Upper abdominal cramps (severe spasms)

i have the same thing as everyone else is talking about. i was getting tattood on my back and he got right over my spine and i tightened all the muscles in my body, and then a few hours later i got this sharp pain in my stomach, It felt like somebody was reaching into my stomache and squeezing my guts really hard, over and over again. and it lasted for two days before i couldnt handle the pain anymore, so i went to the hospital. They had me do urine tests, did blood work, and ultra sounds. and couldnt find anything wrong with me, but i was still hurting really bad. and vomiting on top of that. but they said they couldnt give me anything for the pain. so here i am, on this site, i decided to do some research and found this page. it most definatly calmed me down alot knowing that im not alone. im going back to the hospital today and im going to ask them if it could me muscle spasms in my abdomen. ill post what they say and find when i get back

Quote:

I am 68 I have or had PMR and also Giant Cell. I now get pain in my upper torso which is worse at night. I take a Panadol before I go to bed so it usually wakes me around 2 oclock. I get an over welming urge to stretch and as I do so the spasms kick in, I then have to sit up quickly to stop them. The doctors do not think it is PMR or Giant Cell. I have been given a tablet called Lyriac which is very expensive and helps a little. Back to the doctors again soon I think.

wow, sounds painful. also sounds quite different to what i reported. my abdominal spasm was in the rectus muscle, upper quadrant under the ribs. very superficial. no nausea, no cramping. it only happened with bending and reaching forward or down sideways. since i started multi vits and calcium/magnesium supplements. .. and drinking alot more water. also took caffeine out of my diet completely. i havent had any more instances of this muscle cramp aka charley horse. best of luck to you, hope its not serious.

i have had this problem forover 20 years...need help please

I also have these pains. and so glad to see this site, I have had know these come on four times, and as read above, pain a good 8+, and this is from a guy who can take pain. I have not found a quick way of knocking these out, when they hit , you know it. Slow at first then a pain that has no way of calming. I thought it was gas, but it has came on days that Ive ate no gas problem food. Thought it was eating too fast, like heartburn, But no.. So I guess we sit in wait for the next one. if they gotta come I wish they would come in the day, these all nighters are tough to handle..

My Experience:

When i bend over forward too hard, laugh too hard, cough too hard, or do anything to tighten my upper abs, I feel a swelling sharp pain. I can definitely feel something bulging out, and the only way for the pain to go away is to stretch my abs outward by bending backwards. imagine trying to stretch my abs out and bend backwards while sitting in class, movie theaters, driving, etc. very uncomfortable, help.

my best suggestion is what helped me tremendously and that is stay hydrated with at least 4 bottles of water a day and calcium magnesium supplements. ( i use twinlabs calcitrate capsules w magnesium - capsule go down easily without feeling like im swallowing chalk) hope this helps

I too use Magnesium suppliment, it does help the cramps. However the pain is with me all the time, I take Panadol at night which is reasonably effective. I am wondering what this new machine is called SCENAR, could it be worth a try??

I am sooo glad I found all of you! For years I've been trying to find out what in the Hell is going on with me!!!!! Mine comes on when I have my legs bent and then lean foward or if I lean forward too fast. It's like a rubber band goes off in my upper left quadrant and some invisible puppeteer is is pulling the band. So excruciating that I nearly pass out. Sometimes lying flat helps, and sometimes I can't even lie flat because the muscle will not release. The pain can last up to a couple of days. I just had one yesterday during my annual pap and it's been hurting. I have had surgeries on my stomach for hiatal hernia and removing and lypoma and am wondering if the adhesions may be contributing to the connective tissue and muscle issues. I also notice that the skin and fatty tissue that is in that area is cold 24/7. I'm going back to the gastro doc in two weeks. The area also protrudes out. When I look down towards my feet, it is very clear that my left side is bulging a good 2 inches farther than the right side.
I am currently being treated for bacterial overgrowth in my intestines, but have also been experiencing a very severe sharp pain in my upper left side. It hurts if I eat, don't eat, move to the left or to the right. It's not gastritis and it's not gas. I think it's the adhesions. I'll keep everyone posted. I'm going to try to strengthen my back and oblique muscles to see if maybe that will help. This pain SUCKS!!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone is getting better and thank you for telling your stories. I don't feel like I'm a crazy person anymore!

I just found this site tonight. I have been having torso cramps off and on for the last few years. In the last couple of months that are happening 4 to 5 time a day with no notice or physical exertion. The same symptom as many of you. A cough, sneeze, taking a shower, bending over the sink to wash my hands or a hard laugh. This is becoming debilitating and unbearable painful. I have learned to lay flat on my back and raise my feet on a side chair at the first outset and this helps if the cramps don't move to my back. I have taken all the supplements, calcium, potassium, bananas and fish oil. At his point nothing is helping. I will be having more blood test tomorrow and chest x ray. If progress is made I will post immediately. At am 54 white male with no other health issues that would aggravate this situation.

I found this site loking for a house hold cure for stomach musle spasms. My husband gets them usually when he is either getting in or out of bed. what ususally helps him is suckiing on a lemon with salt, this advice was given to him by a nurse and it does help.

