Leg cramps

[Sisters-in-law]

On leg cramps - I don't know if it's related but I also get restless legs. In the night it sometimes helps to get up and do some calf stretches. I've been told that cramps can be due to insufficient salt intake, but I eat plenty of salt.

[peege]

Cramps can be due to lack of water and the taking of steroids.

I drink tonic water for my cramps. The quinine in it works like magic.

I read somewhere recently that lack of magnesium can cause cramping

[SORRELHIPPO]

In the past, I have heard of Quinine being helpful, the "shush you know who" Indian Tonic water was drunk by a few people I knew, they said it helped (did not ask if also added Gin!!) Others I knew added bananas into their diet. I presume there are things now available from doctors, my husband suffered, used to get up and stretch his calf muscles but thought too trivial for a doctor (he was afraid of doctors so any excuse not to go). I did try to work out if there was anything he was doing, in the way of amount of walking/sitting on the days it hit, that was unusual, but he was not good at remembering what he had been doing.

[skischool]

I used to get very annoying lower leg and foot cramps during the night,i was prescribed Quinine sulphate tablets 300mg one to be taken at night and for at least a year now i have been cramp free.might be worth investigating in conjunction with your Gp.

Regards Ski's and Scruff's

[K-Kilcoyne]

Happy you asked, the answers were interesting, I do eat bananas but the quinine is new to me, off to the supermarket.

Thank you, Sisters

[Grayjay]

I always had a bottle of tonic water (with Quinine) at hand,it's great stuff. Now I take Desunin Vitamin D tablets . Touch wood I don't get cramp very often now.

[2greys]

Another cause of leg cramp is Peripheral Cardiovascular Disease, which is where there is a restricted blood flow with claudication, mine is mainly below the waste with slight claudication in my arms. It can be extremely painful to the point of tears and thoughts of wanting them amputated even. I have tried every thing to to relieve this, but have since been told that there is no cure. Steroids can also make the condition worse. Making sure that I don't sit down for longer than a half to one hour without standing and marching on the spot for a minute does help whilst awake, but not much use when asleep at night. The cause? Smoking yet again.

mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...

[Help_61]

You need to take magnesium tablets I had them but after taking magnesium daily I don’t suffer anymore

[watergazer]

I can get cramps and I suffer from restless legs. I have tried the tonic water with quinine ( not all tonic water has it in) and magnesium glycinate, also I sometimes have a banana before going to bed. My legs aren't as bad as they used to be . I have discovered if I have a day of lots of sitting around that I suffer that night. My cramping can be in my hands /fingers too. Maybe try one of the remedies we have suggested and if it doesn't work try another, Good luck. x

[JasperDylan]

Don’t laugh at this suggestion I used to get cramps a lot until someone told me about putting Corks from the wine bottle inside my pillow case

It seems to work .

[Hidden in reply to JasperDylan]

It's the wine you drank to obtain the corks that did the job. Lol

[JasperDylan in reply to Hidden]

Try it trust me it works for me and the Wife x

[Maximonkey]

Hi sisterinlaw, do not take extra salt it is an old wives tale. Drink a pint of tonic water over 12 hours and cramps will be a thing of the past. Bananas are also good. Take care Maximonkey

[btown]

My doctor prescribed Quinine sulphate for my leg cramps 😀

[hallentine47]

I cured my night leg cramps by making sure I drank enough water, certainly more than I had been drinking.

[gerrytlloyd]

Magnesium used to work for calf cramps well when I got it by taking dolomite tablets. Then pharmacies in the US suddenly stopped selling dolomite and they told me it was banned because, being dug up as is (from a 'quarry'?), it can also contain lead. Anyway, you can get magnesium in various supplement combinations but they don't seem as effective. Now I get it with vitamin B6 from Wilko, where it's very cheap. Seems I need a tablet or two every day to be effective though. Am using Fostair for asthma which contains a steroid, so that perhaps explains why I need more magnesium than I used to. Used to need it only after heightened activity such as playing squash.

p.s. My experience with 'restless leg' is that it's a positive thing. It usually happens after some sudden, increased use of the legs. I believe it's a natural way that your muscles keep their tone by 'demanding' 'more of the same'. In other words, you've used your legs and they 'like it' and 'want' to to do more exercise and maintain good muscle tone. In South Africa (in the good old days) you could simply sprint around the block at night when your legs got that tingly feeling. It was great. Running up and down stairs also relieves you of the tension. Don't see it as a malady.

p.p.s. By 'salt' your advisor might have meant something along the lines of magnesium salt. After all it is sold in its ionic form, as Mg++.

[K-Kilcoyne]

Well picked up some Shhhh' Tonic Water, for the first time in 3 years no cramps in the middle of the night or when I woke up. Slept right through the night, another thing I haven't done in a good while.

Hopefully it remains that way.

Thank you to all that replied and helped me indirectly.

Yay..go.. sleep.