Mother of all charlie horses... HELP!

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Replies

  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    1) stretch
    2) stay hydrated
    3) eat spinach
    4) eat sweet potatoes
    5) electrolites
  • Crossft_Kitten
    Crossft_Kitten Posts: 2
    Get a diabetes test done. My mum was a poster child for fitness - aerobics, gym and personal training instructor - but she kept getting insane cramps in her legs.
  • VP56
    VP56 Posts: 10 Member
    Drink Tonic water. It contains quinine, which will stop a leg/muscle spasm almost immediately. The taste is not great, but if you can manage about 1/2 cup, your charlie horse will be gone! We keep Tonic water in the fridge all the time.
  • Oscarinmiami
    Oscarinmiami Posts: 326 Member
    sounds like a cramp...more potasium, more water, if you can ride a stationary bike for 15-20 min before you go to bed.
  • rodneyderrick
    rodneyderrick Posts: 483 Member
    Drink plenty of water, eat foods higher in potassium, and take a potassium supplement.
  • jmom376
    jmom376 Posts: 234 Member
    Thank you for all of the tips/tricks. I have also had Charlie Horses the last 2 days. Both mornings I woke up to excruciating pain. I was thinking it might be the colder weather. But who knows.
  • xtaljd
    xtaljd Posts: 17
    When I get bad leg cramps like that I spring up out of bed and walk around. I may be whining and crying the whole time, but it makes them end quicker.
  • sandrop329
    sandrop329 Posts: 26 Member
    I echo the potassium and magnesium (especially from Epsom salt baths). I've heard about the bar of soap thing, though haven't tried it. My husband gets BAD Charlie horses. We keep a little bottle of this stuff called "leg cramps" by the bed. They're little sublingual tablets that contain quinine and they actually help him during an attack. I know that pain! So sorry you're dealing with it! Feel better!

    Here's a pic of the "Leg Cramps"
    8371.jpg

    Edited to fix the picture.
  • Vex3521
    Vex3521 Posts: 385 Member
    Magnesium! I got the first of these pregnant and to someone that hasn't ever had one this severe..... literally it was like someone or something was stripping your calf from your leg a small shred at a time. Ranks up there with the worst pain I have ever been in for my entire life...

    Since my kids I've gotten them rarely but the magnesium saves me every time. I also do a hot compress with a washrag that has Epsom salt on it. It was my grandmother's remedy, works too =)
  • MrsG31
    MrsG31 Posts: 364 Member
    Wow, I never realized how common they were! Good tips everyone, will need to keep in mind for the future! Except for the bananas - I like them, but my tummy does not. :(

    I got a couple while pregnant and yes, it is true that it is common is pregnancy, but usually later in pregnancy, likely due to all the extra weight your a holding and the interesting positions you have to get into to sleep comfortably. I had a really bad one when I was close to my due date with 1st and I woke up screaming in pain - my husband thought I was going into labor. I just flexed & pointed my foot a bunch while hubby massaged my calf. I don't remember if it hurt the next day.
  • devilwhiterose
    devilwhiterose Posts: 1,157 Member
    I got them when I wasn't drinking enough water.
  • maggiemay22467
    maggiemay22467 Posts: 214 Member
    I have them all the time so I found that if I drink water all day and a banana at around 3pm every day has really helped me alot.
  • BenjaminMFP88
    BenjaminMFP88 Posts: 660 Member
    Everyone is mentioning only partial solutions. Often times cramps are caused by an electrolyte depletion and/or imbalance. The list of electrolytes in the body are Sodium, Potassium, Bicarbonate, Magnesium, Chloride, Hydrogen Phosphate and Hydrogen Carbonate. Depending on the person, depletion and/or imbalances in any one of these could cause cramps/charlie horses.

    Potassium is great, but too much filters out Sodium as does water, so recommending this could exascerbate the problem.

    I would recommend ensuring you are hitting the dietary guidelines for the three main electrolytes to start, and if it doesn't work, go to your Dr as this could precourser something else.

    Sodium: Roughly 2500mg per day
    Potassium:Rroughly 4500mg per day
    Magnesium: 300mg for no pregnant and/or breastfeeding, up to 450mg if you are

    Don't worry to much about going a bit over these, so long as you get them.

    Just my two cents...
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    The other members have some good ideas on why you are getting them. I will agree with the member who gave you a strategy on how to relieve them. He is right. You will have instant relief. Point your toes upward so you lengthen/stretch the calf and the pain instantly goes away.

    Yep. This is the only relief for me. It's a pain in the *kitten* since you have to keep holding your leg like that or the pain will come back, but eventually it should dull. Holy crap those hurt. You have my sympathy.
  • OMGeeeHorses
    OMGeeeHorses Posts: 732 Member
    I had one a couple days ago. Ditto to the waking up in the middle of the night, it was 10 times WORSE for me as it was in my already damaged leg from a car accident. My leg stuck straight out and was all tense and wouldn't move at all. I try and rub mine a little bit ( I say little because its SO painful) and that seems to slowly have my muscles release there death grip on me..
  • Cfkearney
    Cfkearney Posts: 197 Member
    I've had that exact same pain. Waking up in screaming pain and my calf muscle a big ol ball of tension. The first time it happened to me I was pregnant. I was told a calcium deficiency could cause that. It's happened since then probably 2 or 3 more times when I wasn't pregnant. It always sucks.

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