I also suffer from these severe muscle spasms . I mostly get them in my entire stomach area and my back. I have also gotten them in my feet and my thighs and also my neck . I am severely anemic and have been having test run for that . While having a pap test done i got them in my thighs during the test . So my doctor has seen me in pain from these severe cramps . Last week i went for an ultrasound and got the worse ones ever in my stomach and under my ribcage when i was asked to bed down and help guide the probe in ( vag ultrasound). I had to immediately jump up from the table and suffer through these pains while the ultrasound tech waited . Very embarrassing situation for sure .Another incident i had was while taking my kids to a theme park . I had them severely in my abdominal area and back at the same time . Didn't know how in the world i was gonna drive home 3 plus hours in this situation. I have found something that does seem to help and at times makes the pain go away immediately and that is putting a bar of soap under my foot . I drove all the way home from the theme park with this bar of Irish spring under my foot PAIN FREE. I have no clue how that worked but it did . I have also tried it at times and it didn't work so who knows really . But it wouldn't hurt for you to try it .If you do post back on here and let me know if it worked for you .

 

thanks for this site.. still remember first time shock with this pain.. 8/10 to death.. its happen when i make push up 100 time non stop. its 13 years ago the pain still follow me until now. hope you guy can help me

Hi everyone, I am a 26 year old male, and figured I'd just throw in my two cents on this.

For me, this problem flared up in a 24 hour period the week of Easter 2010. It started mildly that evening as just gut cramps, so I went to bed early in hopes of feeling better in the morning. I did feel better. So assuming I was alright, two friends and I went hiking that afternoon. About a mile in I started feeling an intermittent stabbing pain that was completely immobilizing left below my belly button. We left and went to a friends house to relax in the yard. The pain continued to worsen in level and period length to the point that it almost didn't ever stop, and I felt pressure in my colon. I went home around 3 pm to take a nap. I woke up at 8 pm in so much pain I could not move my legs, luckily I was wise enough to fall asleep next to my cell phone in case this happened. I called my parents and could barely talk, I told them I needed them to take me to the ER. Now.  I mustered up crawling strength to get to my living room and unlock the door by the time they got there 15 minuets later. They carried me to the car and we were on our way when the pain got so intense that i inadvertently punched the window frame of the car. The pain was easily twice what I felt when I fractured my femur. I broke out in a cold sweat and the left side of my face and my tongue went completely numb, I could only make non coheasive mumbles. They wheel chaired me into the hospital, and about 30 minuets later the numbness went away mostly.

Unforutnetlly there had just been a bad wreck on the interstate and the ER was already at maximum capacity. I waited in this condition for 5 hours. They finally got me in and stethascoped my belly and thought they heard a intestinal perforation.  I was immediately put on an antibiotic and morphine and ambulanced to another hospital.  There after 6 days of antibiotics, morphine, contrast and normal ct's, and ultrasounds, they 'diagnosed' me with Diverticulitis. They sent me on my way with a 10 day antibiotic and 30 vicodin. They didn't even tell me that hydrocodone slows the bowles, luckelly I new this and countered it with fiber. They also neglected to tell me what to avoid eating with diverticulitis. I knew this also because my mother has it.

A year later, hourly, I still have a visible twitch on my left side about 2 ribs up, and about 5 inches left and 1 inch down from my belly button, the heart flutter, lump in throat, and easily irritable guts. The afternoon it all started I had and a few screwdrivers and had eaten sunflower seeds, all but the orange juice serious no-no's for Diverticulitis. Now my belly is constantly bloated and i can feel it is not fat, it is below the wall layer of fatty tissue and the organs. From much reading I believe it is swelling of the stomach, Heart Sack, and traverse-sigmoid colon (where the initial problems were) due to continued wide spread infection. This is a long battle that is not even easily won with antibiotics, obviously.

I have found ways to reduce the periods between pains. No seeds or nuts in whole form, NO popcorn. This is for the Diverticulitis, but may be irritating all of you as well. I stay away from bread, it swells in the stomach and puts me in misery.  Alcohol is bad, a irritant and dehydrates. I drink some times, only clears, and I double up the water and fiber afterward. Staying away from acidic drinks or foods like lemonade, take antacid beforehand if you want to have some. I also avoid beef and pork, pork digests slowly. I mostly eat chicken, with some shrimp and fish. Prune juice is amazing, Fiber and iron, when you feel terrible in any way digestive, it is a godsend. When you take pain killers, add some fiber to your diet, the pain reduction also slows motility. Sleep proped up at about a 10-15 degree angle, If the cramping moves to your back, try a pillow under your lumbar region. I avoid chocolate and dairy, I love milk, but I usually throw it up about 15 minuets later. Try a magnesium or iron supplement, both have helped me before. If it gets really bad I add 2 tea spoons of baking soda to a glass of water to neutralize the acid some, it helps fast. Acidophilis also helps to take strain off the bennifical bactiera fighting against the bad bacteria, especially when milk is cut out.

Good luck to everyone who is fighting this same daily annoyance, I hope this is some help to you all!

I too have the abdominal spasms - this was interesting to me - found it on the WebMD site:  I am going to copy and carry to my primary care to see if this is my problem.  I fit it 100% except for the next to last - I had a complete hysterectomy in 1978.  Hope this will help with some others as well.

 ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** web addresses not allowed*** 

 ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** inappropriate posting*** Please read our Terms of Use