O Cramping or AF Cramping Tell me your symptoms

[ZoeJane'sMommy]

Ok I have been real tight in the same area you would have AF crapming. I haven't ovulated in probably a few years and I think I remember what O cramping is but I dont think it was like this. It has just been like a constant cramp almost all day long. I don't think its time AF because I usually have 50 to 60 day cycles(with no o) and I am only on CD37. But I have been taking metformin to help with my PCOS. So do you think its O pain or AF pain? What are your symptoms? Or does it sound like something completely different.

Thanks for your feedback in advance.

[contactmaya]

Sorry if tmi here-
for me af cramps feel looser in general, accompanied by looser bowels movements. Cramps can become painful, but not always, maybe headaches but not always. They make me want to lie down. There is a general feeling of 'looseness' and 'falling out' feeling-this is just before af. Sometimes slight nausea.

The cramps around ovulation are not really painful or unpleasant, just present, noticeable. Im feeling action in the ovaries so to speak. The cramps (for me they are not really cramps, just sensations) are accompanied by ewcm, as well as slight constipation. Ive come to see that that this constipation is actually cyclical, and is probably a biproduct of estrogen. I can almost predict the onset of ewcm by the feeling in my bowels.

With O, there is a tight but heavy feeling rather than a 'loose' feeling i get with af. As O approaches i feel a heaviness in the ovaries, that can sometimes lead to a quick sensation of pain that is shortlived. It is not unpleasant like af, but noticeable. it doesnt make me want to lie down, but makes me want to stretch a bit.

I hope this is helpful to you. For me the sensation is very different, but i am finding it difficult to describe...

As for the tight feeling you describe, i have gotten that on the odd occasion, but it doesnt last more than a day. It sounds like it could be O, but if it goes on for too long, it might be something else...or maybe in this case your body it trying to O, but just not able to get there for some reason...

...hope others can chime in with something helpful :-)

[Sweet.Bee]

For me, O pain is sharp pain on the right or left side. The duration varies. I often get mild pains on both sides for a couple days leading up to O, then strong off and on pains on one side for most of the day. According to temps and CM, I don't get O pain on O day oddly, but rather ~2 days before (that's also when I got my last + OPK).

Now, for some weird reason I don't get cramps anymore with my period. Zero cramps. But before my last pregnancy, I used to get ones so severe that they would often have me on the bathroom floor for half the day vomiting like a drunkard. So I remember them well.

The CD1 cramps were around my uterus, kind of like contractions. Not on the side like O pain, but more spread out. But it felt like hurt all over, not just at one tiny point.

I still get some cervix tenderness a bit before a new cycle, and then a bit worse in the early days of my period. It kind of feels like a mild version of those early postpartum days when I could not stand for very long without feeling uncomfortable. I wouldn't call it pain, really, but it's annoying.

I hope this helps.

[ZoeJane'sMommy]

Thanks ladies. Well I didn't O yesterday maybe today(but I doubt it). I think maybe it was just digestive problems or something. They went away about dinner time and so who knows. I was hoping O but I doubt it. We will see in the days to come.

[Moon Angel]

My O pain is more of a dull ache on either the right or left side. It comes and goes sometimes, but there have been times where it was constant for hours. Enough to take some meds for it.