Severe Leg Cramps
 

Lately, especially this a.m., I have been experiencing severe cramps in my calves. Debilitating pain causing body wide sweats and vision blackout momentarily.
Definitely a 9 1/2 - 10
It usually happens upon awakening, when I unconsciously stretch my legs and feet before getting out of bed.
Today, I am having difficulty walking, due to lingering painful tightness in my calves. Coming downstairs was agony on the steps.
At the moment, I have to be careful how I sit and place my feet & legs.
I did do more walking last nite, than I am used to. We went out to dinner in the neighborhood and celebrated the new year's at a local pub about 8 long blocks from my house, maybe 1/2-3/4 mile. Walked back about 1:30 a.m. The walk back is mostly on an uphill grade - it was an effort.
It was a long nite for me, but my wife was enjoying herself so much, I didn't want to play 'stick in the mud'.

Aside from just plain old PN pain, is there anything I can do to help alleviate these occasional cramps? Magnesium supplement? Something? They are becoming more frequent, lately.

They are a painful,sudden, attack causing severe tightness in my calves from my ankles to my knees. The entire back of my leg seizes up and feels as if it has contracted into a hard knot. The pain is excruciating and can last from 10 or 15 secs to a half minute or more. That seems like forever when it happens.

I've had this years ago when I worked midnights... I had the most awful leg cramps....very similar to what you describe.
I worked 11 hr shifts 7 days in a row on my feet, then had 7 days off.

That is when I found magnesium. It really helped. I also took 800 IU of Vit E with it back then.

So you may want to investigate a good Magnesium supplement if you don't already. Avoid magnesium oxide. If that does not work, I'd report to your doctor as you may be developing PAD or intermittent claudication.

You can soak in a tub with some epsom salts (3-4 oz in a tub) for some relief too. I know these cramps really hurt, and they can feel bruised for a day or two after even. I used to keep my heating pad plugged in next to the bed, and lie on it to help abort them. Those cramps usually happen around 4am for me or just before getting up. At that time your blood sugar is the lowest of the day. And that may contribute.

I rarely get them now. Cramps that severe are usually a warning sign. You are pretty lucky to have only had them now..I used to have them once a week or so when I was in my 40's.

Not a nice way to greet the New Year! Try some gentle heat on them and see if you feel better today.

Oh yes, those calf cramps are really painfull, they use to happen to me in the early hours of the morning and leave the leg painfull for a few days later.

Magnesium and calcium supplements fixed the problem for me, I haven't had any full on calf cramps for a couple of years now, if I feel the slightest calf cramp at any time these days I just start taking the supplements for 2 or 3 days and all is good again.

coincidentally i have been having severe cramps in my calves, both legs but not at same time, also right before waking up in the morning, well late morning since i havent been going to bed before 4 am this past week. The worst ones are the ones that come on while you are sleeping and it becomes part of the dream and by the time you wake up the cramp has been going on for a while and those are the ones that remain sore for days for me. i have had intermittant period of severe cramps over the last five years. I drink more, eat bananas and take extra magnesium and they abate. coulod it be the weather we have been having here on the east coast in december? cold and of course the snow recently.

My Neuro suggested Magnesium 8mo ago, and even though I trusted him, I wasn't so sure about it. By darn it worked. No I don't have total relief from muscle pain, but it's a lot better. I can tell you if I miss the capsule each am (like I'm still asleep when I take my meds), I know it in a few hours cause I feel like someone has beat me all over with a baseball bat.

I also take Magnesium
 

I started many months ago, was reading how common it is to be low in mag. I have noticed I have many less muscle faciculations now.

One important thing to keep in mind is to space 2-4 hours between other meds., mag can absorb other meds.

To the OP: I've had severe leg and foot cramps like the ones you describe. Magnesium has been a tremendous help.

To mrsD: A warning sign of what? PN?

Severe leg cramps typically are a sign of metabolic problems.

Things like the low mag, or say, very low blood sugars during fasting, and very problematic for diabetics esp.

They also may signal peripheral artery disease, more common in males.

But I have been thinking about Nide's...sudden problem.
Bob, are you still taking the Chantix? Or did you stop recently?

