<p>Hi, I am planning to go see the doc about this one but meantime, until I can get in to see him, wondered if anyone had any experiences with this problem (and any ideas of possible causes and solutions!).</p>
<p>For the 2nd time in a month, I was awakened by a terrible charlie horse in my calf. It was awful pain. Like childbirth. The thing is, residual pain hangs around for days after. Not as bad, but still quite painful. I called doc after the first one, but by the time the appt came open, the pain had finally abated. I figured it was just one of those weird aging things, and cancelled appt. Everything I’ve read says most charlie horses are not serious, just uncomfortable.</p>
<p>But now it’s happened again! I think it stays clenched a bit even after the main ‘charlie horse’ is over. It’s soooo tight and tender and painful to walk on. Now the affected leg looks swollen, too.</p>
<p>I’ve tried gentle stretching, massaging (so tender it hurts to even touch skin on back of calf), icing, taking ibuprofen, hot baths, slow walks around block. I’ve increased potassium intake (via food) and added a multi-vitamin plus magnesium. I’ve upped my water intake & cut out caffeine. Nothing so far helps. Last time it took a good solid 7-9 days to ease completely. The nurse told me this was not uncommon. </p>
<p>I honestly can’t live like this–I went from being a fitness walker (2-4 miles/day) to not being able to walk across the room w/out pain. Just wondered if anyone else has this problem and how they’ve coped with it.</p>
<p>I did give blood the day the first charlie horse occured, and had had more alcohol than usual the second time–not a ton, but I hardly ever drink. Could I be that sensitive to dehydration?</p>
<p>It sounds like you are doing some right things - more potassium, water, etc. - however, I would suggest a doctor’s visit just to be on the safe side. The swelling indicates it could possibly be something else. Did you mention the swelling to the nurse you talked to? If it was me, I would want to rule out DVT or clots. </p>
<p>One of my kids was dehydrated and got severe leg cramps in both legs that took over a week to go away but no swelling was involved.</p>
<p>I guess my first question would be what did you do to address the cramp when it occurred? As a fitness walker, you are probably in good shape otherwise, so the doctor might just run some blood tests and attribute it to dehydration. H runs, and works out a lot and occasionally will wake up yelling for me to address a bad charlie horse. Usually no effects longer than a few minutes though. Have you ever had symptoms of restless leg syndrome?</p>
<p>OP, I’ve had the exact same thing 2 or 3 times in the past, where the pain lingers for several days after the initial cramp goes away. It’s so bad that I can’t even touch the back of my calf when that happens. Nothing helped except the passage of time. I truly sympathize with you!</p>
<p>Since you have swelling, it would be a good idea to be seen by a doctor as soon as you can. Major charley horse pain with swelling is a sign of DVT. They can easily do an ultrasound to rule that out.</p>
<p>Re: how I address the cramp when it first occurs–stand up is first thing I do, which hurts but seems only thing to do/only thing that helps at all. I tried massaging cramp but that hurt too bad. Then I breathe deeply and do a calf stretch.</p>
<p>It eases some but as patsmom says–too painful to even touch.</p>
<p>Noticed the swelling after I did a walk around the block yesterday evening. Now it looks the same as other side. Last time this happened, a couple weeks ago, I didn’t notice any swelling.</p>
<p>Are you getting enough sodium? I had this problem during a three-hour tennis match and posted it to a tennis health and fitness forum. Suggestions were sodium, potassium, hydration and conditioning. Hydration wasn’t a problem (I bring over 1/2 gallon of water). Conditioning wasn’t a problem as I’m used to three-hour matches. I beefed up the potassium and sodium but it turned out to be sodium. So I just add more salt to food the night before a match.</p>
<p>You might also consider a night splint. These are typically used to treat plantars fasciitis but they can also help to keep the calf stretched while you sleep.</p>
<p>Try taking some sublingual B12 supplements. You can get them in tablet form–simply put the cherry tasting tablet under your tongue until it dissolves.</p>
<p>I was going to say sodium and potassium, too. When the cramp happens, there isn’t a whole lot you can do. I wonder if sleeping in the calf compression sleeves might help. My son in law doctor laughs at them, but my daughter and I (and most of our running friends) swear by them for after our long runs. I’ve slept in them before. Check out Zensah Compression.</p>
<p>You definitely need to have a clot ruled out. Have you tried soaking in an Epsom salt bath? I was having restless leg syndrome that was keeping me from sleeping & I found that helped a lot.
Along with electrolytes, you may need to increase calcium.</p>
<p>If rubbing your calf doesnt help, the type of massage that may help is tapotement.Tap quickly and repeatedly over the area several times about 10 minutes apart for 2 or 3 minutes at a time. This should get the muscle fibers to fire so they can relax. ( also one of those big massagers like they sell at Costco can do the same thing)</p>
<p>I think that sleeping in the calf compression sleeves can make the problem worse as it pushes your calf farther away from where it would be if it were being stretched.</p>
<p>Dh gets similar pain from time to time, and has found most of the advice above to be helpful. He ups his water intake, eats at least one banana per day (usually over cottage cheese), uses Morton Lite Salt, drinks (Lactaid) milk, and takes a soak with Epsom salts. Usually with two days the problem goes away, so he doesn’t see his doctor. However, his pain hasn’t been accompanied by swelling so it’s good that you made a dr. appt.</p>
<p>Don’t overlook the most prevalent electrolyte - calcium. More muscle cramping is due to low calcium than to low potassium. You’re not on any type of steroids, are you?</p>
<p>And yes, you probably were that affected by the dehydration. The pint of blood you gave could be as much as 15% of your blood volume.</p>
<p>I have occasional problems with cramps. Now, if I feel one coming on, I jump out of bed and walk until it goes away. I also will start taking vitamin E, magnesium, and if it is bad enough (had some really bad ones a few years ago, unbelievable pain), or repeats, might even start drinking tonic soda (for the quinine). And I will up my banana intake. Sometimes I seem to notice a correlation between certain supplements and night cramps. Some healthy oil supplements and also taking too much calcium seems to throw me off balance in some way. I stick mainly to an omega 3-6-9 supplement now to get my healthy omegas, which doesn’t seem to cause problems.</p>
<p>I didn’t read all the responses but have you started any new medicines lately? Could be a drug reaction. Can’t remember all the details but this happened to my MIL. It was a reaction to a bone density medicine.</p>
<p>I used to get these. There’s nothing like waking up from a dead sleep feeling like you’ve been shot in the calf. Mine also hurt for several days, I think the muscle actually gets injured from flexing so hard (much like lifting too much weight). </p>
<p>Ok, this may sound crazy, but have you ever tried taking a few Tums when it happens?</p>
<p>My husband swims for his workout and sometimes he swims so hard that he gets a charlie horse. He has had them so severe that he can not move due to the pain. What he found (after a bit of reserach) is that a quick infusion of calcium does the trick. I don’t know if he chews one or two Tums tablets, but within minutes of ingesting, the pain goes away. This works so well, that he keeps a bottle handy whenever he goes to the pool. </p>
<p>I am on Singular, which I started taking a few weeks before this all began. (I take for seasonal allergies that cropped up right about them). Also on birth control pills, which I’ve been on about 6 months. That’s it, med-wise. I will ask Doc about those 2 items, esp the Singular…</p>
<p>Thanks for all the insights and ideas, I like to have my questions lined up when I get my 5 minutes of doctor face time. This really helps.</p>
<p>Tums does contain calcium carbonate which I have also learned works excellent for cramps in the calves. Another one is pickle juice for the sodium…</p>