cramping question

when we cramp, what does that indicate?

does it indicate:
some food isn't agreeing with us?
inflammation is flaring up?
bleeding?

Does anyone really know? I'd like to know what ya'll think.........

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Prednisone 10mg (1.5) tabs twice per day= 30mg per day

Asacol 400mg (3) tabs twice per day= 2400mg per day

started both meds on Thursday 10-4-2007

10-22-07- coming out of about an 8 week flare (my first one ever)

I believe it might be food not agreeing with us.  I was and still am getting severe back pain and didn't know why.  So I talked to my GI doctor and she told me it was due to cramping.  From what, I'm really not sure.  But I notice that when I eat certain things the back pain comes back and then slowly disappears. 

If you are talking about cramping in the legs or fingers, it is very common with prednisone. I was getting it a lot with the meds. I could indicate a potassium deficiency. A couple of banana's helped me a lot. I would review it with your doctor, though, since prednisone is only one possible cause.

I used to have painful cramps in, what felt like, my colon. I assumed it was spasming or something from the inflammation/ulcerations

Abdominal pain is part of dealing with IBD (even IBS), it could be food making the pain worse, but you can likely still get pain even when there's not much food in you....it's just part of the nature of the beast of having bowel issues.

For women abdominal pain can be caused by many things since our reproductive system is in the same area basically as our digestive system (large and small bowels)...everything's squished pretty close to each other, so that doesn't help either, having pains from mentration can cause added pains from the bowel area too.




:)

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My bum is broken....there's a big crack down the middle of it!  LOL  :)

How about "all of the above?" It could be any of the things you mentioned. It could also be intestinal spasms.

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Diagnosed with ulcerative colitis spring 1999

probably all of the above, but not all of the time....where exactly in the abdomen are you feeling the cramping? Spasming of an inflamed gut with or without food...it's how the gut reacts to inflammation. It's not functioning correctly.

You could ask your doc for a script of dicyclomine (antispasmodic/smooth muscle relaxant). 10mg is a good starting dosage. Works really, really, really well for me.


quincy

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thanks monidad, yes, I have had some times where my hands have cramped up and I thought it was the pred, just from holding a book for a long time or my hand holding something in a certain position for a long time. I was worried I was getting arthritis or something, glad to know it's the pred = )

also, my legs and feet do cramp up some (my feet have always cramped up now and then). A banana a day does not keep all cramps away. I am drinking cran juice w/added potassium, same amount as a banana and that seems to have helped a bit this past week.

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Beth, 32