Rheumatoid Arthritis and cycling

Conkers62

HI , I got diagnosed with RA last August after spending more than a year having scans xrays to find out what was causing swelling in my knees and arthritis symptoms. I am on 15mg Methotrexate a week which helps . I still suffer with mobility . I use to cycle regularly up to 30 miles . Am I unrealistic thinking I will ever get back to that , or will i need to adjust to the restrictions on me .

PJoanne

Hello @Conkers62

Welcome to the forum, we hope that you find support and information here to help you.

Here is the link to the VA page about RA, in case you haven't seen it:

https://versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/rheumatoid-arthritis/

Some exercises for the knees and 'getting started with exercise page' :

https://versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/exercises-for-healthy-joints/exercises-for-the-knees/

https://versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/getting-started-with-exercise/

Maybe breaking down your goals into smaller steps? I used to teach yoga for a living and could do all the fancy stuff - standing on my head etc. I have found greater peace of mind by setting smaller acheivable goals than getting back to where I once was- joining in a gentle yoga class, doing a small daily at home practice.

Best Joanne

JenHB

I used to do a lot of running before getting diagnosed with RA. I'm on 25mg MTX and 200mg hydroxychloroquine. I find that that tends to keep things under control but I've needed to really cut back on the intensity/distance/frequency of running I do.

I also used to do some cycling - just before my knee problems started I had been on a cycling holiday which was undulating and I covered about 150miles over the week. I've since done a couple of 20ish mile bike rides but borrowed my parents e-bike (one of the power assisted ones so still need to cycle) which made a huge difference. Would an e-bike be an option for you?

I'm lucky to have a very supportive consultant who at the first appointment was 'well, if you used to enjoy running we want to get you back to being able to do some'

Arthuritis

@JenHB You might find the latest research on RA informative, seems like we have a similar medical profile, except I escaped for 2 years!

@Conkers62 This is more about being positive, a lot of the time there is something you can do to mitigate your symptoms or even escape drug & symptom free, but you need to educate yourself using what researchers have found:

The important thing is not to panic or stress. For many people who are willing to change their diet and educate themselves, there may be an exit ie symptom & drug free, but early on your main objective should be to take your meds and bring your damaging inflammation down.

Your diet plays a big part, but you won’t know how until you educate yourself a bit:

Here’s some good info to help you:

ZOE

blob:https://community.versusarthritis.org/b5d73c3b-af62-442c-aa25-c8098cb75378

How to reverse arthritis in 8 weeks | Dr. Tamiko Katsumoto

leaky gut UCL research

Targeting the gut to relieve rheumatoid arthritis

sfed

blob:https://community.versusarthritis.org/ddaef589-a3d4-4a62-a825-e870e1dab53e

The AIP Diet - How It Can Help Manage Autoimmune Conditions

I myself was diagnosed in Dec 2021 and in March 2023 I was off meds (25mg/week) and free of symptoms, until Jan 2025, when a trigger food put me back into RA. Everyone is different and my trigger is unfermented Soy protein. I unknowingly consumed it as a supposedly healthy protein drink, after my regular gym work out, and landed myself back in the RA dump.

Now trying to escape again. Unfortunately when you have a flare your gut gets inflamed as does the compounding immune response, and takes a long long time to calm down, which is why change is slow