I'm not sure if this is normal, though. It's not the usual muscle pains that come from exercising. Remember the post I made where I said I couldn't take NSAIDs anymore because of my irritable bowels? The same thing happens after I do the steps; I get pains in my right side, an unpleasant feeling in my lower gut, and diarrhea. It's also not instantaneous; it happens two days after I do it (I've actually been paying attention). I started the steps last month, starting out every night for 10 minutes, and while I got a little better (got up to over 12 minutes and only needing to switch my stepping leg once a session), the abdominal pain and diarrhea persisted, even when I switched to every other night. Now, even doing it once will cause a flare-up two days later.
The thing is, this isn't the first time I tried exercising, and this wasn't a problem before. I did steps that didn't result in this happening, and I could walk two miles around my neighborhood with no problems. This is the first time I've tried to start exercising again after an incident a few years ago (four maybe?) during Thanksgiving where I think I got food poisoning from bad raisins. Ever since then, I've had these bowel problems where I would have diarrhea on and off for sometimes months at a time.
Ever since then, I've been trying to better control it by seeing what causes flares most often; I can't eat boxed mac-&-cheese anymore, and drinking a single soda once a day for more than two days in a row will cause it. I think this exercise is just another trigger for it, which sucks. I've thought about doing it for less time, since I go up and down the stairs in my house without a problem. I just don't know where the line is between "won't cause a flare" and "is no longer effective as an exercise".
And please don't say "see a doctor". I know I should see a doctor. I have no job (but I'm trying), so I have no health insurance. GOD BLESS AMERICA!
On a much lighter note that has nothing to do with this, is there a media player besides Windows Media that just plays the song I select from my folder and doesn't add it to a stupid playlist?
Edit: Nevermind about the media player. I figured it out.
Woah, that is definitely not normal. I showed this to my mom - she's a nurse - and she says this is far from normal and it may be a clue that worse damage was done than is immediately visible from the onset incident.
I'm guessing it's ulcers.
Iosa, just try to get help in the emergency room at your local charity hospital. Hopefully, they will do a scan of your abdomen, and if it's "interesting" enough, nearly all areas of the country have physician-run pro bono programs where a local gastroenterologist would treat you for the tax write-off. See the hospital social worker - they may be able to get Medicaid for you. Or, the docs might find that the issue is so serious that they treat you immediately (which could include surgery), and you will be billed on a sliding scale based on income...meaning a relatively low cost billing, which you will be able to pay over a long period. Or, if you don't get on Medicaid or a pro-bono program, just stiff 'em, if you don't mind a blotch on your credit report for seven years hence. If you are quite young and unestablished financially, that is not as bad as it sounds. Having unpaid medical bills due to being indigent when you were young is not going to block you on a job application, at least not with any employer a sane person would work for.
