Menstrual cramping during or after exercise (Question for th

Could it be cramping from your ovaries maybe? I don't really cramp much during my cycle but when I am ovulating I feel it bad and end up nauseous. Mine started when I had my paraguard IUD inserted. I would definitely get checked out by your ob/gyn in case you have uterine fibroids. good luck!

I have a similar issue during extensive workouts. when i over exert myself during exercise, i get really bad cramps where i have to stop what I'm doing cause I'm in agony fort about 10 minutes. But when it goes away, i can go back to doing whatever exercise i was doing with even more energy. I'm very frustrated with having to deal with this pain it stops me from pushing myself too hard for fear of passing out from these cramps.

I am glad I found this post. I just finished a 5km run and have the worst cramps ever, this is the first time its happened to me. I"ve had my iud for five months and havent had any issues so far but I could see that it could be related. I'm also going to try the fish oil and magnesium as suggested. I am just hoping that this doesnt keep happending.

For me it's definitely endometriosis, and that won't be seen on an ultrasound or during pelvics (unless your endo happens to be in certain spots). I take Prometrium to stop my periods, and it works like a charm. It's just progesterone and bio-identical (but FDA approved). Please try it before getting a hysterectomy, etc!

I can see how an IUD problem could be similar. I've never had one, but apparently they can irritate the same areas in lots of women (my sister got hers removed after it poked into the wrong spot and got painfully stuck in tissue!).

My endo was so bad that there is seriously no pain like it, so I was floored that just a hormone could take that pain away, btw. Mine wasn't a mild case pain-wise, lol

Oh my gosh! I've been searching for an explanation of this for years! I've been experiencing this pain for 16 years, whenever I run hard. Cramping that starts mild and progresses quickly, followed by time on the toilet, nausea, cold sweats, and feeling like all I could do was curl up in a ball on the floor. Makes it scary to exercise away from home. I've never had an iud or endometriosis. I never even have cramping during my period, just a bloated feeling. When I gave birth to my first child two years ago and labor contractions hit, that's when I realized that post-running pain I'd experienced was actually uterine contractions. The weird thing is, I've given birth twice now and being in labor is more tolerable than these post-running pains. Awful! :-(

I get this too and don't have an IUD fitted. It seems to happen after my longer runs but I sometimes with other workouts too. It thankfully doesn't last long for me though. I have also had spotting after an intense workout.

Yea I have had the same thing happen, I even bled a little, I thought ok was alone glad I'm not

I have this exact same problem since almost 2 years. My uterus starts cramping, really really bad after or during a long workout and it is the worst feeling ever. I feel better when I get the flu than when I have this. Cold sweats, nausea, and this enormous pain that just won't stop. And I'm freaking cold. Even in summer when I wear long sleeves and long sweatpants, I will get fricking cold during those cramps.
When it started I would hide in the bathroom while we had P.E. classes in school. It was terrible, because before that, I used to love sport. But those cramps made me hate it.
I'm actually glad to read about this.. maybe I will go to a doctor, I'm not on birth control so.. maybe getting on birth control will help me with this. Thankyou guys so much!

