Hills make me sick- literally- any advice?

Today is obviously my day for asking for advice.

I have noticed that during long club rides, sometimes as I'm riding hills I get a weird gut ache. This isn't a stomachache, I don't feel nauseous. The pain is lower, sort of where I get menstrual cramps.

On advice of the lovely women of this board, I have been practicing hills. Today I went out and rode 8 hills (and that's about all I did, besides warming up for 10 minutes and cooling down for 10 minutes), all quite challenging for me. It was only about 4 miles of riding. After the last hill I got a really bad ache in my gut, which makes me think that the feeling I've had on rides before wasn't related to the length of the ride, it was related to exerting myself on hills. It isn't muscular (at least I don't think it is).

Has anyone experienced this, or do you have any insight? Could it have something to do with lactic acid? I only get this sensation on/after tough hills!

Thanks gals,
Amy

Cramps near your right hand side are usually diaphragm cramps (side stitches) more toward the left are usually from having eaten too close to a hard effort. You get them on hills because you are working really hard!

There are a few things you can do to prevent them - warm up thoroughly before putting out really hard efforts (10 minutes was probably not enough), try to avoid shallow breathing/hyperventilating and don't eat a large meal right before going out and riding. Try to eat about 2 to 3 hours before hand.

Ace, you are reading my mind. The last few rides I've had the same thing happen. It doesn't feel like a side stitch. It feels like intense menstrual cramps or kidney meltdown. I've been perplexed by it, so I'm hoping someone knows what it is. I ventured that it was some crazy lactic build up as well.

It's probably not what I have, Crohn's, but I do have that symptom sometimes on exertion. If it goes away very quickly, it's probably worth a minor mention with the doc at some point. If it sticks around for quite awhile after the exertion is over, it may be worth more than just a chat.

Hopefully it's some of those deep muscles just complaining about the extra work!

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

I posted this link a little while ago - its a good explanation of the various cramps etc. that happen with exercise.

http://www.breathing.com/articles/diaphragm-stitch.htm

it says lactic acid build up usually causes naseua

When I was in my thirties and I was running a lot, I used to get pretty intense cramping just like what you're describing--like menstrual cramps only more painful. They'd start maybe two miles or so into a tough run and sometimes be so bad I had to stop and walk for a while. The docs I saw never figured it out (maybe because they were men?), but then I read an article that suggested it was due to hormone secretions prompted by the exertion and I should try taking a low dose of ibuprofen before going out for a run. That solved the problem.

Now I don't run any more, but I haven't had that kind of cramping during exercise since I hit menopause.