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Post by tarabobara17 on May 29, 2011 14:53:27 GMT -5
Does anyone else get sever abdominal pain while exercising, things such as dancing, brisk walks, running, cardio? I am having the hardest time with this and i'm looking for some tips?
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Post by ovarianmutiny on Jun 4, 2011 21:27:35 GMT -5
I will preface this by saying that I have a tentative clinical endo diagnosis - a lap to confirm it is in the future. That being said, my pain does intensify during exercise, then tends to "peak" about 3-5hrs after I've exercised. It's like the inflammation settles in, builds up, then dissipates. I run, and today I felt like a cheese grater was stuck underneath my skin on the left side.
It doesn't really get increasingly worse when I run, but it does seem to stay at a dull roar without pain meds. I have the lovely conundrum that many of us have in that pain meds make me constipated, and bowel movements already hurt. :-( So I try to avoid taking them if at all possible. I guess my less-than-educated opinion on this is that exercise has not been documented to make endo worse, and it's good for lots of OTHER parts of your body....so I have been just toughing it out.
Looking forward to other responses!
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Post by Karen on Jun 4, 2011 23:45:18 GMT -5
Any chance adhesions are part of the problem? If you're trying to move in a way that your organs don't want to due to adhesions, that can cause some serious pain.
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lisac
New Member
Posts: 16
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Post by lisac on Jun 5, 2011 2:01:15 GMT -5
I am so glad you started this thread. I love running and exercising and have found it to be really impacted by endo. I have had mixed experiences with pain. When I had a Cyst then the pain was too bad to run. I felt like my insides were going to fall out. The pain is intense and unpleasant. In fact when I was really bad even walking hurt. Swimming even hurt. Literally I felt like I could feel each footfall. Now I have started running again and the experience is mixed. I have had pain during running from my usual spots inside, sharp and specific, and then I have had the more general overall tummy pain which seems to build and then go again as you described. I have also had pain so it was hard to straighten up, but went running anyway and it felt no different, fine. I don't run when I have the general painful swelly belly. It is just not pleasant! On balance I agree that running and exercise have such general benefits that I will still do it. I have only just started again after a long endo caused absence. If I dare say it I think the fear of the pain stopped me running again for a while, but the first month I was told my ovary was clear and the Cyst had gone I started again. For me for the time being, I will keep the runs short, between 20 and 30 minutes and am trying for 4 times a week. I find I am too tired to exercise in the evenings so I am trying to get up early and go before work. This feels tough as I'm not a morning person! the sweats and lack of sleep don't help! However, I hope that by slowly building up a good solid fitness base it will create an overall feel good factor:)
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Post by gemstone on Jun 5, 2011 5:22:59 GMT -5
I get back pain when I do any form of exercise for more that about 15 mins. It's specific to the left hand side which is where I get pain anyway (bowel) and may be adhesions as it feels 'tight' afterwards as well as painful. If I carry on exercising then I start cramping and will often bleed a little. Saying this, I try to power through as we all do!!!!
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Post by 1234 on Jun 5, 2011 15:57:06 GMT -5
Poor Gem, I hope you get that lap soon.
I have a mixed bag. Depending where I am in my cycle, any form of exercise can be incredibly painful. Particularly striking my right foot on the ground--the pain radiates all the way up my leg to the right ovary. My right ovary sucks. However, I almost always feel better AFTER exercising, for a number of hours. Then sometimes I start to feel worse. But the moving often feels like it helps loosen and uncramp the hurt parts, or maybe the endorphins just make you feel the pain less. As crazy as it sounds, I have found that my manual labor job (bike mechanic), even though exhausting, can actually help the pain. Sitting at my desk job (intl development) never helps the pain.
For me, it's like what Gem said. I just keep going, because not being in pain isn't an option, and I don't just want to sit on my arse. I do sometimes have these surges of jealousy, as I watch some 23 year old kid breeze past me on his hipster single speed, painless and full of energy, while I am clinging to the handlebars of my sturdy commuter bike with fat, shockabsorbing tires, and praying over every pothole.
I feel like I have sort of aged out of the extreme jealousy though. Divorcing myself from my dream career as a dancer (I only made it one year as a professional) was really tough, but that was 10 years ago. Now, I am more content with teh fact that my body has limitations that I'm not going to overcome. I'm grateful to be able to exercise at all, and maintain a level of fitness that is acceptable to me, without being the athlete I once thought was my only goal in life.
It sounds twisted, but in a way I am actually glad for what dealing with endo has done for my mental health, because I have had to accept my physical limitations, and be grateful for what I can do, instead of always pushing to do more, more, more. Gratitude is a more pleasant mental state. And recently getting that aceytl l carnitine/alpha liphoic acid (sp?) supplement has just made me so grateful, I might become religious!
