<p>After having been relatively free of night time cramps for years (before, they only occurred in the arches of my feet), I’ve started experiencing excruciating cramps in my calves. They seem to occur during a twilight phase, just before I become fully awake, and usually, if I move suddenly or flex my feet downward even slightly. Yowza, what a rude awakening! Had two in my right calf this morning, approx. an hour apart, and now, my calf muscles are so tight and sore, they seem cocked and primed for a repeat performance before I even hit the hay tonight. Has anyone else had a problem with nocturnal leg cramps? What do you do about them? Do you think muscle relaxers before bed might help?</p>
<p>Those awful night cramps might be a sign that you have low potassium. Try eating a banana or two during the day. Also, a friend of mine taught me a trick that actually works. When you are gripped by a cramp in the middle of the night, gently massage the leg with one hand while pinching the bridge of your nose between your thumb and forefinger with the other. It’s apparently an old acupuncture trick and it does help.</p>
<p>Wow, that is an interesting trick. I’ll have to try that. Look, what always, always works is to get out of bed and stand on it. It will always stop immediately. I’ve never bothered with muscle relaxers, but they do say it’s from low potassium. Trust me, stand on that cramp, though it’s kind of tough to do, but it will stop. I hate cramps!</p>
<p>Potassium is actually not the answer normally. Believe it or not, low sodium is a common cause. Really, it can be a variety of different electrolytes including sodium, potassium, calcium, and chloride. </p>
<p>Massage and stretch those calves during a cramp is the best advice I’ve got. That and Gatorade!</p>
<p>I’ve had cramps in the past, and my doctor suggested upping my potassium by eating potassium rich foods. Here is a pretty accurate list: <a href=“http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/PatientEd/Materials/PDFDocs/nut-diet/nut-other/high-potassium.pdf[/url]”>http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/PatientEd/Materials/PDFDocs/nut-diet/nut-other/high-potassium.pdf</a></p>
<p>As always, I recommend consulting with your family doctor.</p>
<p>Hops scout, you are correct about the reason being electrolyte imbalance, but usually it is the potassium that needs to be tweaked, especially if the condition is caused by medications.</p>
<p>Get some Biofreeze – local massage places usually have it. Massage it into the sore places to feel instantly better. It’s basically a menthol gel. A little goes a long way. </p>
<p>[Biofreeze</a> Pain Reliever](<a href=“http://www.biofreeze.com/]Biofreeze”>http://www.biofreeze.com/)</p>
<p>My husband had them and was told by the doctor to drink tonic water every night. It seemed to help him a lot.</p>
<p>I’ve suffered horrible cramps at night in my calves and feet from time to time over the years. They seem to come in bunches, and then I don’t have them at all for months. I can’t explain why. I certainly take enough vitamins and minerals for my medical issues, so who knows what it is. Sometimes I think they’re worse when I’ve been walking around in heels a lot, so I try to do that as little as possible!</p>
<p>I’ve found that standing up doesn’t always help much; the only thing that immediately relieves a cramp in my calf is forcing my leg into as straight a position as possible (not that that’s always so easy!), and, even more importantly, grabbing my toes and pulling them straight towards me, thereby stretching out the calf muscle.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, nothing seems foolproof to relieve foot cramps – around the toes and the ball of the foot, sometimes the arch. They can last a long time, and are excruciating, and I can think they’re better and then my foot will tighten up again. Trying to walk helps a little.</p>
<p>Gentle massage, pinching my nose, etc.? Does nothing whatsoever.</p>
<p>Yeah, this really sucks. I started getting frequent foot cramps around the time puberty began, and they persisted well into adulthood. They seemed to stop for the most part about a decade ago, but Ive been noticing them trying to make a comeback over the past few months. I learned that I could largely circumvent them, by immediately flexing my toes upward, or grabbing them and pulling them toward me at the first warning tightening. That doesn’t seem to work for the calf cramps, though. </p>
<p>I was found to have low potassium last year, and have been faithfully taking doctor prescribed supplements (two capsules) daily for over 8 months. It’s rather strange in light of this, that when I was hospitalized in January for tests, they found that my potassium level was still extremely low. I could not understand how that could be since I’d been taking the supplements prescribed by my primary for at least 6 months. After 2 days in hospital, they managed to bring it up to normal with just a few really horse pill sized white potassium pills (had to break those suckers in half just to swallow them—LOL!). Now, I’m wondering if I’ve gone back to being dangerously deficient. I have a prescheduled doctor’s appointment on Monday, so I’ll definitely ask that she check those levels again.</p>
<p>Donna, I went searching online about this problem shortly after posting my initial query, and on one site, read that the place you’re supposed to pinch, is the spot between your nose and your upper lip—some people swear by it. So, if the flexeril I just took doesn’t keep the cramps at bay tonight, I’ll definitely try pinching—something…
But first, I’ll jump out of bed and try standing to see if that will interrupt the pain cycle.</p>
<p>Sheesh…between this and the lingering hip bursitis I had to have a cortisone shot in last week, I’m feeling every one of my 54 years!</p>
<p>poetsheart, I’ve been having the same issue with horrendously painful cramps.
