# #$&@ing leg cramps



## Victim (Aug 21, 2008)

I get leg cramps all the time. Night, day, it doesn't matter. 

I am a BHM, but have a physically demanding job. My calves are a bit overdeveloped because of having to haul my weight around while performing heavy lifting. I get cramps in my arms and even fingers too, but not as often.

People tell me to stretch before activity, but this actually CAUSES the cramps. Stretching while I'm in bed is almost a guarantee that I'll get a cramp.

I've also been told of various nutritional deficiencies, including potassium, but supplements and potassium rich foods aren't doing the trick either.


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## southernfa (Aug 21, 2008)

Are you drinking enough water? I have the same issue, plenty of exercise but a lot of leg cramps, particularly at night and was told that this can be due to dehydration.

Seems likely as I never touch the stuff


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## BeautifulPoeticDisaster (Aug 21, 2008)

I have the same exact issue. The worst ones are the inner thigh ones, they make me cry. I do find they are worse if I drink anything with Aspartame in it. That's the only trigger I have found. I'm not lacking in any vitamins or minerals and like you stretching is the worst idea. Hope someone has an answer.


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## SocialbFly (Aug 21, 2008)

Victim said:


> I get leg cramps all the time. Night, day, it doesn't matter.
> 
> I am a BHM, but have a physically demanding job. My calves are a bit overdeveloped because of having to haul my weight around while performing heavy lifting. I get cramps in my arms and even fingers too, but not as often.
> 
> ...





Try upping calcium and magnesium....i have had fewer leg cramps when i up my mag doses...see how that goes for ya, i hate leg cramps too, big time...


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## GWARrior (Aug 21, 2008)

eat more bananas! i think its the potassium that helps with cramps. i could be wrong....

but i was always told to eat bananas.


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## Risible (Aug 21, 2008)

My orthopedic surgeon advised me to take a couple of Tums for the calcium to relieve foot cramps. It used to work long ago, but not anymore. I get cramps when I overtire, for which I take a couple of quinine tablets, available OTC. They work, but you should check with your physician before taking them on an as-needed basis. Read up on the side effects, also, before trying them.


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## SoVerySoft (Aug 21, 2008)

I know I have posted this before, but this has been a lifesaver for me. I find when the cramp comes on (usually in my lower legs) I can shut off the pain by flexing my foot upward. What I mean is, I don't point my toes, but pull them up towards me, and that works on the pain like turning off a faucet.

I discovered this when I read that you can stand in front of a wall, feet firmly planted and lean into the wall (not moving your feet) to stop the pain. Which pretty much is the same motion I do in the bed when the cramp strikes, without wasting (painful) time to get out of bed and do the wall trick.

This isn't preventative, but it sure helps me when I get a cramp!


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## southernfa (Aug 21, 2008)

SoVerySoft said:


> I know I have posted this before, but this has been a lifesaver for me. I find when the cramp comes on (usually in my lower legs) I can shut off the pain by flexing my foot upward. What I mean is, I don't point my toes, but pull them up towards me, and that works on the pain like turning off a faucet.
> 
> I discovered this when I read that you can stand in front of a wall, feet firmly planted and lean into the wall (not moving your feet) to stop the pain. Which pretty much is the same motion I do in the bed when the cramp strikes, without wasting (painful) time to get out of bed and do the wall trick.
> 
> This isn't preventative, but it sure helps me when I get a cramp!



Good point and an aide memoir. Having a damaged archilles, I am supposed to do the following; lean into the wall with the heel on the ground and at a more extreme angle with the heel off the ground (stretches two different calf muscles) and then practice raising and lowering myself with one foot on a step (not sure what this does, I suspect the physio is just a bit sadistic...) 

The upshot is that lots of stretching is a good thing.