Hello everyone!
Just decided to add my own personal experience with this. Around the age of 20 this started for me while I was taking a run for a PT test as I am in the Army. I doubled over in pain about a mile into the run and I am sure that everyone thought I was faking it. This happened to me every run after that I was not on my period. I could not pass a run to save my life and everyone assumed it was because I was lazy. I went to my primary care physician and he looked at me and basically said it was mental. No one believed me and I was at my wits end. I felt helpless laying on the ground time and time again in the fetal position for 10-15 minutes until the terrible pain would just disappear. It didn't gradually get better it was PAIN PAIN PAIN then GONE. I could start to understand why my onlookers looked at me like I was a drama queen. I finally went to my OBGYN and she did an ultrasound. Everything came back normal including all of her exams and bloodwork. At this point I was 23 and she suggested I try IMPLANON. I said sure why not 3 years of birth control. As soon as she put it in I was able to run like a normal human being. It was awesome. Problem is implanon can cause breakthrough bleeding. Very annoying. I also began to take a vitamins (DIM, Pharmaceutical Grade Omega 3's, and Vitamin D3) I would sometimes bleed for an entire month. At the age of 26 (now) I got it taken out and was switched to Loestrin FE. I also stopped taking my vitamins because well they were expensive. This past week I was doing some cross fit and the pain RETURNED! Again I laid there on the floor in the fetal position until it left. There could be so many things wrong with all of us and I hate to say it but having this whole uterus thing SUCKS. I have never had children and never had any problems but this and allergies. I am going to start back on my vitamins and see if that helps anything before I go to the new method of NEXPLANON. I recommend all of you read about DIM (diindolyethane). It is like eating 20 branches of broccoli or any other type of cruciferous vegatable and who doesn't like to eat their broccoli in a pill?!?! I worked in an OBGYN and this vitamin takes xenoestrogens (bad estrogens) and knocks them off of receptor sites which increases the binding of good estrogen thus increasing uptake of good estrogen. Bad estrogen causes cysts etc while good estrogen promotes a healthy cervix, healthy breast tissues, etc. I encourage everyone to read about it. I'm going to try that and my Pharmaceutical grade omega 3's to see what happens (make sure they are say pharmaceutical grade because the low grade fish oils at supermarkets rarely have enough potency to be beneficial to the consumer. I buy all of my vitamins off of amazon.) Since my great OBGYN has moved away and I don't really trust my current one (she has gotten things wrong several times), I am going to try these methods and report back to this thread with hopefully good news. Good luck to everyone experiencing these issues. MAN, I feel like a woman. =[

I started to experience this exact pain when I got off BC about 2 years ago. It always happens when I am about 2 miles into my run and I have to stop for about 5-10 mins while I have extreme craps. Then it pretty much goes away and I can finish my run no problem. My husband and I have been trying to conceive during all this time, so going back on BC is not an option. I have noticed though the cramping only occurs the 2 weeks right after I should have ovulated up to when I actually start my period. Is anyone experiencing this problem and also having trouble getting pregnant?

I have only ever had mild cramping but never really thought about it... however mixed with trouble getting pregnant, honeslty I'd talk to your doc about possibility of endomitriosis.. especially with the timing.

I am so glad I found this. I've noticed I get really bad menstrual cramps on REALLY hot days when I run. I also have a "mini-period" when I run long distances, but today I only ran three miles and had a short period. I also get these cramps when I ovulate, and a day or two before my period, regardless of exercise. Two days before my period, I'll be keeled over in pain ever 4-5 hours for about 15-minute increments. The day before my period this occurs every hour or two. It's extremely painful, and it's been occurring since I was 19. I've gone to the dr. about it, but I've been told my female parts are all normal, but there could be something going on with my colon. Does anybody experience this kind of pain before their period?

This started happening to me earlier this year. I used to train a lot, via USMC boot camp workouts offered here in NYC. Never had an issue, I was also on the Depo shot at the time, so I never got my period. Started taking boxing classes in February and in the middle of the class I got severe menstrual like cramps. I had to stop and go sit in back on a bench. It hurt so badly I threw up in bathroom because I became so nauseous. I had stopped the Depo shot in December of 2012, and since then I get really bad cramps when I do get my period, but now I am getting them during EVERY workout. I tried to go to boxing classes but every single time I would get the most severe cramps, so I stopped going. I started training again, did a new bootcamp class and in the middle of the class I felt it coming on. Did some deep breathing and it never got too bad and I was able to continue. This does not just happen when I am about to get my period, it happens at any point I begin to workout. I wonder if the Depo shot left any effects. I have been off it now for over 2 years.

I'm 51 and don't have periods anymore but I still get this cramping, all the parts are still in there. I've spotted once when I did heavy running. So I have no idea what causes it.