Contractions when not pregnant

[MamaBearTeacher]

Is it normal/common to have contractions when you are not pregnant or am I the only one? I am talking about very mild, completely painless contractions. Here is my story: During my first pregnancy, 2nd-3rd trimester, I started have wave-like feelings in my neck (not abdomen) that would make me sleepy. I asked my OBGYN about them and she did not know what they were. They increased as the pregnancy went on. Meanwhile whenever anyone would talk about contractions or Braxton-Hicks contractions I did not really know what they were talking about. I had no idea what a contraction felt like. The week before I gave birth they became extremely frequent. DS was very late and they were monitoring me in the hospital and said that those things were contractions and by then they spread to my uterus and they eventually became very painful.

 

Anyways, since that time I have had 2 more children and have continued having the mild contractions occasionally. I have not been pregnant in almost 5 years. Lately the contractions are more frequent. I feel them in my neck and face and sometimes feel a slight hardening of the uterus. I never had these feelings before getting pregnant the first time. They tend to be more likely a few days after TeA or if I am dehydrated (I get dehydrated very easily).

 

(I feel really stupid asking about this and admitting that I did not know what a contraction was.)

[mrs.m]

Sounds like muscle spasms to me. Drink a lot of water and do some stretching for your lower ab muscles. There are massage therapist that specializes in fascial release. All that tissue is connected and they push on trigger points to get it to stop spasming.

[pfamilygal]

A non-gravid uterus is smaller than your fist and hidden within the pelvic gridle. So you cannot palpate it above the top of the pubic bone. It is unlikely that you would be able to feel the uterus hardening. It does contract when you "o" though.

 

You may be feeling muscle cramps in the abdominal wall or peristalsis of the intestine. Usually water and potassium/calcium/magnesium will help.

 

I swear I feel kicks occassionally, but it's just gas. I don't even have a uterus anymore, but I'll still think it feels like a baby kicking after I have chili.

 

That is very strange that you had muscle spasms in your neck. Those are not Braxton-Hicks contractions. Contractions are tightening of the uterine muscle, though you can feel them often in your lower back and upper thighs. It sounds more like you had an electrolyte imbalance (common during pg) that was causing generalized muscle cramping.

Edited April 10, 2011 by pfamilygal

[Outdoorsy Type]

I have near constant muscle spasms and that is what it sounds like to me. Sometimes mine are fast motion like my eyelid constantly twitching, and sometimes they are hard slow cramps in my back muscles. It feels a lot like contractions. My stomach muscles also do the "baby kicking" twitch. I haven't figure out why I have them, but I find massage to be a huge help.

[MamaBearTeacher]

It really doesn't feel like muscle spasms and it is exactly like what I felt in pregnancy which turned into the big, painful childbirth contractions. I feel it mostly in my neck. It is not painful at all. It just makes me sleepy and floaty-feeling and unproductive. I think it's sometimes related to being dehydrated but not always. I must be the only person who experiences this.

 

I have also had the baby kicking twitch but that is different.

[lionfamily1999]

If you felt your contractions in your neck, then perhaps you're having normal cramping but it's placement is in your neck, like your contractions?

 

My periods were crampier with each child. As a teen, it was easy peasy. Now, I get CRAMPS. So, if that IS how your cramps occur, then it would make sense that it would be worse now than it was before you had children.

[Quad Shot Academy]

I have thad that exact feeling when having contractions too. I always felt it start in my neck. My face would flush and I would feel like I wasn't getting quite enough O2. No one has ever been able to explain it to me.

 

I am also very prone to dehydration. I had severe pre-term labor with the first two. I drank a gallon a day with the next three and was able to hold it off. I would suggest upping your water, try Emerg-c and possibly consider a gluten free diet, if it really bothers you.

[MamaBearTeacher]

I drank a lot of water with my pregnancies and I think it helped. I also use EmergenC sometimes.

 

The feeling is not like a cramp at all and actually my periods have gotten a lot better in terms of cramps after having babies. This feeling happens throughout the month and though I say it is in my neck it's hard to say exactly where it is. It's really hard to describe what it feels like and it comes and goes like contractions. But it is the exact same feeling I had when I was pregnant and having the contractions that showed up on the monitor. It is not painful. It just makes me sleepy. I just think it's weird that I have this and not a lot of other women do.

[missmoe]

Just to make you feel better--I didn't know what contractions were either. I had pain in my thighs. I finally called a nurse to try to figure out why my thighs were hurting. She said, " Honey, I think you're in labor!" Sure enough I was 8 cm dilated.

 

Not sure about what is going on now though. Sorry.

[collinsmom1]

As I am reading this, I find myself concerned about the affect it has on you. Have you spoken with a Neurologist? Forgive my spelling!

[Jean in Newcastle]

The sleepiness you feel is what concerns me. If it is in your neck and you are experiencing a constriction of some kind, I would worry about your blood circulation. I would have it checked out - probably with an internal medicine Dr. to begin with.

[5knights3maidens]

Could it be a goiter?/something to do with your thyroid? Do you have some swelling in the neck?

[Rosie_0801]

I'd be getting xrays and showing them to a chiro asap.

 

Rosie

[Elenora10]

I’m sure that over a decade later, you won’t read this. But in case you do, did you ever find out what was happening for you?

 

I have had 2 babies. i had Braxton hicks with my first pregnancy but had no idea they were contractions until months after i gave birth—since they weren’t painful! So I hear you that you didn’t know they were contractions.
 

Tonight, for the first time ever, since i had my babies,  I just had about 30 mins of Braxton hicks contractions. They were regular, every few mins. They weren’t painful, but my entire abdomen was contracting, especially low down in my pelvis, and my belly was hard. But I am not currently pregnant. I swear I had a panic attack, thinking I am unknowingly pregnant and about to miscarry a baby. But now they are gone… but they felt EXACTLY like contractions. They even moved my belly like a contraction.  But not painful!!

 

if you ever learned about what was happening for you… please let me know. Because this sounds exactly like why I experienced (without it being in my neck—but my contractions have never been in my neck and yours have).

[Rosie_0801]

@Elenora10, if you have medical questions, please call your doctor instead of asking a woman on a homeschool forum who hasn't even logged in since 2018.