovaries went back to their normal size (about 4 weeks)... The reason was what everyone else said about your ovaries twisting and citing off circulation... No bueno and as much as I love to run, not worth the risk in my honest opinion!

siempre595

I found it uncomfortable even when on clomid with three follicles.  I'm back to the elliptical….

kse822

Thanks ladies! I'll be taking it easy and trying to not go crazy !

AMShark

I didn't have any real restrictions during IUI - except perhaps immediately after the procedure. I ran the NYC marathon between IUI cycles, and my RE thought that was fine.  I suppose it makes sense to take it easy during the 2WW, but otherwise, I don't remember having any restrictions gearing up for IUI - or after a failure was confirmed.

However, as soon as I started stimming for IVF, I was told not to run at all.  One of the guidelines I was given was to avoid any exercise that brought my knees towards my abdomen - which eliminates a lot really.

** Loss mentioned ** even after it was confirmed that the pregnancy was over (loss of heartbeat), my RE still did an U/S to confirm that my ovaries were not too enlarged before she would say it was ok for me to run a 1/2 marathon.  (Unfortunately, one of my ovaries was deemed too big, so I skipped a race that I was hoping to run - It would have been ugly anyway, since I hadn't been training for it, but I was still disappointed).