Inspirational Edinburgh woman battling bowel disease set to run London Marathon this Sunday for charity
Marathon effort despite recent flare-up
An inspirational Edinburgh woman battling bowel disease is set to run the London Marathon this Sunday for charity.
Lauren Livingstone from Stockbridge was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis, an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) similar to Crohn's Disease five years ago, aged just 25.
The condition changed her life overnight, leaving her in constant pain, bloated, exhausted and losing a lot of weight. Lauren found herself heavily relying on pain relief, biologic medication and regular hospital visits.
Thanks to discovering Evinature - a natural herbal supplements for gut health - keen runner Lauren was able to get back on the road to stay fit. After taking on the Lisbon Marathon three years ago she will now take on the London Marathon this weekend to raise awareness of her condition, and raise money for Crohn’s & Colitis UK.
She said: “My journey hasn’t been easy, but it’s proof that healing, resilience and a full life are possible, even after diagnosis. I was days away from starting a very strong injectable course of medication until I discovered Evinature and it completely changed my life.
“Within two or three weeks all my symptoms cleared. I was able to start running again. So when a place came up for London to run it for the charity I jumped at the chance.
“I want to raise awareness of the condition, and also show that it is still possible to live a happy life and be able to run marathons.
“I’m just really excited to be honest, the biggest goal for me is raising awareness for the charity and of the disease. I want to reach out to other people who have had this, to give them some hope that things do get better despite the pain it puts you through, and you never know, you might be able to take on a marathon.
“It’s been hard as I’m still young, and people say to me ‘you are really healthy’, but I suffer from this chronic illness. It was mentally a tough time coming through it, but I did make it through, and I can’t wait to take on the London Marathon.”
The pilates instructor revealed she suffered a relapse after pushing herself training for London, but she is still determined that her condition will not stop her this weekend.
Lauren said: “I had a flare up two weeks ago and ended up in hospital, a lot of it is stress-related, when you are under stress you are more likely to have symptoms return. I had put my body under a lot of stress with the training for the marathon.
“So I was in hospital for a couple of days, but I quite quickly got back into the running.
“So as tough as that was, it was a reminder of the people that are struggling with this condition, and made me very reflective, gave me a whole new outlook on this marathon, and made me more determined.
“I want to prove to myself and to others that you can still do these things despite having this condition. I am as ready as I can be for Sunday.”
Lauren also wanted to alert people to possible symptoms of the condition - including urgent and frequent trips to the bathroom, severe bloating , extreme fatigue, nausea, weight loss or difficulty maintaining weight, joint pain, brain fog, and anxiety around food, travel, and toilets.
You can donate to Lauren’s London Marathon fundraiser here.