[Debbie D]

Last night, I tried to stand up, but my inner thigh muscle wouldn't let me...then I laid down, and it went into a major spasm...I was in so much pain I thought my femur was going to break...it didn't let up for several minutes...my poor DH and DD...we were sleeping on a porch in my in laws' cabin...I didn't want to scare my inlaws, but I sure wanted to scream.
When a severe spasm like this hits, what do you do to get it to release immediately?

[AfterMyNap]

It's not legal down there in IL yet...

Unless you're under random testing rules at work, it's the only way I've found.

At night, I sometimes use a percussion massager on my thighs to help my calves and feet settle down. That's the only way it works for me. (???)

Are you taking a regular dose of spaz meds? It might be time to start.

[Dejibo]

The most important thing for me is to get ON my feet. That puts pressure on the muscle and helps it to release. Since you were unable to stand, I would try forcing my foot to flex, and then my leg to flex. A firm massage may help as well. That is SO painful. I can almost feel it from here.

[NurseNancy]

when it's really in a full spasm there's often nothing to do but go to bed and ride it out.

i've used massage, heat and meds.
i'd talk to your dr about it. try to prevent it happening again. ouch.

[Erin524]

I've gotten bad ones in the back of my calves, and they usually hit me while sleeping. I usually try to get the leg off the bed so that I can hopefully maneuver myself to stand up and try to put some weight on it to make the killer charley horse go away.

I used to have a bed with a footboard that I would push against with my foot to make them go away. I kind of miss that bed.

Sometimes if I think I'm going to be having a problem, I'll put a couple of heavy stiff cushions or pillows under the blankets of my bed. Making sure that the sheets and blankets are firmly tucked in. Then I have something to push against when the Charley Horse from Hell hits.

[tkrik]

For me, I have not been able to tolerate any of the medicines for spasms (baclofen and Valium). My neuro and I decided that I would need to take a different approach and she sent me to physical therapy.

My physical therapist taught me a few stretches that have been proven to stop spasms immediately. A couple of them you can do while in bed. One is to pull your knees to your chest. This really helps with the hamstring spasms. The other helps the inner/outer thighs. Either sit or lay down, put the soles of your feet together and pull them towards your groin.

For the calf muscles she had me stand with my hands on the wall, one foot in front of the other and then stretch the calf muscle.

Also, this past weekend I must have slept in an awkward position and ended up having spasms in my shoulder/neck area. Every time I moved my head, the muscles would go in to a complete spasm. I had read on here about Salonpas and tried them. They worked! Well, I took 3 Advil and put the Salonpas pad on and was able to sleep and get the muscle relaxed.

I hope you are doing better today.

[ali12]

Sorry to hear that you have been dealing with such awful and painful spasms, Debbie!! I hope you are starting to feel better now and you're in my thoughts!!!

I also get bad spasms. I have Dystonia and Myoclonius. The Myoclonius causes my leg to jerk up and down in the air uncontrolably and the Dystonia causes my muscles to cramp into position so that I can't move them.

I haven't really found anything that helps with the spasms. I try and get up and walk around for a bit but sometimes, it is impossible as the spasms are that bad. If I can't stand then I try and straighten and bend my leg several times to see if that works. It helps sometimes but other times, it doesn't.

It might be worth trying some muscle relaxants if you aren't on them already. My Neuro tried me on lots of muscle relaxants but none really worked for me however I have heard that a lot of people get good results from Baclofen. My nanan had Progressive MS and the Baclofen helped her a lot so she ended up getting a baclofen pump implanted into her spine.

I hope you're feeling better now and that you don't have to deal with the awful spasms again!

Thinking about you!

[Jewels]

The only things that I can do when I get those hard spasms in my legs is to get out of bed and walk them off. Even though I take Zanaflex, I still get enough spasms to wonder if I need to take something other than that. I also get spasms in my fingers and wrists and lower arms which take about 5 minutes to get rid of. They bend my fingers at 90 degree angles from the middle knuckle, and even stretching them out straight almost gives as much pain as the leg spasms. I don't know what causes the spasms in my hands, unless it is just where the spasms like to habituate. I have more spasms there than in my legs. Time and massage is the only thing that I have found that works.

[Debbie D]

Thanks for all the advice...when this type of spasm hits, the legs are locked, and I can't straighten them. I just have to ride it out, I guess. I did have a large pillow under my legs...and I was pushing against the end of the futon we were on...but it just got the better of me before I could react.
Last night it was the calves that got spastic, but not as severe...I could ride it out...
I see the neuro in a week, and will ask him what up with this?

[SallyC]

(((((((((((((DebbieD))))))))))))))