Okay, so two times that I can remember for sure this year I’ve suffered from post race stomach cramping so bad that all I could do was literally curl up in a ball for hours and lie there. Did a short sprint on Sunday, raced my ass off, got passed at the finish for the win (bastard;) and then shortly afterwards my stomach started hurting a lot. Nausea started, I had a hard time walking, stomach was majorly bunched up in a big knot. I ended up curled up on a towel in the grass until awards were over (my friend had to MC) and then after she drove me home I spent 20 hour sleeping fittfully and visiting the bathroom where there were never any solids passed if you know what I mean. It still lingered the next day but not too bad.
This happened earlier in the year at an Xterra race in Florida where I passed out 1/4 from the finish. Projectile vomiting highlighted this experience.
This has also happened to me at least once or twice due to intense training. I actually think it’s my lower back tightening up so much that it f**ks up my stomach and throws everything off. My back is usually super super tight and sore. Once I tried to use my Compex to relax it, went to heavy on the current and REALLY pissed it off. Man that sucked.
As far as the races, the only other common denominator is that in Florida I experimented with caffeine pills (400mg) and last weekend I had a BIG cup of coffee 2 hours before the race. I drink coffee maybe every other day normally and drink coke at about the same rate.
any help or suggestions would be great! It seriously sucks and I wish I knew what it was. I’m scaring some of my friends as well.
Call me old-fashioned but I think it’s time to go see a good sports-oriented M.D. I’ll send your synopsis to a doc friend of mine and see what he has to say as well.
This used to happen to me, and seemed primarily SPEED induced (like in a 10k or sprint triathlon) rather than DISTANCE induced (or a combination of the two.)
It seemed like when I got it more or less figured out, that it was a sodium/electrolyte issue. In fact, it’s been a few years since it happened, but the last time I felt this way, I was laying in bed after a tough workout and asked my wife to get me a glass of salt water. I sipped on it and was quickly back to normal.
I have experienced similar stomach pains after intense racing…I think it is caused by a few things; eating too close to race time, coffee, and sugar.
I did the Westchester Tri (Oly) and felt fine afterwards…in the car on the way home (about an hour after finishing) I had a glazed doughnut and my stomach immediatly felt like a hot knife was going through it. Spent the rest of the day on the couch trying not to move too much. YEARS ago I had a similar experience at both Du Worlds in Alpharetta and PM Tenn…I later realized that it was from not diluting my Gatorade enough (having come from a bike racing background, I had always been able to drink the stuff full-strength…not so when you add running!). I also suspect dehydration added to the problem. I now eat WAY in advance of racing, dilute my Gatorade a LOT (depending on the length of the race), and sip only water afterwards until I am certain my stomach is ok. Also try Pepto Bismol or Tums tablets on the run.
My best guess is electrolyte imbalance or dehydration or both. I have found even in a 70-80 minute race, dehydration can become an issue for some people.
Ah, yes. The ole Atomic Gut Bomb. I had it three times, all when I was trying out Accelerade (Sorry Accelerade, it’s the truth). Had two buddies with the same reaction to Accelerade. So, for US, it probably had to do with the injestion of too much __________SOMETHING found in this product. To me, it feels like extreme gas pains, but the upper sphincter of the stomach is so tight I cannot release any of the pressure…couldn’t vomit to relieve the pressure, either. The pain felt more in my mid-back. One of the other guys had this reaction another time when he wasn’t taking Accelerade, it was when he was trying to eat Vanilla Wafers and peanut butter during a half Ironman…well, it seemed to him like a good idea at the time!
HOWEVER, time for a professional to put his/her eyeballs on you to make sure it isn’t something bad.
This has happened to me twice. Once was after St. Croix and the other time was after IM Arizona. St. Croix was definitely due to dehydration. IM AZ seemed to be brought on by eating too soon after the race … I’m sure dehydration still had something to do with it though.
Ah, yes. The ole Atomic Gut Bomb. I had it three times, all when I was trying out Accelerade (Sorry Accelerade, it’s the truth). Had two buddies with the same reaction to Accelerade. So, for US, it probably had to do with the injestion of too much __________SOMETHING found in this product. To me, it feels like extreme gas pains, but the upper sphincter of the stomach is so tight I cannot release any of the pressure…couldn’t vomit to relieve the pressure, either. The pain felt more in my mid-back. One of the other guys had this reaction another time when he wasn’t taking Accelerade, it was when he was trying to eat Vanilla Wafers and peanut butter during a half Ironman…well, it seemed to him like a good idea at the time!
HOWEVER, time for a professional to put his/her eyeballs on you to make sure it isn’t something bad.
