Charlie Horses in Right Calf REGULARLY! HELP!

[mrsbernstein]

Help please!

During my 1st and 2nd Trimester, I had a few Charlie Horses in my right calf.  Now that I'm in my 3rd, I'm having them several times/week!  Mostly when I wake up...but am having a very mild one right now.

The ones in the morning are so painful I just want to scream out!!!

What do I need to do?

Thank you!

Mr s

[SuburbanHippie]

1. Stop pointing your toes down when you stretch in the morning.  I learned that one quick with my first.  I actually stopped stretching my legs altogether.  lol.  Didn't want to risk it.

2.  Make sure you're getting enough calcium and potassium.  I drink Natural Calm daily (calcium & magnesium- they need to go together to absorb well) and try to eat foods with potassium like bananas.

[Kedrosami]

I recommend Floradix liquid calcium & magnesium. It is expensive but I've found it cheaper on Amazon than in stores, and it is so worth it! Anytime I start to have a leg cramp, I take a dose and it works almost immediately.

Eating a banana a day is supposed to be good for the extra potassium. I did that all through my last pregnancy and I think it helped--this time the liquid cal-mag seems to be enough.

Stretching your legs is good, btw--just make sure to always flex your feet (never point your toes) while stretching.

[chattyprincess]

Thought Iwould throw my 2cents in. Its not so much the calcium you need its the magnesium. A drinkable form of just magnesium drank right before bed will start to help immediatly. Both pregnancies I did this and found that the first night was less horrible cramping and the 2nd night the cramping was definetly calming down. Make sure to drink only before bed since magnesium tends to make you sleepy!

edited to add I have always used the brand ionic fizz but natural calm works great too as long as its the magnesium only version.

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by chattyprincess 

Its not so much the calcium you need its the magnesium.

   Plus the toe flexing instead of toe pointing when stretching.  I often wake up in the night and find myself pointing  my toes.  I immediately flex them to prevent a cramp.  If I'm too late then I leap out of bed and stand flat footed until the loosens enough to actually stretch it out by leaning into a wall (while keeping my leg straight back).
 

[Abraisme]

Yup, if I don't drink NaturalCalm every day I'm very prone to cramping (all parts of my body, not just my legs). 
 

Originally Posted by SuburbanHippie 

1. Stop pointing your toes down when you stretch in the morning.  I learned that one quick with my first.  I actually stopped stretching my legs altogether.  lol.  Didn't want to risk it.

2.  Make sure you're getting enough calcium and potassium.  I drink Natural Calm daily (calcium & magnesium- they need to go together to absorb well) and try to eat foods with potassium like bananas.

[erigeron]

I've found that flexing my foot rapidly up and down several times will stop a newly starting one in its tracks... otherwise my leg will hurt for days. I originally tried relaxing into the pain, but this works better. The Bradley Method was not meant to be used on charley horses. I haven't tried any supplements or nutritional changes.

[Lisa1970]

Eat bananas.

[dashley111]

I second the magnesium- I get bad leg cramps if I dont take a liquid cal/mag.  The other day I had one in bed, and when I took the cal/mag it let up within an hour and didnt come back.

[KittyKat]

I got horrid leg cramps in past pregnancies, even eating bananas or other potassium-rich foods every day.

Nothing made any difference, exercise, stretching, nothing.

And then I started taking a calcium/magnesium supplement before bed. 2:1 cal:mag ratio, as long as I took it every day, NO cramps.

BONUS: This also got rid of my horribly annoying pregnancy insomnia, which would have me waking up to pee at 2 am and unable to fall back asleep until 4-5 AM. I still got up to pee at 2AM, but I'd fall right back to sleep and wake up cramp-free in the AM.

[MommyMatsumoto]

I know this sounds crazy and I haven't personally tried it, but my mother-in-law swears that putting a bar of soap under the bed sheet near her calves gets rid of her cramps.  She read it in a magazine or something one time and has tried it several times and said it totally works.  If I end up getting calf cramps during this pregnancy, I'm definitely going to give it a try.  

[dot1]

Ditto the bit about magnesium - it relaxes muscles.  Calcium helps muscles contract - so finding the right balance is important...and maybe you need to up the magnesium portion.  Natural calm worked well for me.

However, by far the BIGGEST help with leg cramping for me was wearing compression stockings (research does also support their effectiveness with RLS).  I don't have nasty varicose veins either - just a few little spider veins, a little swelling.  20-30 mm HG compression is needed to keep the swelling down and help your veins most effectively get all those waste products (that contribute to cramping) back up your legs.  Cramps are the body's way of trying to use the muscles harder to get the veins pumping harder to get rid of waste products (veins and lymph vessels rely on muscles to squeeze the fluid back up the legs).  Most insurance plans cover them with a doctors note and "Sigvaris" egyptian cotton series makes a really nice natural cotton knee high sock that is cool enough to wear in the summer.  I swear by compression stockings - without them my legs are aching and cramping, especially at night.  Every woman should be wear them in pregnancy as a way to prevent their veins from developing weak spots from all the extra blood volume...and those weak spots in veins can also be more prone to harbour clots which can travel to the lungs.   Once a vein is damaged/stretched it cannot be repaired nor regain it's former tension...lots of vascular surgeons are making big bucks off people who didn't take care of their veins.  Cramps can be a sign of venous insufficiency (as well as mineral deficiency/imbalance)....and compression socks make the veins work more effectively and prevent that overstretching of the veins by adding counterpressure.

Gentle stretching, and trying to keep your feet up about your heart level a few times per day should also help