Razbry
Well-Known Member
Just the thing I think should be documented in, "I'll Show You Mine, If You show me yours"
leg/foot cramps? anyone else have them
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Brandy
Freddled gruntbuggly
I was just researching CoQ10 for somebody on OH and stumbled on to a few people talking about how these solved their cramping problem. No idea if this will help, but VitaLady sells them, suggests one a day @~$15 for 30 pills. Might be worth a shot.
newanatomy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2014
- Messages
- 2,983
I had thought of this, too then forgot again. I know the drug Lipitor is famous for lowering the Co Q10 enzyme. I know my Cholesterol is perfect now, maybe while it has been plummeting, this enzyme has too. I think I will give it a try. I buy the Co Q10 for my husband so I will just share for a while.
Sandy
Been Around A While
marissamast
3X to small in 13 mos. Love my DS
I get cramps in my feet and my calves, usually in the middle of the night...my toes start spreading or turning under, my calves tighten up to where I can't put my heel down...I pop 2 potassium pills with at least 4 to 6 oz of water and it will stop it every time.
chevtow
Well-Known Member
I used to get these frequently. What I started doing, and this could be coincidence, is I do leg stretches everyday. Stretch my quads, hamstrings, calves, and pump my ankles. Takes about 5 minutes everyday, do it morning and night. YMMV but I thought I'd throw it out there.
SHales
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2014
- Messages
- 442
I am not normally dehydrated as I try to drink over 120 ounces of fluids daily but I do notice that I get foot cramps more in the summer and on the days that I have done some type of physical exertion that is out of the ordinary. Now I will drink an extra glass or 2 of water on those days. I really suffered with them when I ran out of magnesium for about 2 weeks, (I have to order online, none available here) even though my magnesium levels are in 'normal' range. I haven't had any for months now. KNOCK ON WOOD!!
Brandy
Freddled gruntbuggly
Not a preventative, but I just remembered a weird remedy to try that it did work for me pre-surgery. I haven't tried it post surgery.
A shot of pickle juice.
Something about the electrolytes, salt and water theoretically speeds recovery over everything else [1]. The lady at the Pickle Booth told me it's because it is a "live culture" food, what ever that means.
A shot of pickle juice.
Something about the electrolytes, salt and water theoretically speeds recovery over everything else [1]. The lady at the Pickle Booth told me it's because it is a "live culture" food, what ever that means.
I cant post links yet, too new. Search "Hylands Leg Cramp Pills"
These are over the counter and work great. I get the described cramps so bad that it affects my sleep at times. Since finding these pills the problem is gone. I usually know that I will cramp after long drives, long term standing, climbing or working on uneven surfaces. I also take the same product as a sublingual. In the middle of a severe cramp I can pop two under my tongue and 5-10 minutes later I am fine for the night.
Not sure on cause, but these will offer relief. Good luck. EW
These are over the counter and work great. I get the described cramps so bad that it affects my sleep at times. Since finding these pills the problem is gone. I usually know that I will cramp after long drives, long term standing, climbing or working on uneven surfaces. I also take the same product as a sublingual. In the middle of a severe cramp I can pop two under my tongue and 5-10 minutes later I am fine for the night.
Not sure on cause, but these will offer relief. Good luck. EW
Brandy
Freddled gruntbuggly
Something has worked for me.
I had never actually cramped, but about 3 times a week I woke up knowing that if I moved my foot in a particular way it would cramp. But I realized yesterday that feeling has totally gone away. I did a big change up in my supplements after my six month blood work. Unfortunately, I don't know what change helped the pre-cramps. I am also sleeping better (and more) than I have in decades, which is very nice.
It might have been the changes to magnesium which is one of the top things "they" say fights cramps. I realized that my dose was all over the place because I was mostly taking magnesium oxide to combat constipation. My six month blood showed I was in normal range, but on the low side of normal, so I decided to stop taking any of the oxide form but instead switch to other poop strategies and switch to magnesium glycinate, which is supposed to be the easiest to absorb. I ended up with Carlson Chelated Magnesium, which I've been working my way to a 600 mg dose (I get another 600 mg of magnesium from Bone-Up, Multivites, etc.).
Another thing it could be would be CoQ-10. After reading about it on OH and cramps I figured WTH.
Or perhaps it something in the Nature's Way Hydraplenish with MSN. I had a bottle of this from before the surgery and I started it up again hoping that the collagen might help my skin shrink. My 90 year old Mom swears that Hyaluronic Acid is the only thing that keeps her body moving. I read a pin that sulfur (MSM) deficiencies can cause cramping, but I didn't dig into that, and so I don't really know. I've only been taking a half dose of this but it could have been anything in this that fixed the pre-cramps:
I did start a probiotic but it is a crappy one that I had on hand that theoretically doesn't have a high enough actual dose to change anything in your gut, but I thought I would use it until the good stuff I ordered got here as a way to gently ramp up.
Oh, and the last big change was that I now double scoop all my protein drinks. I know DS Facts says we only digest 30 g at a time and quotes one study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3197704/. But those were healthy volunteers who probably didn't need more protein and it was a small study. It was about eating large .vs. small chunk of beef at one sitting, which is a very different experience to me than sipping on my protein shake over the course of an hour or two. Also, we know that different types of proteins digest at very different speeds. I just don't think the beef meal study has enough similar to sipping high quality whey isolate over hours to draw good conclusions. ASMBS say "One popular myth is that only 30 g/hr of protein can be absorbed. Although this is commonly found in both lay and some professional literature, there is no scientific basis for this claim." Perhaps I'm wasting money, but perhaps getting to daily protein levels around 150 g that stopped the cramps.