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## BeautifulPoeticDisaster (Aug 21, 2008)

SoVerySoft said:


> I know I have posted this before, but this has been a lifesaver for me. I find when the cramp comes on (usually in my lower legs) I can shut off the pain by flexing my foot upward. What I mean is, I don't point my toes, but pull them up towards me, and that works on the pain like turning off a faucet.
> 
> I discovered this when I read that you can stand in front of a wall, feet firmly planted and lean into the wall (not moving your feet) to stop the pain. Which pretty much is the same motion I do in the bed when the cramp strikes, without wasting (painful) time to get out of bed and do the wall trick.
> 
> This isn't preventative, but it sure helps me when I get a cramp!



That usually helps a little for me when I have a cramp on the back of my calves or in my foot, but the other cramps I get...well some of them aren#t even in my legs. Ever had a charlie horse in your stomach?? or on your side of you twist wrong? I get them regularly.  And I don't think moving my foot would help, lol. I have to hold my breath and rub. I think there is seriously something wrong with me to be cramping up so much.


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## Risible (Aug 21, 2008)

I get bad muscle cramps in my sides, like over my ribcage, as well, Donni. I don't think it's a sign of anything seriously wrong, but rather it points to a lack of exercise and/or regular, systematic stretching.

I lay down on the side of the affected muscles for about ten minutes until the cramps subside. Unfortunately, they come back very easily after that.


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## ~nai'a~ (Aug 22, 2008)

I get leg cramps at night every fall when the school year starts... A lot of teachers have the same problem... We think it's because our bodies have to reajust to beeing on our two feet all day...

I was also told that it may be a lack of calcium and potassium... When you get up and try to walk, it helps!

Don't laugh too much but I have tried something that works! I read it somewhere on the Internet and a friend of mine validated it so, I also tried...
Putting a bar of soap between your bed sheets. I can not explain it and can't for the life of me think of how can this be... It' WORKS! So call me crazy or weird, but try it!


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## mossystate (Aug 22, 2008)

I have fewer calf cramps when I drink lots of water......when I make sure I make circles with my feet, many times a day, and also point my toes towards me.......when I take a few fingers and press/slap against my calves, more than once a day and definately when I am in bed before I go sleepy........I also do the 3 feet away from the wall, heels to the floor stretch for 30 seconds..but, I only do that after I have done the massage, otherwise, I can make my calf muscles very unhappy. Water is a big deal.


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## BubbleButtBabe (Aug 22, 2008)

~nai'a~ said:


> Don't laugh too much but I have tried something that works! I read it somewhere on the Internet and a friend of mine validated it so, I also tried...
> Putting a bar of soap between your bed sheets. I can not explain it and can't for the life of me think of how can this be... It' WORKS! So call me crazy or weird, but try it!



I had a lady tell me this one time. She said a cheap bar of ivory soap works the best. She swears by it and said she had been doing it for 20 years.


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## ~nai'a~ (Aug 22, 2008)

BubbleButtBabe said:


> I had a lady tell me this one time. She said a cheap bar of ivory soap works the best. She swears by it and said she had been doing it for 20 years.



Bubble, It really works! I can not understand the chemestry of it and would like too. But it workkkkkkkkkkkks!


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## Tad (Aug 22, 2008)

I used to get a lot of calf cramps at night, but not these days. Maybe what I did makes a difference, maybe it was just one of those things that change with time, I don't know.

Every night I do some light leg stretches when I go to bed. Lying on my back, first with leg pointed, knee more or less straight, lift one leg up, grab it by the calf, and pull it until there is a gentle stretch. Then bend the knee towards my chest, bend the ankle forward, grab the ball of my foot with both hand, then try to straighten my knee as much as I can until I get a good stretch. Then slide hands back down to calf, straighten knee most of the way until just starting to feel a bit of stretch, and then make foot circles while continuing to pull lightly.

Between those three stretches I seem to get the various calf muscles loosened up. Every now and then I'll start to cramp when stretching, but very rarely if I've been doing them every day.

The other thing I read once, besides the pottasium thing, was zinc. So I started taking a 'complete' multivitamin each day, which contains zinc. Seemed like one of those things where your intake could be erratic. I don't know if zinc really is an issue, or just that the multi-vitamin also made sure I had enough magnesium, etc. 