That’s interesting you had that reaction to Accelerade. I did my first century ride this year and they had Accelerade instead of Gatorade and I drank it at the first couple rest stops and first of all absolutely hated the taste and second, ended up feeling awful from it. Luckily I didn’t take in too much and was feeling better for the second half. I had even brought some Gatorade just in case, but launched the bottle unbeknownst to me in the first 15. If I ever see that stuff on a race I’m doing, I’m bringing my own sports drink.
Used to happen to me all the time after shorter events (tris and running). Never figured out what it was, but always assumed it was gastric ischemia (localized tissue anemia due to obstruction of the inflow of arterial blood - studies show it’s not uncommon after strenuous exercise).
Had this on and off for the better part of 6 months. Several times the pain got so bad that I passed out. As other people have mentioned, it seemed to be a combination of things. First- workout intensity, either distance or speed related. Second, I was unable to tolerate anything pre-workout or during workout. That is why I completely a marathon and HIM with nothing but water. I was so nervous about the stomach thing returning. I am now working on adding gatorade/gel to my training and can tolerate most of it. However, the ones with caffiene are a definite NO! Look at what you are eating/drinking and maybe you’ll start to see a pattern.
In the midst of this I did go to the doctor and was really pleased with the advise. They don’t know exactly what causes it, but they were able to treat the symptoms. They gave me a prescription for an anti-spasmodic drug, generic name- Hycosamine. I only took it when needed, but it really helped. Also, the doctor recommended some type of gas-X type drug. I think that helped, also, but not as much as the other.
Eventually, the symptoms resolved themselves and I haven’t had problems in over a year. Hope you can figure out what is causing it. Unless you’ve experienced it, you just don’t understand how incredibly painful this can be.
usually this happens to me any time i have to run after swimming…which pretty much screws up a lot of triathlons for me. swimming seems to wreak havoc on my stomach. I can generally eat or drink anything if I bike, run or do a brick. And usually it doesn’t bother me during a swim either…it’s only when I have to run after swimming…massive stomach cramps…made worse when I eat or drink.
“Did a short sprint on Sunday, raced my ass off, got passed at the finish for the win (bastard;) and then shortly afterwards my stomach started hurting a lot. Nausea started, I had a hard time walking, stomach was majorly bunched up in a big knot.”
Tai, here’s what a Sports MD friend of mine had to say after reading your post:
Wow. Wild stuff.
This is sort of a similar problem that Theresa had in Hawaii, if I
recall.
Anyway, this is a major case of Exercise Induced Ischemic Colitis.
What
that means is that exercise is causing a diversion of blood flow from
the intestinal tract. There are several factors that contribute to
this: (1) the more strenuous the exercise the more the blood is
diverted
from the gut to the muscles (this is why people have digestive problems
as well), (2) in hotter weather the blood is diverted to the skin to
help in the cooling process, (3) the blood becomes thicker as you get
dehydrated slowing down the flow to the intestinal tract.
This can actually be a serious issue, because if the intestinal tract
does not receive adequate blood flow it can die (sort of how heart
muscle dies during a heart attack). There are a few case reports of
people having to have small sections of their intestines removed from
ischemic colitis after a marathon… Scary.
Sooooo… I don’t have too much to recommend to this guy. Hydration
is the numero uno key (with caution not to overdo it, but that rarely
happens with people of that caliber). One thing that might help him is
to weigh himself before and after races and workouts - the amount of
weight that he losses is a good approximation of how much more fluids
he
should be drinking (ex. 1 pound = 16 ounces of liquids). I might also
recommend to not take such high doses of caffeine as that could be
potentiating the dehydration. Another important thing would be to
avoid
use of NSAID’s (motrin, naproxen, ibuprofen, etc) - they can cause
further damage to the intestinal tract. The final recommendation is to
take a good look at his diet, supplements, and other medication use.
Ah, yes. The ole Atomic Gut Bomb. I had it three times, all when I was trying out Accelerade (Sorry Accelerade, it’s the truth).
Accelerade, Endurox and E3 ALL do this to me. Bad cramps, diarrhea, nausea, the works. Usually it takes about 3-4 hours to really hit me. Needless to say I went back to Gu2O and the problem vanished. Tortilla chips also do this to me if I eat them before running. Another thing that gets me is eating stuff right before excersizing without lots of water. It happens about mile 5-8 on the bike, my stomach tightens up and I get nauseous. If I drink 4 or 5 good gulps of water it vanishes within about 2 minutes. Otherwise it could plague me for hours. And I absolutely know it has nothing to do with dehydration, I am religious about checking pre/post workout weight.
I’ve also heard of this sort of reaction from excess Magnesium intake of the wrong type. I think Chelates are supposed to be easy on the stomach, others can cause cramps and diarrhea (think Milk of Magnesia). Just a few possibilities. If I had to peg something as it…it would be your drink mix if you use any of the above three.