I've learned I have to slowly transition my pills, so I can't give a definitive list of exactly what I've been taking. I've been moving towards this:
2 Centrum Silver, 2 Celebrate Multi High ADEK, 2 VitaLady Vit A, 2 Proferrin ES, 2 Kirkland chewable Vit C, 1 Country Life Biotin, 2 UpCal D scoops, 3 Bone-up Three Pills, 3 Carlson Magnesium, 3 BioTech D3 Plus, Miralax, 2 Now Aloe, 3 Kirkland Stool Softeners, 4 fiber gummies, 1 Vitacost 15-35. And during this time I moved a few pills from daily to weekly: VitaLady D3 50k, Carlson B1, Nu Colony Potassium, VitaLady K1, 5 drops BioSil. My only previous weekly pill was a Kirkland B-Complex.
Sorry I can't narrow this down. As I change my program in the future and if the cramps every come back, I will update.
I had never actually cramped, but about 3 times a week I woke up knowing that if I moved my foot in a particular way it would cramp. But I realized yesterday that feeling has totally gone away. I did a big change up in my supplements after my six month blood work. Unfortunately, I don't know what change helped the pre-cramps. I am also sleeping better (and more) than I have in decades, which is very nice.
It might have been the changes to magnesium which is one of the top things "they" say fights cramps. I realized that my dose was all over the place because I was mostly taking magnesium oxide to combat constipation. My six month blood showed I was in normal range, but on the low side of normal, so I decided to stop taking any of the oxide form but instead switch to other poop strategies and switch to magnesium glycinate, which is supposed to be the easiest to absorb. I ended up with Carlson Chelated Magnesium, which I've been working my way to a 600 mg dose (I get another 600 mg of magnesium from Bone-Up, Multivites, etc.).
Another thing it could be would be CoQ-10. After reading about it on OH and cramps I figured WTH.
Or perhaps it something in the Nature's Way Hydraplenish with MSN. I had a bottle of this from before the surgery and I started it up again hoping that the collagen might help my skin shrink. My 90 year old Mom swears that Hyaluronic Acid is the only thing that keeps her body moving. I read a pin that sulfur (MSM) deficiencies can cause cramping, but I didn't dig into that, and so I don't really know. I've only been taking a half dose of this but it could have been anything in this that fixed the pre-cramps:
I did start a probiotic but it is a crappy one that I had on hand that theoretically doesn't have a high enough actual dose to change anything in your gut, but I thought I would use it until the good stuff I ordered got here as a way to gently ramp up.
Oh, and the last big change was that I now double scoop all my protein drinks. I know DS Facts says we only digest 30 g at a time and quotes one study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3197704/. But those were healthy volunteers who probably didn't need more protein and it was a small study. It was about eating large .vs. small chunk of beef at one sitting, which is a very different experience to me than sipping on my protein shake over the course of an hour or two. Also, we know that different types of proteins digest at very different speeds. I just don't think the beef meal study has enough similar to sipping high quality whey isolate over hours to draw good conclusions. ASMBS say "One popular myth is that only 30 g/hr of protein can be absorbed. Although this is commonly found in both lay and some professional literature, there is no scientific basis for this claim." Perhaps I'm wasting money, but perhaps getting to daily protein levels around 150 g that stopped the cramps.
I've learned I have to slowly transition my pills, so I can't give a definitive list of exactly what I've been taking. I've been moving towards this:
2 Centrum Silver, 2 Celebrate Multi High ADEK, 2 VitaLady Vit A, 2 Proferrin ES, 2 Kirkland chewable Vit C, 1 Country Life Biotin, 2 UpCal D scoops, 3 Bone-up Three Pills, 3 Carlson Magnesium, 3 BioTech D3 Plus, Miralax, 2 Now Aloe, 3 Kirkland Stool Softeners, 4 fiber gummies, 1 Vitacost 15-35. And during this time I moved a few pills from daily to weekly: VitaLady D3 50k, Carlson B1, Nu Colony Potassium, VitaLady K1, 5 drops BioSil. My only previous weekly pill was a Kirkland B-Complex.
Sorry I can't narrow this down. As I change my program in the future and if the cramps every come back, I will update.
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Honeybeeblue
Well-Known Member
Hey so my blood work came in, the results surprised me. My iron and B12 were really high. The leg issue were caused by high B12. I cut the iron and B12 to half and my legs feel better already. Also I got fatty liver again and my doctor said that's one symptom of low protien so increase protein intake to 200 a day.
Will2014
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2014
- Messages
- 361
Assuming no electrolyte imbalances, as you indicate your labs are very good, I can only assume dehydration is the likely culprit causing cramps. Just as the number one cause of headache pain is dehydration, so too can it result in muscle cramping. The fact that many times cramps occur while we are in bed, after not eating/drinking for many hours, adds to my suspicion. Many times we're dehydrated without any sense of thirst or mouth dryness. Remember too that once we're dehydrated the fluids we take in are often used to clear wastes,etc. and aren't made available for general body use for rehydrating cells,etc. In other words, you may drink a quart of fluids, but you'll not have that whole quart available for rehydration purposes. The body will steal over half just to flush your kidneys, clear out cellular wastes, toxins , etc. Pound fluid if you ever get a cramp...and I do mean pound fluids over time. Because short of IV fluid intake, it will take hours to get back to a normal state of hydration once you've gone over to the dark side.
B12 can drop in a heartbeat. How high is too high? Mine is well over 2000 and I still do not have issues.
B6 being too high IS a major issue.
