Very painful leg cramps

[MamaBearTeacher]

Last night before bed my legs were a little sore but I did not think much of it. I woke up in the middle of the night and they were really painful like very bad growing pains, mostly in my thighs. I did not sleep all night. I felt a lot better after breakfast but it seems to be coming back now. What could be causing this?

[proudmamma]

maybe you are vitamin D deficient! Do some research on it and see...

 

Also, magnesium will help !!

[Mandamom]

I use to deal with that a lot (during pregnancy it was even worse) and found that if I made sure to increase my postassium that they went away for the most part.

 

BUT, I also agree with the previous poster in that they have gone away permanently now that I've increased my Vitamin D and take a good multivitamin.

 

Basically, it came down to that my leg cramps were caused by vitamin deficiencies.

 

I hope your leg cramps were as easy to cure as mine were.

[Jean in Newcastle]

A number of deficiencies can cause leg cramps. When I get them, I eat a banana (for potassium), and take some CalMag (obviously for calcium and magnesium).

[MamaBearTeacher]

I still have them. They are worse when I sit or lie down and seem to go away when I'm eating. I was eating all day yesterday before it started and my stomach has been grumbling today whenever I'm not eating so maybe it's a deficiency. But does a deficiency come all of a sudden like this? I generally eat well and healthy though I just had my period so maybe I lost too much of something.

[Jean in Newcastle]

But does a deficiency come all of a sudden like this?

 

For me, yes. I will be doing fine and perhaps not be eating as much of fruit with potassium in it, for example. Or calcium rich foods. Then I'll get leg cramps, and will have to supplement. I do take a Cal-Mag supplement a couple of times a week now regularly (I don't take more often than that because in my case then I start to get too much and will have diarrhea). For potassium, I eat enough potassium rich foods that I'm usually fine and my body can get enough by making sure that I eat a banana when I seem low and am having leg cramps.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Up your milk! I had that really bad when I was pregnant and my dr told me to drink alot of milk and a glass just before bed, they went away!

[Cricket]

Up your milk! I had that really bad when I was pregnant and my dr told me to drink alot of milk and a glass just before bed, they went away!

 

:iagree: I started having leg cramps and they went away after I started taking a calcium supplement.

[Stacia]

If you happen to take birth control pills, this could be a (bad) side-effect. If so, please talk w/ your dr. asap (esp re: the possibility of blood clots).

[Marsha]

Leg Cramps can be a deficiency of Pantothenic Acid.

[MamaBearTeacher]

Could it be blood clots if I am not on birth control? It is very painful if I lie down or sit but I want to lie down because I did not sleep much last night. I took a multi this morning and will take a good cal-mag-vit D with dinner. How long will it take to work? The pain is quite bad and I don't see how I'll be able to sleep tonight.

 

I cut back on dairy a couple of weeks ago because I had a bad cold/infection. I've been pretty hungry this past week.

[plain jane]

I've been having a lot of those lately. My naturapath told me that the usual suspects are low levels of calcium/magnesium or potassium or dehydration. I was told to take more of my cal/mag sup. eat more bananas, and make sure I was drinking a few extra glasses of water each day. I'm not sure which it was, but slowly but surely, my painful cramps (which would wake me and keep me up) went away.

[plain jane]

Could it be blood clots if I am not on birth control? It is very painful if I lie down or sit but I want to lie down because I did not sleep much last night. I took a multi this morning and will take a good cal-mag-vit D with dinner. How long will it take to work? The pain is quite bad and I don't see how I'll be able to sleep tonight.

 

I cut back on dairy a couple of weeks ago because I had a bad cold/infection. I've been pretty hungry this past week.

 

 

I had really bad leg cramps recently too- they started suddenly and were more painful than I've ever experienced.

 

As mentioned in the post above, I upped my cal/mag intake (I take these supplements at bedtime), ate more bananas, and drank more water.

 

I'm not sure which did it, but eventually my leg cramps went away. It took a long time for me though. I've had cramps before and they've never taken this long to clear up. I'd say it was 3 weeks of upping all my supplements before I noticed I was finally sleeping through the night without being woken up by them.

 

Hang in there, I know it stinks. :grouphug:

[tex-mex]

I do not wish to scare you -- but if you are diabetic, it could be the beginning of peripheral neuropathy. If you have a hemoglobin issue, it could be (iron resistant) hemolytic anemia, thin red blood cells, or an inherited trait. I have both diabetes and Hb C disease. My legs and joints are in pain often -- especially late at night. Have you tried an OTC remedy, B12, or analgesic? Drinking lots of water (6-8 glasses) daily really helps along with raising legs up at night for a few hours before bedtime.

Edited August 1, 2010 by tex-mex

[MamaBearTeacher]

I looked up the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and it doesn't sound the same. (though I did have high blood sugar in one of my pregnancies) This feels more like growing pains, only worse and I'm not growing. It is likely dehydration or a deficiency.

 

How do I make it go away faster other than supplements? Exercise my legs or rest and endure the pain or somewhere in between? Should I take a bath or use heat?

[Jean in Newcastle]

I looked up the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and it doesn't sound the same. (though I did have high blood sugar in one of my pregnancies) This feels more like growing pains, only worse and I'm not growing. It is likely dehydration or a deficiency.

 

How do I make it go away faster other than supplements? Exercise my legs or rest and endure the pain or somewhere in between? Should I take a bath or use heat?

 

Yes, take a bath with epsom salts. Epsom salts are magnesium and it will get absorbed right into your tissues. In fact, this is the best way to get magnesium because you can take more this way whereas if you take it orally you can get diarrhea.

 

Do some gentle stretching to stretch those muscles that have cramped up. You can rub arnica (a homeopathic remedy for sore muscles etc.) on your legs. Or you could rub something like ben-gay on them.

 

Take the calcium either by having milk, or in a pill. Take the potassium either by having a banana or in a pill.

 

If you need Calcium, magnesium or potassium you should start to feel relief within a couple of days. If it is a vitamin D deficiency then it may take longer to start to feel relief in my experience (but then that would really depend on how low your levels are).

[Stacia]

Could it be blood clots if I am not on birth control?

 

Sorry, but I don't know. I would think the possibility would be less likely, though.