Running - abdominal cramps

[btchance]

Okay gals, I have a weird thing going on sometimes when I run. Yesterday (and a couple of times before), I started getting cramps in my abdomen on the lower left side. Sometimes I can run through them, sometimes I have to stop and walk. Occasionally I get the same type of thing on the right upper side, but I think that's just breathing cause it only happens when I'm pushing it. The ones on the lower left have no specific pattern to say when they come on or what gets rid of it, and it doesn't happen every time I run. Yesterday it made me cut my run short, so I tried again today and did 3mi in 35minutes with no cramping at all. Do you guys have any ideas, because I don't?

[Grog]

How "low" is low?

A few ideas based on my personal experience:
drinking before running - sometimes I drink too much before I go out for a run and end up with a bad cramp, but that's not very "low";

diaphragm (sp?) - inappropriate breathing sometimes can cause some diaphragm cramps in me... again, that's just below the rib cage;

ovaries - when I had my ovarian cysts, including a major dermoid one on the left side, it started hurting badly when I was walking with certain high-heel boots and, above all, doing high-impact aerobics (didn't run in those days). I don't mean to scare you, but some sort of cyst (ovarian or elsewhere) could be a cause... That is pretty "low", i.e. a 2-3 inches above my leg crease, not very far from my hip bone...

I hope others come up with more optimistic/easy ideas...

[Lise]

I actually have no ideas, but I get the same thing. Can't yet pin it to any cause except fatigue. I'll be interested to hear what others think. I know if I try to run within 90 min of eating a real meal, I get stomach cramps, but that's different. Low, mid-section, just below the umbilicus, on the left, that's where I get them. Not often, but it reduces me to walking when it happens.

[Running Mommy]

what Lise said, and also it could be from the exertion. Esp. if you are really ramping up the effort and your body is not ready for it. Can also be an electrolyte embalance, so make sure your sodium is in check.
Hopefully it's not *female* related, but I'm guessing not if it only happens on certain runs. Sounds like your body needs to adapt to the effort. Once your fitness improves (not saying you are not fit. Just that your body may not be used to the effort) I would guess that they would go away.
I got a side stitch today on my run after my long ride, but mine was from lack of sodium. As soon as I got some salt in me it went away. When you get them do you push hard into the cramp w/ your fingers and then expel your breath with force? That usually loosens it up for me. You can also poke your fingers into the cramp and kind of lean into it while breathing hard.
Hope this helps??

[fixiegrrl]

Do you always exhale on the same foot? Sometimes when I run, I mostly exhale on my right foot and I tend to get sideaches from the breathing. When I notice this, I try to exhale on the left foot or every other stride. Sometimes it helps, and sometimes not. Cramps are strange that they come on suddenly and can dissappear just as quickly.

[Nanci]

Like fixxiegirl says, you can avoid diaphragm cramps by exhaling on the opposite foot. It's cool to get into a rhythm (forget it! That's harder to spell than diaphragm!) like three beats or five beats, so you always exhale on the opposite foot: Inhale, starting on the right foot, for two steps, then exhale for three, then inhale on the left for two steps, exhale for three, or whatever works for you.

How low is the pain, relative to say your hip bone (iliac crest)? Your stomach, if you are thin and especially if you are tall, can hang way down into your pelvis, and it's a little left of midline.

I don't know...

Nanci

[btchance]

It's really low, about one inch above my iliac crest. I don't think it's an ovarian problem as I had my yearly exam about 3 months ago and everything was fine, although now that I think about it, it is in almost the exact location of my left ovary.
I had a complete blood workup about 2 weeks ago, including electrolytes, for a near fainting episode while at the hospital, and everything came back normal except for my TSH (which I'm currently fighting with my doctors about), but that wouldn't cause this.
I don't think this one is from breathing issues with my diaphragm, I have definately had that before and it was completely different. I try to get in a rhythm with my breathing, usually counting to three to breathe in and again to breathe out, and that usually helps with the cramps when it was higher up, but not this one.
As far as the intensity of this workout, it was the normal length I run indoors on the tract, but was the first time I had run this distance on the trail, although I usually run this trail once a week, so it may have had something to do with it.
Let me know if you gals have anymore ideas, I would appreciate it. Who knows, maybe this will just go away.

[Grog]

It's really low, about one inch above my iliac crest. I don't think it's an ovarian problem as I had my yearly exam about 3 months ago and everything was fine, although now that I think about it, it is in almost the exact location of my left ovary.

Unfortunately, in my case, no exam ever found the ovarian cysts before they started popping and hurting like hell, even though I was followed every 6 months for another problem in the reproductive system area...

So ... really I don't think that's what it is, but if it continues, I think it would be worth it to get someone very familiar with that area of the body examine you (not pleasant to get your ovaries palpated... think of a man's testicles being compressed!! totally analogical to me) and, in doubt, get an ultrasound test done....

Good luck!!

[yellow]

When I am dehydrated (even just a teensy bit) I get abdominal cramps. Back in my running days I thought I was the only one...then I started asking other runners about it and discovered how very common it is. And the culprit was usually dehydration.