I've been an athlete my entire life and was diagnosed with AS. I was told I wouldn't be able to run again. It took me 2 years of indocin to get me back on track and I started exercising again. I would deal with flare ups here and there for the last 14 years I even went vegan for 5 years thinking that would help. I was doing pretty well and last year ran some half marathons and shorter distance races and felt good. I went on vacation late last year and over indulged on food and drink and have had a really bad spell of flare ups in my hips, feet and back for the last 7 months that I couldn't control. My doctor has now put me on Enbrel and it scares the crap out of me. I'm determined to get control of this and found this sight. I didn't know about the No Starch Diet. I've decided to try it. I'm reading "The IBS Low-Starch Diet" by Carol Sinclair and I'm hoping this will help me. My goals are to finally run a marathon and even do an ultra. Anyone have success with marathons or ultras with AS?

Hey James, I'm a hiker and swimmer - but we do have a few runners around here. All I can say is the more I move, the more I can move, and that's what keeps me moving. I was lucky to be able to take indocin on and off for decades and now I'm allergic to it. Re the diet, it didn't work for me though it's helped so many people. I am applauding from the sidelines as you try it! Peace, Erica

I did one back in 2013 (has it really been 6 years!?!) at the age of 30 and didn't use the diet back then. The training for it alone seemed to put me in remission and I ate a LOT while training. I finished in a few minutes over 4 hours (was hoping to get under). After that I did 3 or 4 halfs over the next few years. Haven't done a race in a while but mainly due to lack of motivation. I am not sure how well NSD works with distance running but I think it can be handled with high quantities of fat for fuel.