And I make sure to drink a good amount of water, and yes more apt to cramp if dehydrated.

Also: very interesting about the soap--most puzzling!


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## PamelaLois (Aug 22, 2008)

southernfa said:


> Good point and an aide memoir. Having a damaged archilles, I am supposed to do the following; lean into the wall with the heel on the ground and at a more extreme angle with the heel off the ground (stretches two different calf muscles) and then practice raising and lowering myself with one foot on a step (not sure what this does, I suspect the physio is just a bit sadistic...)
> 
> The upshot is that lots of stretching is a good thing.


 
The reason this works is that when you stand with your toes on the step and drop your heels below the step, you elongate the Achilles and the calf muscle quite a bit. I do this stretch when I feel a cramp coming on. We call it the "backdive" stretch because standing on the step this way is like standing on a diving board to do a backdive.


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## QuasimodoQT (Aug 23, 2008)

Here's another household remedy to try- vinegar. Just slap it on your palm like aftershave and apply it right where the knot is the worst.

My mom told me about this one, during a time years ago where I was getting them often. The next time one struck, I couldn't remember what household liquid she had said. I crawled across my floor to the cabinet under the sink, and started trying things- dish soap, ammonia, anything short of bug spray. When I found the vinegar, I knew that was pay dirt, as the knot immediately unclenched.

I used plain vinegar that time, but found it handy to keep a little bottle of apple cider vinegar in my bedside table for the next 2 years. Eventually I stopped getting them.

I'm not sure why it works- perhaps something about electrolytes, interrupting the electrical signal to clench the muscle?

Hope it works for you.


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## Miss Vickie (Aug 23, 2008)

Quasimodo, I've never heard of that. What an interesting remedy.

I'm a big believer in magnesium. I take it when my neck is stiff, when I get those little twitches on my eyelid, and when I have leg cramps. It works like a charm. Magnesium is one of the minerals dumped most easily in the presence of diuretics like caffeine so I'm pretty sure I'm deficient nearly all the time.


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## Zandoz (Aug 23, 2008)

I have a big time problem with leg cramps, mostly in in my inner thighs...and I've had the problem for years, in spite of taking potassium, magnesium, and calcium supplements along with drinking enough water to float a small navy daily. Stretching makes them worse, and can actually bring them on. The one thing that has helped over the years is quinine taken at the first signs of cramping...but now because of a dispute over labeling between the FDA and the drug companies, pharmacies will not fill the prescriptions over liability fears...I'm down to only a few pills left


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## Risible (Aug 23, 2008)

Zandoz said:


> I have a big time problem with leg cramps, mostly in in my inner thighs...and I've had the problem for years, in spite of taking potassium, magnesium, and calcium supplements along with drinking enough water to float a small navy daily. Stretching makes them worse, and can actually bring them on. The one thing that has helped over the years is quinine taken at the first signs of cramping...but now because of a dispute over labeling between the FDA and the drug companies, pharmacies will not fill the prescriptions over liability fears...I'm down to only a few pills left



Zan, you can get quinine homeopathic pills from your local drugstore (or online). I used to get the RX quinine myself for relief of muscle cramps; they were banned over a year ago. I recently got some of the Hylands and they work well for me on an as-needed basis. I keep them to a minimum though.


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## Zandoz (Aug 24, 2008)

Risible said:


> Zan, you can get quinine homeopathic pills from your local drugstore (or online). I used to get the RX quinine myself for relief of muscle cramps; they were banned over a year ago. I recently got some of the Hylands and they work well for me on an as-needed basis. I keep them to a minimum though.



Thanks! I'll have to check into that. I to try to keep it to a minimum...I wait to see if the cramps are going to be persistent or bad before taking them. I was lucky that my previous prescription was written for a 90 day supply, assuming taking 1 a day....I've managed to make them last over a year.


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## Victim (Aug 25, 2008)

Do tonic waters such as Schweps contain enough quinine to be of help?


