Explain Cramps - Details Please (Read 573 times)

<snicker> <trying> <snicker> LOL!!!! Sorry Jake, I couldn't hold it in. This happened to me in High School at the entrance to the XC course after a particularly grueling workout for Outdoor. ("Now, go run a XC course and be back in 25 minutes!") It took 10 minutes before I could move and was lucky a teacher drove by. "HELP!!!! SAVE ME!!!" I'll try my best at this: 1) A breakdown in the body's ability to tell a muscle to relax. This can be caused by many things - two that I'm aware of are: the lack of potassium ions in the channel between the axons of two connecting nerves (not enough electrolytes), The lack of water in the channel (dehydration). MTA - over hydration can make the ions in the channel too dilute and cause the same problem as well. 2) Proper hydration and electrolyte balance (balance is the key). In general, sodium in the axon channel sends a signal to the muscle to contract. Potassium flooding the channel then flushes the sodium and the muscle relaxes. There is also something that flushes the potassium, but I forget what that is and I'm too lazy to look it up. Incidentally, I have seen extreme interval workouts do it to properly hydrated and nourished folks and I don't understand that mechanism. 3) The quickest way is the most painful. You must completely extend the muscle somehow. Usually you can't do it yourself (some can, I can't). It's very painful (but the pain goes away very quickly) 4) See above, could be symptoms of any of these or even ones I haven't mentioned. 5) Nothing usually. It's you body's way of saying "don't do what you just did - ever again." 6) Read #5. Read it again. Now actually read it. Have you read it yet? I'll wait. Let it sink in. Okay good. My advice would be that it might be worth while to do a food diary and post it here to take a look at. Sorry you were in that much pain, I can only say that I've been there. And that doesn't make the pain any better. </snicker></trying></snicker>

Good stuff. Mikel, thanks for the link. I'll definitely check it out. -------------- Girman, you'll be laughing harder when I tell you exactly how stupid I was today. Pretty astoundingly stupid. Let's just say that if you're right in all that, I pretty much followed a check list on how to get a bad cramp. But I'm interested because the only other time it ever happened, I'm not quite as sure what went wrong. Plus, it really, really sucks. I'd like it to never happen again. Feel free to laugh. If it'd been somebody else today, it would have been pretty funny. The only good news was that after crawling around on my back like a crab for 10 minutes, I'd actually struggled to my feet about 30 seconds before the two hotties ran by. So it could have sucked worse.

JK. You should run a 5k race tomorrow. In the 90+ degree afternoon heat. That would be spectacularly stupid. Do you have a category for that?

God, how I hate you. Let me count the ways. Yes. Tomorrow's 5-k was exactly what I was pondering. I have visions of doing the crab-crawl halfway through it. Of course I'm still going to do it. Just wondering if it was stupid. ----------- By the way, am I picking up your packet or what? Oh - and you're like supposed to be a doctor and stuff, so you could probably answer my questions. Unless you're busy putting your kid on the train tracks.

Girman, you'll be laughing harder when I tell you exactly how stupid I was today. Pretty astoundingly stupid. Let's just say that if you're right in all that, I pretty much followed a check list on how to get a bad cramp. But I'm interested because the only other time it ever happened, I'm not quite as sure what went wrong. Plus, it really, really sucks. I'd like it to never happen again. Feel free to laugh. If it'd been somebody else today, it would have been pretty funny. The only good news was that after crawling around on my back like a crab for 10 minutes, I'd actually struggled to my feet about 30 seconds before the two hotties ran by. So it could have sucked worse.

Well, like I said, it's what I'm aware of. I have seen it happen to people it shouldn't have and I have no explanation. Glad to hear the hotties didn't see you supine. I was looking forward to Trent's writing a medical explanation, but I think taunting you is better.