Upper abdominal cramps (severe spasms)

I have been searching for months for an answer to what this is in my upper right quadrant.  I am so happy to see that I'm not the only one. Not happy that anyone else suffers from this but you all know what I mean.  Will double up on my calcium and drink more water and loose the extra couple of pounds, see if that helps.  I am in to natural cures, but, haven't found a darn thing.  Thank you all for posting and keep posting if anyone learns of something concrete and not the concrete that's stuck in the gut during one of these things!

Mine is on the right side....I had labwork, CT scan, HIDA scan, ultrasound...All negative. Mine started after I had my second child.

You may want to check for a rectus diastasis as they are most frequently caused by pregnancy, becoming worse with successive pregnancies. It turned out to be causing my symptoms and I am now working on the exercises to try to fix it.

Sorry you are having these problems. It really sucks when you go from doctor to doctor and they cant find a source of the problem. I wish you luck. should I find anything out I will post. If you find anything please post.

I have them especially when sneezing, my best guess, need more potassium

I am a 37 yr old female and have had these debilitating cramps on my right upper side sometimes wrapping around to my back.  I have been hospitalized twice, once thinking it was ulcers, 2nd was thinking gallbladder.  Neither diagnoses was correct so they started treating me for colon problems, don't think so!!!! I have been having this problem since I was 30 and they are increasingly getting worse as time goes on, giving the intensity is even more horrible now than in the beginning   I am starting to lose hope that I will get help considering Dr.s are afraid to give pain management where I live.  I get the cramps ( like Charlie Horses ) for weeks at a time now and it is making my life hard to manage and almost impossible to be active.  I can't bend over or sideways, as I bend over I sometimes feel like there is something that rolls up under my rib.  I feel for anyone who feels any of these symptoms and pray that a Dr. will take the time to actually find the cause of this pain.

I have had the same problem...never have gone to the dr. but so glad someone else has experienced the same problem. I find pushing my stomach muscles out like I am trying to blow up my belly to make myself look pregnant is the only way to describe it...helps the pain go away sooner and relieves it...I will still be sore afterwards but that helps.

I have the same problem, it started about 12 yrs. ago., I notice a small knot (about the size of a pea). It wasn't normal. I have a knot that comes up just under left breast towards the middle. It ususally  knots up and spasms when i cough, sneeze or use  upper muscle . If i'm laying in the bed, i have to roll over to get out of bed or it will knot up and spasms then when it goes away its like a pumping or heart beat feeling and then goes away( I know it sounds weird) but thats the only way i know how to describe it. i went to a couple of dr's. One said i was having phantom pains and the other dr. said i have come to the wrong dr. He didn't know what was wrong. So now, i just deal with it and i guess if it ever gets really really bad enough--someone will find out whats going on!!

Forgot to add, now it's about as big as a banana pepper when i acts up so i just rub it down so it will relax then it will go away and be sore for a little while

I have been taking 1000 mg of Taurine per day for the past year since I read your post. Most of the time it takes care of the cramping. I started out with 500 mg and then increased it to 1000 mg. The cramping only happens occasionally now and it is bearable when it does happen. I hope other people will try this and post their results.

Wow! So many people!  I somewhat feel relieved that many have these symptoms.

 

My cramps are weird, I get them on the left side when I stretch in the morning (both arms up) and on the right side, for 3 weeks, almost every time I go to the bathroom and clean myself, twisting my body to do so almost invariably makes the spasm come, I have to do it fast to avoid it.

 

It feels like a little gold ball that I have to massage and breathe deeply to relax.

 

Yesterday I had a scare; I was sitting on the bed and twisted and stretched to get something from behind me and got BOTH! My whole upper abdomen just under the ribcage contracted, it was protruding a bit and very hard; had to massage the whole area and subsided in 10-20 secs, but very intense

 

I ve been eating more banana and tomato for the potassium but don’t know what else to do

I think I should join this club. I'm 53, pretty fit and active. I go to the gym regularly and the only meat I eat is fish now & then. My abs are strong and fairly developed. I do drink now & then, and rarely have a roll up.

My symptom initially started as an ache around my upper left ab muscle/under the lower left rib. I was blood tested, stool tested, had a stomach endoscopy and an MRI all of which showed nothing. Eventually I was told that it was probably muscular and these things do show up in people of my age. I wondered, as I see others do, whether it was down to mild/threatening herniation because the trigger was rather vague - sometimes seeming to be after eating a lot of carbs (never after tomato/pasta sauce though), other times whilst driving. This has now progressed into an occasional and very palpable cramp in the upper left ab muscle - causing me to straighten out as quick as possible to stretch it out - better still if I massage it out. Often happens if I lean forward to put sock on my left foot and only lasts a few seconds.

I think a few things might be at work here: Firstly I do work my abs at the gym. I've noticed that sometimes when one builds muscle it can impinge on blood vessels, so eg sometimes my bigger muscles get pins & needles when laying in bed because they now press on things in a way that they once didn't. Secondly it's possible I may've slightly torn something in the past, so there is a little restriction to blood supply to parts of the muscle at certain times. Thirdly I think there is a point about low potassium or calcium and dehydration - and these may all work in conjunction with each other.

The main thing is that none of us seem to be dying!

