I was wondering if anyone suffers from muscle cramps associated with their meds? I suffer quite often with severe cramp in my feet and calfs and I'm sure someone once said that you can get cramp as a side effect from meds but I may have just dreamt it!!!
Just thought i would ask!
Smithy
your not the only one,ive been up half the night most night with it,and in the day.
when i move my foot sometimes it seems to spasm and im in agony with it,
im on symbicort 400/12,singulair and salbutamol
mel xxx
My son will often wake at night shouting the house down with cramp in his calfs and occasionally in the day. I know it can be a side effect of drugs but I'm not sure which of his causes it or if a combination.
Hi
if you take symbicort this can cause leg and foot cramps I ve just had mine changed to pulmicort and oxis separate because the 2 make up the symbicort and its the oxiz thats causes the cramps so im on more pulmicort now than before but the same of the oxiz so hopefully ill be a bit more controled with out the cramps
It can be very destressing
Muscle cramp
Muscle cramp is a recognised side effect of beta agonists - ie salbutamol, turbutaline, formoterol, salmeterol. It's unusual (but not unheard of) to get cramp with the normal inhaled doses, but is common with the doses of beta agonist normally taken by neb or subcut.
Cramp can also be a symptom of disturbances of the various electrolytes in the body - low sodium, potassium and calcium and high magnesium can all cause severe muscle cramps. The most relevant one to most of us is the potassium, as beta agonists, theophylline/aminophylline and steroids all cause low potassium. Other things such as severe diarrhoea and medications like diuretics can also cause electrolyte imbalances.
If you're having frequent severe cramps, it's probably worth getting checked out by your doctor to check that you don't have any of these electrolyte imbalances and to rule out other rarer causes for muscle cramps. Simple treatment like massaging the muscle can help, and your doctor can prescribe quinine tablets to take at night which may help. In extreme cases the doctor might prescribe muscle relaxants like diazepam (Valium) to help, although most doctors will be pretty keen to avoid these, as they can be addictive and can cause respiratory depression.
Many of us are familliar with what Bex calls 'the funky chicken dance' around the bedroom at 4am, and it's a good acid test of a relationship if your significant other is prepared to sit there massaging the affected muscle when woken by the dance!
Em H
thanks for your replys I take symbicort and salbutamol though I don't know which 1 would couse the problem. I very rarely get it during the night its usually always during the day and usually when your out in public!!! Now i think about it I always seem to get it just as I get into the car!!! strange I know
Smithy
I get foot cramps with normal inhaled dose Serevent.
So when I need my ventolin it can get a little interesting....
Smithy welcome to the funky chicken club, at least that is apparently the dance I do around the room always accompanied but the refraine "" oh no XXXX cramp"" repeated until it wears off. Ask your Dr for quinine tablets they do help.
Bex
so its not just me that says that phrase!!!
oh no XXXX cramp
love mel xxx
There's a lot of us in the 'funky chicken' club although I am not so bad on Oxis as i was on Serevent but i still get a lot of cramps in my feet particularly when I am tred. I also get bad restless leg syndrome too.
Ange
Hi Smithy - you're not alone! I get cramps as well, think it's from the seretide as it's got worse since I upped dosage, thoguh does get worse with the more ventolin I take come to think of it. I find massaging helps, and I know the dance well!
I tend to get cramp in early hrs when I wake and try and stretch then it kicks in and does it hurt. Thought I had got through all this after 1st month of singular but has come back again recently hadn't thought it couold be because of upped dose of seritide or amount of ventolin I'm using.
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Fostair and shakes does it ever go away?
