Bad night calf cramp... what to do?

Sounds like a charley horse?? See how much potassium you're getting in your diet. They say a banana a day keeps cramps away! Are you properly hydrated? Are you stretching properly before and after exercise? Was it in your calf? That's where I usually get them. For post charley horse pain the only thing I can suggest is stretching your calf out. Stand on a stair facing upwards with your toes on the edge, hang onto the railing for balance and slowly lower yourself to stretch your calves. Or, just stand on flat ground and raise onto your toes, I personally don't find I get enough stretch doing that though.

Throughout my life I have experienced these on occasion ... and foot cramps in the middle of the night too.

Over the past few years, the number I've experienced has increased ... and in the last year or 18 months it seems to happen a lot.

I watch my electrolytes. I am hydrated. I stretch.

And then my husband suggested something ... from his observation, I seem to get the cramps right around my periods. A lot of weird things happen right around my periods. But two things ... night sweats and foot or calf cramps seem to happen together and quite consistently.

I hobbled around around for about 2 days after a particularly bad calf cramp last month. Stretching does help, as does walking.

I take magnesium at night to help with leg spams

I can't speak for the OP, but I make sure I get all the electrolytes ... sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, etc. ... and yet it still happens.

I have kidney stones ... but aside from that, I've been checked. None of the webmd conditions apply.


My guess is what my husband observed ... I go into a perimenopausal night sweat just before my periods start, perhaps dehydrate myself and/or sweat out my electrolytes because everything is absolutely soaked when that happens ... and then cramp.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I take a daily magnesium supplement and also make sure I get enough potassium. During an acute attack, I've found that raw ACV provides some relief as well...that's about the only thing I can say about ACV that I've found to be true, but it's still anecdotal.

i have tried it based on a recommendation for some gerd/reflux. i am amazed, it actually does a kick *kitten* job. pro-tip

Francl27 wrote: »

I've had them all my life but this was one of the worst... it probably lasted close to a minute and I actually woke up 3 times from the pain afterwards

Calves usually cramp from being chronically tight, which reduces the flow of electrolytes like potassium & magnesium in and out of the muscle, causing it to seize up. It happens at night because circulation to the calves is reduced then. The common reason for tight calves is wearing shoes with a raised heel, which most shoes have. Switch to "zero heel" shoes (Keds, Toms, skateboard shoes, etc). Also stretch your calves every hour or 2 for 30+ seconds.

When I was pregnant and got miserable cramps, my doctor told me to eat half a banana every day and take two tums before bed.

It seemed to work.

A potassium pill takes this problem away for me. Sometimes at night, my legs start to get "restless" and that's the first sign. I get up and take a pill, it goes away.

If you stretch in bed make sure to point your toes up to stretch the calf instead of contracting it.

mmmmm pickle juice. i'm going to have to go buy me some pickles.

right now i'm in the magnesium camp. i don't take it daily as reading up on what overdose looks like gave me the skriks. but it's exactly where i always let that walk-it-off stomp take me at 3 am - straight to the kitchen for the magnesium tabs.

it does work, and thank goodness for that. i've had calf cramps off and on all my life, but it's actually frightening when it's your adductors or quads that seem to be trying to tear themselves free.