When a person's body is used to nicotine, all those receptors, work a certain way. Nicotine withdrawal can have global effects on the body, and many sites list muscle pain as one of many symptoms.

If you Google "nicotine withdrawal symptoms".. you can find various lists. So when one stops smoking there can be effects on the body far beyond psychological craving.

Chantix has muscle cramps listed also as side effects.

So it might be that Nide's mega cramp episode is related to his lifestyle change. Add the stress of the longer walking, in the cold, etc, and several things may have added up to the leg cramp scenario.

".....Curiouser & Curiouser....." said Alice
I stopped smoking Aug 1st and stopped the Chantix at 12 weeks.
I am at the 6 month mark as of Jan 1st.
But it could be a combination of the factors as Mrs D has pointed out.
It has taken 3 days for the soreness to abate and I feel almost (uh...) 'normal'
(whatever that is) today.
No instances of cramps have happened since the Jan 1st a.m. episode, but its only been a few days. I think I'll look into a magnesium supplement. I was browsing iHerb and found a 'Country Life' 600mg 'Magnesium,Potassium Aspartate' but it says (as magnesium aspartate,oxide,citrate,taurinate, alpha-ketoglutarate) ---- WHEW !!
Mrs D said to stay away from oxide, but how can this item be all of those things?
There are a lot of different types available.
Anyone know the best form and the dosage. The Mag % DV is.... 400mg=100% DV.
Is 100% enough? Or mega doses to help the leg cramping? I'm in the dark, here.

When they list all those different ones.... I have been told by one rep at a company, they cannot tell you how much of each.

All the other chelates are very large in size to get appreciable magnesium. So the tablet would be huge or the directions would say take 2 or 3 to get that dose.

Magnesium oxide is concentrated and has alot of chemical magnesium in it. 40%... the highest I think. But it is so tightly bound, it doesn't cross into the blood stream. It allows for smaller tablet sizes etc. I personally think they put those long sounding chelate names on the label to be impressive.

I do think aspartate is to be avoided, because the NMDA receptor is a pain receptor that is activated by aspartate. (this is why some people get headaches and other side effects from
Nutrasweet which is 1/2 aspartic acid.

Magnesium glycinate, and Slow Mag, are about the best and most commonly used. WalMart has 60 SlowMag for $9.99 and at 2 a day that's a month's supply. They also have a generic behind the counter. I get mine at Costco, behind the pharmacy at generic price too.. about $5.00 for 60. Generic is Mag64 or MagDelay (both have the Mag64 inside but just different distributors).

3oz of unsalted almonds have 270 mg... sometimes I just do that. Navy and black beans, also are high. Green veggies have chlorophyll and hence magnesium (magnesium is in the chlorophyll molecule).

The Chantix is a dopamine agonist... so when you stopped it, you could have stressed the muscles. Dopamine agonists are used for restless legs and PD. One doctor offered me Sinemet for my cramps, (the dopamine agonists weren't on the market then), but I passed on that. I went the magnesium route.
Suddenly stopping the Chantix would have been stressful metabolically for you, even if you didn't notice it.

Mrs D, Thanks for the heads-up.
I'll try to find the slow-mag or 64. I'm not near a WalMart, Costko, or Kmart. They're waaay across town in the suburbs, I'm in the heart of the city, but I'll try to find it, maybe make a trek on a day off.
I like Black Beans, and have greens (collards, turnip, kale, etc) frequently.
Just had Black-eye peas w/ham-hocks and Collards cooked w/bacon for New year's day (That's Southern good-luck food for the New Year- my wife's from Missouri & we live in MD) - maybe that helped reduce the pains (?). I had two big helpings of greens. Still have some left in the 'fridge', prolly should finish them off!

I take a daily--
 

--225mg magnesium citrate pill (from Swanson Vitamins) and it's pretty d**n large.

Yes, the magnesium malate from Puritan's is basically a "horse pill"... as we commonly call those huge ones. If the tablet is not labeled "delayed release", it can be cut in half etc.

You cannot cut SlowMags, but they are not so huge IMO. And they are coated and slippery and go down easily.

Those other huge chelates are another story!

