Sudden cramping issue with running

[Marcy Moreland]

For the past month or so, I've been experiencing incredibly painful cramps in my right abdomen when I'm about 15 minutes into my run. This has begun out of the blue. I'm 25 years old, have been athletic my whole life, and even ran a 5 mile run this past year. I'm unsure what I'm doing wrong or how to get rid of these cramps. Any suggestions?

[Steven Low]

Right upper quadrant or lower or what?

If you're not used to running a lot the diaphragm does cramp up because of insufficient blood flow (actual sources of most cramps).

[Daniel Labuz]

I got incredibly painful cramps in my right side when running downhill specifically, I narrowed it down to me eating and then running less than an hour later. I give myself at least 2 hours to digest before I run and I haven't had the problem since.

[Mike ODonnell]

Are you eating anything before hand? Drink enough water? Could be intenstinal cramping....digestive issues....if it's more stabbing pain there's other factors including your gallbladder or appendix....but not a doctor, just guessing. Try not eating so soon before running and drink a ton of water....see if that helps. Also might want to try some additional magnesium intake. If it's a sharp pain...may want to get it checked out.

[Steven Low]

Also, another thing to add:

What other things have you changed in your routine recently?

(could be eating, could be something else)

[Garrett Smith]

Google "abdominal cramp right running", see what others have said and their fixes, then come back and let us know what you think it is.

The "abdomen", even just the right side, is a huge area. You'll need to be more descriptive of where the issue is happening.

[Craig Loizides]

I avoid all grains if I'm going to be running later in the day.

If none of the other suggestions help you can try a warmup of about 5 minutes of easy running followed by a couple minutes of rest and light stretching.