leg cramps and foot cramps

[Wendy HS]

I have been having leg and foot cramps at night so much so that half the night I don't sleep well. I can actually feel them coming on well before, even though I am not pointing my toes. I seem to get them in my shins up front or even on the top part of my foot/ankle, almost always in my right leg. Sometimes they come on even if I am laying perfectly still. I know about the calcium/magnesium and also potassium. I am on a cal/mag supplement and started taking it in the morning and also eat lots of bananas and avacado. The one day I did all of that I had the worst leg cramps I've had that night. What gives? I know about getting up and putting your foot on the floor, that is why I don't sleep, I spend half the night trying to ward off really bad cramps, by jumping up out of bed. With my last baby hot water on my calves would stop them almost immediately. This time I have tried hot water and sit/stand in the shower for 10 minutes with a cramp that just doesn't want to quit, sometimes I get so sick of jumping up, stopping the cramp, only to get back in bed and feel it coming on again a few minutes later. Is there anything else I can try, I am really tired from not sleeping at night. The ones you get in the front of your leg and foot hurt really, really bad!!!

[Galatea]

I don't get out of bed... I just flex my toes up to my knee and that stops them cold. Doesn't even really wake me at all.

If that doesn't work, I would not stop until you get an answer from a medical professional - I imagine a naturopath would be more likely to work with you and take the problem seriously.

[mizznicole]

My MW said this is a sign of calcium deficiency. I've been trying to beef that up to see if it helps.

[MacKinnon]

I've been taking Hyland's homeopathic leg cramp remedy. It helps much more than the cal/mag was. I get leg cramps and restless legs, drives me crazy!!

[dachshundqueen]

I have valerian and cramp bark tinctures for this problem.

It can be a sign of cal/mag deficiency.

Once you start having them the lactic acid builds up and you can experience soreness for a few days afterward though.

Liz

[Kelly1101]

Originally Posted by Galatea

I don't get out of bed... I just flex my toes up to my knee and that stops them cold. Doesn't even really wake me at all.

This advice saved my life. I was getting them SOOOOO BAD until I started flexing my toes up, instead of pointing them, as soon as I started to feel that pre-cramp tingle.

[RedOakMomma]

I take cal/mag/zinc and that helps, but what really makes the difference is how well I hydrated the day before. If I'm dehydrated at all, even if I gulp water by the pint before bed, I get cramps. If I'm diligent about hydrating ALL DAY, no cramps.

[Wendy HS]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did up my intake of cal/mag and am drinking more water and that seems to be helping, they haven't been as bad the last few nights. Also taking the cal/mag at night before I go to bed is helping.

[is it puppies?]

I read that Iron is also good for that (and RLS) and between cal/mag before bed and iron (floravit) drink I barely had any.

[tanyalynn]

I'd take magnesium only, or at least mag only at bedtime. Most people are a lot more mag deficient than calcium deficient and the balance between the two can get off pretty easily. Most cal/mag supps are 2:1 and even if that's the overall ratio most people need (some people flat-out need more magnesium than that), adding 2:1 cal to mag onto their diets still leaves them low in magnesium.

[VeggieLovinMama]

I have this same problem. I also have to jump out of bed and just flexing my toes toward my knee is not enough anymore. I even get to the point where my foot is twisted and I cannot walk and it just keeps returning, no matter what. SO...besides eating some homemade yogurt with a banana at night before bed, my midwife suggested some yoga to loosen up. I have a yoga DVD for pre-natal and I did that one night when the cramps were getting worse each night. That was seriously the BEST sleep I've had. I had NO cramps that night, or back pain! I can't always get the time (or energy) to do the yoga before bed and I've since found a couple of other things that help a LOT. Here is a short list of things that have helped me:
* Nettle Infusions
* Oatstraw tea or infusion
* Vitamin E (200 IU)
* Vitamin C (up to 2000mg)
* Herbal foot baths with essential oils like lavender, wintergreen...
* Get your partner to give a deep muscle massage with arnica oil, Tiger Balm, or chamomile oil
* Cramp bark tincture
* Skullcap tincture (my FAVORITE! for all kinds of sleep issues)
* Pre-natal yoga & calf stretches before bed
* Most important: Don't sit in bed watching TV or reading before you sleep. I found this made the cramps MUCH worse and more common. The less you're lying in bed, the better the chance of avoiding cramps in my opinion.

I hope this helps! I know how bad these can be and how painful they are, trust me!

[Wendy HS]

I found that the cal/mag supplement did help a lot, the first night I took it at night I didn't have any cramps that night for the first time in a week. Then the next day I got what I thought was pinkeye in my left eye. Of course it had to fall on Saturday morning so there was no doctor that would see me or call in any kind of prescription. I've studied natural remedies and I knew that high dose Vit C works like an antibiotic, so much so that I've cleared up other infections that way. That day I spent a good part of the day dosing up on Vit C and my eye improved by the next day to where you can't even tell I have pink eye, but that night I didn't take the cal/mag supplement because I was so tired of taking Vit C powder that I just didn't want to take anything else. Well needless to say the leg cramps were back. I also was looking at my prenatal vitamins and was very surprised to see that they have calcium in it, but no magnesium!!!! So I would say most likely I am imbalanced in my ratio of calcium to mag. As far as pinkeye, I have some form of it, but I'm not sure if it is the viral or bacterial, so most likely off to the doctor tomarrow to get it checked out. YUCK!!!

[Tigerle]

During our recent heatwave I literally had to eat magnesium supplements by the gram. I'd take one or two 243mg capsules once every few hours during the day, just before going to bed and when the heat was at its worst and I was just sweating throughout the night, I took some at night and also on waking up before even getting out of bed. And no pointing toes before having my mag in the morning! When an actual leg cramp came on, I needed to have my foot stretched toward my knees by DH, and for the foot cramps, massages helped a lot.

Now that I am past 37 weeks, I was told to go cold turkey on the mag as it is an antitocolyticum (inhibits labour) and I was afraid of having cramps again, but it's only prodromal labour that's gone up. it sure helps that it's a lot cooler!