Crampy legs and the Calcium-magnesium supplement

[~Boudicca~]

Ok, so after 3 sleepless nights in a row, I simply cannot deal with the leg cramps anymore. My calves are actually sore now when I'm not sleeping from the severity of the cramps. I heard that calcium-magnesium supplements were supposed to help. So, I sent DH out for a calcium-magnesium supplement today, and I'm not sure if I should take them or not. He came home with a calcium-magnesium-zinc-vitamin D supplement, and I don't know if it is a good thing to take it with the extra stuff in there. Anyone have any advice?

[Synchro246]

The extra stuff is no biggie. Go for it. You want 1000mg of the calcium and 500mg of the magnesium. At that dosage how much of those extra things will you be getting with that supplement?

[momto l&a]

I take some every night and have found it helps with heartburn

[MoonStarFalling]

Yes yes take it! I haven't had a single cramp this pg. A good cal mag is a must. The zinc won't hurt anything, I'm assuming it's not a massive amt.

[stacey0402]

I read a bunch of stuff online, and one study compared a few different treatments. The study showed that the best way to ward off leg cramps was to stretch before bed and every time you get up (to pee or whatever). I tried it and it worked. I face a wall, placing both hand on the wall, and stretch one leg out behind me. Go as far as you can while still having your foot (or feet if you do both at the same time) flat on the ground. When you do both feet at the same time it kinda looks like you're doing a push-up against the wall.

I haven't had anymore cramps since I started doing this

[momto l&a]

Originally Posted by stacey0402

I read a bunch of stuff online, and one study compared a few different treatments. The study showed that the best way to ward off leg cramps was to stretch before bed and every time you get up (to pee or whatever). I tried it and it worked. I face a wall, placing both hand on the wall, and stretch one leg out behind me. Go as far as you can while still having your foot (or feet if you do both at the same time) flat on the ground. When you do both feet at the same time it kinda looks like you're doing a push-up against the wall.

I haven't had anymore cramps since I started doing this

And you are awake enough at night to do this

I am so tired at night I would gladly fall asleep on the bathroom floor if it was soft enough

[kdtmom2be]

I also recommend the supplement. The only thing that isn't going to do you much good is the vit D (probably not a natural source) but it isn't going to do any harm. I also recommend a banana a day, as potassium plays a role as well. (potatoes are actually a better source of potassium than bananas, whatever works for you)

[~Boudicca~]

Well, I googled this issue and found some stuff on kellymom.com (I love this site and I always forget to check it out when I am in a quandry, yet it is so helpful when I remember). So, the daily recommended amount is totaled at 1500mg, but it is safe to take it up to 2500mg. Anything over that I guess is overkill and can cause problems. So the Calc-mag supplement in addition to my regular prenatals puts me in the neighborhood of 1850mg, so I guess that is ok. The zinc in the supplement is only 15mg, and the Vitamin D is pretty minimal too.

I'm going to go for it. As for stretching, I have been doing that every night before I go to bed as well as a leg massage, and it isn't working. It sure feels good though. I think part of the problem is that I am still on my feet an awful lot, doing the waitressing thing. When I am walking my legs feel thoroughly drained and achy, but when I rest them it's like they are totally wired. But, I have 7 more shifts to work and then I am done: :

Oh, and I cannot keep bananas in my house for longer than 2 days lately! EVerytime I buy them, my daughter plows through a bunch like we don't have any other food available or something. She adores them, and I am lucky if I have 1 out of a bunch when I buy them. So I am going to try the potato a day and see if that helps too.

Thank heavens that I only have roughly 2 more weeks of this!

[richella]

There is a max recommended for vit D, esp. while pregnant. If you are taking a prenatal multi it most likely has the max. already. So, any fortified milk/soymilk, energy bars, lots of brands of fortified cereals . . . they all put you over the max. I had to so quite a bit of searching to find a cal-mag supplement that does not have vit. D. I think the one I have now is Solgar.

I guess I'm the only person who's noticed this. It annoys me because I live in Kansas and I get lots of sunshine, I don't think I need to take D at all!

[kdtmom2be]

Originally Posted by richella

There is a max recommended for vit D, esp. while pregnant. If you are taking a prenatal multi it most likely has the max. already.

Actually, my prenatals have TWICE the recommended daily amount of vitamin D (recommended is 200IU for age 15-50) but I quit taking them ages ago. I only take a B-complex vitamin personally, and there's no D in there. But the benefits of taking a few extra IUs of D for a few weeks vs. suffering through leg cramps would be fine with me if I were taking a prenatal with extra D in it.

[momto l&a]

Originally Posted by richella

It annoys me because I live in Kansas and I get lots of sunshine, I don't think I need to take D at all!

Actually I don't think thats true.

You need to further south and have a certain percentage of your skin exposed.


If a person gets natural vitamin D as in from the sun you cant get too much. Our bodies are made to handle it.

The newest newsletter Alternatives is all about vitamin D.

I would quote from it but its downstairs and I am not.

[jakesmama]

I don't know if someone already said this but make sure the calcium you take is from a source that can be absorbed well. Calcium carbonate (the stuff in Tums) is not going to do you a lot of good but calcium citrate and others will. It will tell you on the back of the bottle the calcium source. I hope things go better for you...sleeping is such a pain late in pregnancy!

[Janet S]

I was told by a nurse/child birth educator that drinking white grape juice helps. I'd never heard that anywhere else. I think it did help. Frequent stretching thoughout the day helped a lot.

[Jilian]

Bananas really work. I did the cal/mag supplement and was blessed with a kidney stone : so I got rid of that and went to just a mag supplement. Nothing worked until I started eating a banana every day. I've gotten creative with my banana consumption - banana chocolate milk is pretty good, banana and strawberry smoothies are good, you can freeze the smoothies and eat them as smoothie pops, and when all else fails bananas with some chocolate syrup and REALLY good! Oh, I forgot frozen chocolate covered bananas. Mmmmm

[~Boudicca~]

Chocolate covered bananas? I'm in. I will consume chocolate in any form these days.