I am going to try out the cream by Kirkman soon, and I'll put up a post when I get around to it, maybe in a week or so.
I don't expect to be able to tolerate metformin with oral magnesium for myself. I am so sensitive GI wise etc.

I assume they ruled out intermittent claudication.

I also read that calf pain and buttock pain comes with autonomic dysfunction as those muscles attempt to return blood upward they tense.

But please get the intermittent claudication thing ruled out first.

Wow, did I have a horrible attack tonight. I went through a bad time with leg/feet cramps over the summer when I gave up dairy, but they seemed to resolve when I started back with the dairy and supplemented as necessary.

Tonight, I can only attribute the "attack" to eating something way too salty. Unfortunately right afterwards, I ran out to do errands, and was practically debilitated. I think every muscle in my feet and lower legs were affected to the point where I was unable to control my feet. I was worried about driving obviously, but thankfully was able to use cruise control for the bulk of drive and kept cramping at bay by constantly moving and extending my feet.

I could barely walk when I got home. I immediately drank about 20 oz of water, popped two calcium supplements, a Mag64 and a potassium supplement. Something in that mix resolved the problem pretty quickly, and I've been fine since.

As I thought about it, I was very weak on calcium intake today, but I had taken a Mag64 earlier in the day, so I assume it wasn't just that. I can only guess that the sodium did something really bad, maybe in conjunction with low calcium? Or maybe it was just dehydration, but I've NEVER had cramps like that from dehydration. It was downright frightening.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this that they can attribute to excess sodium?

I have to change doctors with a change in health insurance, and think I'm going to make an appointment just to see if the new doc has any thoughts. If anyone can suggest any tests that might be good to run, I'm all ears.

^^I experience those cramps all the time, but I do not have a clue as to what causes them. Mine come at night.

I got them at night during the summer too. I've never had them during my waking hours like this, though.

I- perhaps wrongly- assume that when this happens it is a poor hydration day, not enough to eat, the like. But it is indeed brutal.

Turn my ankleto the right, spasming. And not a gentle one (if there is such a thing) but my foot will feel like it is folding into itself and if it is in bed there is enough noise there are twp of us working it out.

I think it is hydration related for me because it happened more in the summer and when it happened this past week it was milder and I was able to halt proceedings before they got too far with cessation of movement and massage.

When my legs are in a bad was the epsom salt lotion comes out, though.

One of my residents I work with has diabetes insipidus. Her sodium level often gets high and she has to drink tons of water to lower it. When it gets high, she gets extremely weak, especially her feet and proximal muscles.
Not saying you have diabetes insipidus.....just thinking maybe there is a link to high sodium and muscle weakness.

I definitely am on the pre-diabetic sprectrum somewhere, so I'm going to watch this. I have low-normal blood pressure, so watching my salt is not something I've ever worried about. I'm going to start paying more attention, after all, when you read about neuropathy, you'll hear a lot about "sodium channels" being involved.

Thanks for the responses.

I run a low sodium and I have a tendency to over-hydrate, so my thought has always been that the cramps are related to low magnesium and potassium. Not long ago, when I mentioned this, mrsD brought up, among other things, Epsom-It lotion as a possible treatment.

Calcium plus D3 plus enzyme
 

I read that the above would resolve a large percentage of cramping issues. I was unable to find the Three together so I am trying the Calcium plus D3. Good Luck, Ken in Texas.

Diabetes insipidus is different than the type I or type II diabetes. I will let you google it though, because I only know the basics on it, and you will get more accurate info if you read it.

i experienced severe leg cramps for many years, most of them at night while sleeping. Nothing like waking up to one of those. Often the muscle affected would be sore for a few days after. Since ive been taking Slo Mag they have almost completely ceased. i still get one once in a blue but thats it.

Leg cramps were the second symptom I experienced at the beginning of all this (first was twitching - then cramping). Tried all the usual supplements with not much improvement. However, when I went on Gabapentin they resolved about 90%.

I'm not suggesting that anyone should run out and have their doctor prescribe gabapentin just because they have a few leg cramps. But I was to the point where I could no longer drive any distance - and my job requires long drives. If I couldn't drive, I couldn't work. And, if I couldn't work, well...............

Just something that could be considered, if the cramping is really impacting your life in a bad way - and nothing else works for you.