I can empathize. I tried the bananas and potassium supplements but they didn’t help much.</p>
<p>What’s been suggested to me by a doc friend is magnesium. Magnesium is a muscle relaxant. I’ve started taking 400mg/day (with a meal) in the last week to see if this works. So far so good.
I’m willing to try anything and will try that pinching thing and the tonic water that’s been suggested too.</p>
<p>I used to get excruciating leg cramps during my pregnancies. Then I read somewhere that when the cramp starts you should flex your foot as hard as you can (as it you were trying to touch your knee with your toes. It worked for me.</p>
<p>I get horrible thigh cramps, mostly during night. They hurt so bad, that I get clammy and feel faint. I have never found the trick to get rid of them and they too come in bunches then go away for months.</p>
<p>I started getting leg cramps a few years ago and figured out that I only get them when I don’t eat 2-3 bananas a week. For some odd reason, potassium pills don’t have the same effect on me and, in reality, bananas aren’t the strongest source of potassium. But the minute I get a leg cramp I think back and realize it’s been at least a week since I had a banana. For whatever reason bananas work for me.</p>
<p>I also use a similar acupuncture technique with good success. I pinch my upper lip between my thumb and forefinger for a minute or so.</p>
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<p>I think hops-scout is correct. Keeping the proper balance is critical and can vary from person to person, which is why different things work for different people. For example, I have had problems with heart palpitations on and off for years. In the last few years, they seemed to really flare up (common in peri-menopause). I started taking magnesium every day and they stopped.</p>
<p>My mother’s physician recommended she drink tonic water for her leg cramps and that worked for her.</p>
<p>My mother has had horrible leg cramps at night for many years–to the point she cries from the pain. When she first began to get them one doctor prescribed quinine but she no longer can take it due to other medical reasons. It also isn’t supposed to be prescribed for that use any longer though it seemed to help.</p>
<p>Tonic water does contain some quinine and drininking it before bed may help.</p>
<p>She now takes CQ10 as a supplement and has seen a big difference in the number of cramps she gets.</p>
<p>I’ve used Biofreeze for back pain and it’s great. I will suggest my mother try that when she gets one of her cramps.</p>
<p>I tend to get both leg cramps and thigh cramps. The thigh cramps are the worst. The lip pinching method works to a degree, but only if the cramp is fairly mild.</p>
<p>When I take calcium and magnesium supplements every day, and manage to stay well hydrated, they are usually either absent or not so bad.</p>
<p>previous post should have said COQ10 not CQ10</p>
<p>We use Emergen-C - we buy them 40 to a box at Trader Joes or WalMart.</p>
<p>I use them for working out too. I just put two of them into my two glass workout water bottles for tennis this morning.</p>
<p>I used to take PowerAde or Gatorade to prevent cramps but decided to drop the suger/hfcs.</p>
<p>Dr Gott, a doctor who writes a medical column, recommends an unwrapped bar of soap placed in the bed(not dial or dove though). I know it sounds crazy but I do know people who swear by this. Easy enough to try.</p>
<p>I too have suffered with leg cramp, always my right leg funnily enough. I moved to Germany a while back and here I don’t suffer from them at all, but there is a much higher salt content in the diet, which may help.</p>