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## Risible (Aug 25, 2008)

I have no idea, Victim, but as you know - what works for some doesn't always work for others. Give it a try, let us know?


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## Lovelyone (Sep 4, 2008)

I used to get leg cramps in my calves often. My Dr. told me it was a lack of potassium. Since then I take a banana 3 or 4 times a week and havent had leg cramps in over a year.


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## pdgujer148 (Sep 4, 2008)

One possibility...

Do you snore or have untreated sleep apnea?

I used to wake with paralyzing cramps in my calves. Every morning. I would literally be frozen in place by them.

After I got a C-PAP the cramps went away.

I talked to my doc about it. Her theory was that my blood oxygen level was so low due to the apnea that I wasn't getting enough oxygen rich blood to my extremities. Muscle - o2 = cramp


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## mariac1966 (Sep 4, 2008)

I use potassium supplements for my leg cramps (and yes I have had the charlie horse cramps in my stomach too). I take 2 pills in the morning and 2 in the evening, and this has seemed to help me, in addition to making sure that I drink plenty of fluids.

Muscle cramps may also be a symptom/complication of kidney disease, thyroid disease, hypokalemia or hypocalcemia (as conditions), restless legs syndrome, varicose veins, diabetes and multiple sclerosis. So it is always best to get checked out by your physician to make sure that nothing serious is going on first.


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## mossystate (Sep 18, 2008)

Ok.

Years ago I had read something about placing a bar of unwrapped soap under he bottom sheet. Then I saw people here mention it. I was experiencing, off and on, really horrible cramps in my right leg. I would also have to hop out of bed...quickly...if I tried to stretch, forgetting it would trigger a cramp.

I tried the soap. An unwrapped bar of original Ivory.

It has been working! I don't know if it is psychological. I don't know if I am simply having a cramp down time. But....I have not even had a rumbling of a cramp since I read where someone here has tried it.

I wrangle the soap if I feel I need it. Just fish around with a foot until I locate it. I will say that I think the soap is causing drying on the bottoms of my feet. Yesterday, I was wondering why the hell my heels are so dry.......the soap! Oh well, if it actually is the reason the cramps are not knocking on my door....I will just apply more moisturizer. 


Weird stuff!


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## Risible (Sep 18, 2008)

That is weird - sounds too good, too easy, to be true. I don't have Ivory on hand, but I do have a bar of Dove and it's going in between the sheets tonight.


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## Victim (Sep 19, 2008)

I'm interested in how THAT is going to turn out. Dove isn't "soap". It's something else...


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## BubbleButtBabe (Sep 19, 2008)

I wonder if it is because Ivory soap has magnesium sulfate and none of the other bar soaps do.

The lady that told me about the Ivory said she had tried different soaps but none worked as well as the Ivory. <shrugs> Learn something never ever day!


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## Gingembre (Sep 23, 2008)

Drink more water - it really does help.


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## Nikki9999 (Sep 23, 2008)

Tonic water works great for me. Add some vodka, ice and a wedge of lime and call it medicinal!! 
Actually I keep a bottle of tonic water by my bed and when I get leg cramps at night I drink some. Usually takes less than 60 seconds for the cramp to subside.
Now I have to try the soap thing too...


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## ChubbyBubbles (Sep 24, 2008)

Nikki9999 said:


> Tonic water works great for me. Add some vodka, ice and a wedge of lime and call it medicinal!!
> Actually I keep a bottle of tonic water by my bed and when I get leg cramps at night I drink some. Usually takes less than 60 seconds for the cramp to subside.
> Now I have to try the soap thing too...




I 2nd the tonic water! It works! Drink a glass before bed and you should find it makes a difference! Suffering from lower lymphedema, I cramp very often! Especially in the thigh area (talk about PAIN!!) but the tonic water has definitely helped the cramps to subside. Good luck!


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## No-No-Badkitty (Oct 1, 2008)

Lately I have been getting these strange cramp like pains on the inside of my legs above my ankles. Last week it was the right one and now it's the left one. It's really odd, it isn't like a regular cramp and even kinda itches.


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