Good evening all, and like most people who have posted on this site I am so, so happy I found it. It at least gives me piece of mind that it’s not just me and I’m not making things up !! I have spent the past week or so reading every post. It’s so crazy that almost everyone has the same symptoms. Either top right or top left muscle under rib cage spasming for no apparent reason or as we all know there seems to be no certain reason? I am posting now as I have just had one of my worst episodes. This has been happening to me for about two years now. I have been to my doctor many times, to two different sports medicine doctor / therapists, an alternative medicine doctor, and a sports injury doctor. My main problem is that none of them have ever seen the muscle under my left ribcage solid as a rock and obviously not looking like a relaxed stomach muscle is meant to be doing!! I pretty much know when I’m going to have a problem because I feel that one muscle pulsing hard just like it has its own heartbeat. However, sometimes there has been no warning at all. Sitting watching TV, working in my office and sneezing, reaching over to unlock the car passenger door, putting a sock on or washing my foot in the shower up to this point. Normally I stand up straight, push the muscle in as hard as I can and massage at the same time whilst breathing as calmly as I can. I’m sure it’s the same with all of you? The pain is immense whilst the spasm is locking thee muscle up however as soon as the muscle relaxes and goes back to normally the pain instantly vanishes and all is ok except for the tenderness of that area to the touch for a couple of days and the bruising. Tonight was different though and much more concerning. I was at the gym after a lite workout having a sauna when I felt the pulsing start that lasted a couple of minutes then BANG!!! left top tummy muscle as hard as a rock and me in agony. After about 3 minutes I made it out of the sauna as the muscle unlocked its self-briefly. The problem was that over the next 35-40 minutes the muscle spasm’d multiple times, released and went again, well over ten times “bloody nightmare!”. Normally it’s been just the once and occasionally twice. It’s becoming a great concern to me now as I am now home 2 hours later and my muscle is still pulsing all on its own just like it has its own heart beat and the beats are constant just as my heart beat.
I am 48, healthy, pretty fit, don’t drink much. I take all the right vitamins including electrolyte drinks and the max dose of magnesium and potassium. I am not over weight. Sleep well and have no stress to talk about. I am open to any suggestions any of you may have. Tomorrow I am going back to my sports medicine doctor and am going to ask if I can just stay there for as long as it takes for this spasm to happen so at least “an expert” can actually whiteness what happens. Oh, we have already ruled out upper hernia and ripped or torn stomach lining.
Good luck to all of us and hopefully one day soon one of us will get some fantastic news that will help us all.
Cheers
Steve Baker

Good evening all, and like most people who have posted on this site I am so, so happy I found it. It at least gives me piece of mind that it’s not just me and I’m not making things up !! I have spent the past week or so reading every post. It’s so crazy that almost everyone has the same symptoms. Either top right or top left muscle under rib cage spasming for no apparent reason or as we all know there seems to be no certain reason? I am posting now as I have just had one of my worst episodes. This has been happening to me for about two years now. I have been to my doctor many times, to two different sports medicine doctor / therapists, an alternative medicine doctor, and a sports injury doctor. My main problem is that none of them have ever seen the muscle under my left ribcage solid as a rock and obviously not looking like a relaxed stomach muscle is meant to be doing!!  I pretty much know when I’m going to have a problem because I feel that one muscle pulsing hard just like it has its own heartbeat. However, sometimes there has been no warning at all. Sitting watching TV, working in my office and sneezing, reaching over to unlock the car passenger door, putting a sock on or washing my foot in the shower up to this point. Normally I stand up straight, push the muscle in as hard as I can and massage at the same time whilst breathing as calmly as I can. I’m sure it’s the same with all of you? The pain is immense whilst the spasm is locking thee muscle up however as soon as the muscle relaxes and goes back to normally the pain instantly vanishes and all is ok except for the tenderness of that area to the touch for a couple of days and the bruising. Tonight was different though and much more concerning. I was at the gym after a lite workout having a sauna when I felt the pulsing start that lasted a couple of minutes then BANG!!! left top tummy muscle as hard as a rock and me in agony. After about 3 minutes I made it out of the sauna as the muscle unlocked its self-briefly. The problem was that over the next 35-40 minutes the muscle spasm’d multiple times, released and went again, well over ten times “bloody nightmare!”. Normally it’s been just the once and occasionally twice. It’s becoming a great concern to me now as I am now home 2 hours later and my muscle is still pulsing all on its own just like it has its own heart beat and the beats are constant just as my heart beat.

I am 48, healthy, pretty fit, don’t drink much. I take all the right vitamins including electrolyte drinks and the max dose of magnesium and potassium. I am not over weight. Sleep well and have no stress to talk about. I am open to any suggestions any of you may have. Tomorrow I am going back to my sports medicine doctor and am going to ask if I can just stay there for as long as it takes for this spasm to happen so at least “an expert” can actually whiteness what happens. Oh, we have already ruled out upper hernia and ripped or torn stomach lining.

Good luck to all of us and hopefully one day soon one of us will get some fantastic news that will help us all.

Cheers

Steve Baker

OMG It hurts so bad, I have gone to the Dr. gotten Ultrasounds/xray and they don't know what it is. I need relief. Im sore for days after. I wonder if my Dr thinks its all in my head. I will print this post and take it to my next appointment and maybe then she will hlep me. Thank you all so much

Need Releif.