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Post by omaklackey on Jun 5, 2011 19:13:09 GMT -5
I DO!! I'm making myself do it anyways... I have to get into shape so I can function better. BUT my belly after working an 8hr shift on my feet or go for a walk hurts like the dickens.
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Post by tarabobara17 on Jun 5, 2011 21:14:52 GMT -5
Yes this sucks, this all sounds just like what happens to me. I'm fed up with it, i used to run cross country and track, and had to stop. It's been 7 years or so since i've been able to run pain free. Sometimes i can get away with a little run and no pain during run, but after it sucks. I shouldn't have any adhesion's or cyts. Just had a lap done in march, and supposedly everything looked great, minimal adhesions that were fixed. I'm thinking about turning to nathropathic doctors to help me get the ball rolling, i want to be able to exercise
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Post by pretty on Jun 6, 2011 11:09:00 GMT -5
Do it sugar! Don't wait, go see an NP. They can help in ways you haven't even thought of yet. I'm currently saving some cash so I can go back to my NP for some test results and a new plan!
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Post by heryseshta on Aug 14, 2011 13:25:56 GMT -5
I am having the same problem with excersize. Has anybody tried bike riding? I have been considering getting a bike because it seems like it might work out. Walking ended up hurting pretty bad, so I am just trying to figure out the way with the least pain.
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Post by jessabug on Aug 14, 2011 13:35:49 GMT -5
Pathetically, I haven't tried running much in the past year or so, but I do remember that the reason I gave up on it was because whenever I tried to do a nice jog around my neighborhood, I would have to hobble home because of severe pain. Of course, back then my mom and I treated it as some weird anomali, because that was during a time when I only experienced pain like that when I exercised, and why would someone only have pain when they run? We thought it was a GI problem at the time.
Hery -- I have tried biking and that works fine with me. Even hardcore cardio biking like spin classes are fine for my body. I think the reason running is so rough on me (and probably why it's a problem for others) is because of the bouncing. I experience the same pain when I ride my horse at a trot, so I think that's the issue. Any exercise, for me, that doesn't involve a bouncing motion is fine. I can swim, do yoga, bike, walk.. just can't run... or ride my horse. Awesome. lol. haha.
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Post by 1234 on Aug 14, 2011 18:22:30 GMT -5
Hey, I'm an avid cyclist. I own 3.5 bikes, get everywhere by bike (work, grocery, friends, etc), and go on long touring trips carrying all of my camping stuff by bike.
That being said...I find biking actually to be pretty tough, for the same reasons Jess mentions--the bouncing. I just got back from vacation and did a lot of mountain biking, and was doubled over in pain afterwards. I took so much aleve/advil on my vacation! It was worth it, because I do LOVE to climb mountains on my bicycle, but oh god was it painful.
I think teh type of bike can really help the pain too, because there is a lot you can do to dampen vibration and rattling, and that really helps the pain. My main bike (the one in my picture) has wide, low volume tires (to absorb more bumps), long chainstays (same reason), steel frame (same reason), touring geometry (same reason). My road bike is REALLY painful to ride, because the high pressure tires, thin tubing, and fast geometry make you feel every pebble in the road. So getting on a mountain bike or similar is probably the way to go. Or getting a full suspension bicycle--something I've never done. I've also found that standing up over visible bumps really helps. THat way, you can take the bump in your knees/elbows, and not have it reverberate up the seat tube to the endo pain.
BTW, I'm a bicycle mechanic, so if you have any specific questions on how to make a bicycle endo friendly...I'm your woman.
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Post by danniv on Aug 15, 2011 2:21:05 GMT -5
If cardio hurts what about some strength building exercises such as lifting weights? it burns fat for longer than cardio does too!!!
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Post by tarabobara17 on Aug 19, 2011 15:17:08 GMT -5
I've found biking to be ok as well, last summer we biked everywhere, i even pulled my daughter in her lttle trailer behind my bike and didnt hurt unless we went miles. as long as i keep a steady pace and don't push too hard, i do fine, i use a jamis commuter bike. i love the thing, though yes indeed, bumbs really aren't any good for endo pain while biking, and rustmyrtle standing up to go over bumps works wonders! Biking and yoga have been the only real exercise i have been able to do for years now.
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Post by 1234 on Aug 19, 2011 17:11:05 GMT -5
those jamis commuter bikes are good. They have reynolds 531 frames don't they? really good for absorbing vibrations.
and I'm with you--I also swear by my bikram yoga, for so many reasons.
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