worked with an older guy (read my age now) when I was guiding, he always slept in the cook tent by himself due to leg cramps or so he said, I thought it was odd but hey works for me.


but as I've gotten older I get them now and they seem to be with more frequency and intensity


right calf woke me up at 5 a.m. and I could tell there was gonna be problems before going to bed I felt it twitching

guess I should have drank the pickle juice before going to bed instead of hobblin in there one legged and pouring a cup.


normally have a pretty decent pain threshold, but these sumbitches hurt. Anyone else get em?

yes! I get them pretty often, tried home remedies of bananas, pickle juice, and mustard (one at a time) still got them same as ever.

Great thread!!!

I don't but know a guy that does...he swears by jello. He mixes the powder up with warm water and drinks it. My wife also gets them at times, she says magnesium helps...

I do but a quick jab to the offending muscle with an ice-pick seems to always prove who will be calling the shots during slumber.

I used to but started drinking a cup of bone broth every day and they stopped. You can buy it for under $2.00 a quart at Wal-Mart and actually tastes pretty dang good heated up.

Lack of potassium, magnesium, or water (dehydration) are often culprits. I had some dandy cramps after pushing deer all day. Lack of water for my case. Drank a few bottles of water and a banana and I was better.

Tonic water (the nasty chit with quinine) is what doctors and nurses recommended to me.

I used to get bad leg cramps middle of the night after dialysis.

Water and seasalt... Pink

I can still get them if I try just a little, but I try not to get too dehydrated before I retire and don't mind getting up in the middle of the night. My wife makes the bed with the sheets pulled down too tight so I have to keep those "kicked out" when I sleep. Occasionally I sleep with cotton socks on to keep my feet warm and avoid tightening up. Old age ain't for sissies.

Could be all that or it could be spinal stenosis. Only one thing will fix that. Surgery.
If it is stenosis, it will only get worse. Better get it looked at by a Dr.

Fink65 Yeah old age is not lots of fun some days(I'm 75) but it's a gift denied to many.

I stopped drinking caffeinated coffee and went total decaf in the morning. I also started adding more salt to my diet. Drinking decaf in the morning helps to hydrate me. If I drink caffeinated coffee in the afternoon or I drink too much alcohol I have some pretty bad leg cramps at night since both tend to dehydrate me. Adding a multi B vitamin every few days seems to help also.

kwg

get em once in a while.

Get them once in the proverbial blue moon, usually at night in bed. The muscle of my calf knots up in a ball the size of a golf ball and every bit as hard, I cana barely stand up the pain is so intense they take a day or two to completely resolve. Last time it happened the anesthesiologist was prepping me for rotator cuff surgery, I cried out in agony and he leaped across the gurney and grabbed my leg. Never told me how he knew exactly what to do, didn't matter just so long as he kept the muscle from knotting up.

My wife has complained about them occasionally for several years. She has a really high pain tolerance, so I didn't think think that they were probably any worse than a regular muscle cramp until I got my first one a month or so back. Sumbitching calf clenched up and got me out of bed and had me wide awake immediately. Damn calf ached for about a day and a half after that.

If I make a couple trips up and down the tree in a climbing tree stand, I'm certain to get them that night. It really helps for me to take a couple Aleve before bed. No amount of drinking or stretching seems to make any difference.

A side note in 2010...I fell off a 10' wall to concrete and landed on my side /broke nothing...but. I get a cramp now and then...... INSIDE my chest ...muscle that holds your parts inside together.... Good god !!!! Their ain't a thing you can do to stretch it /nothing but a cramp from hell !!!! Like 4 big toe cramps at the same time......I suck !!!!

I get them now and then, and have been for about ten years now. I normally awaken just as soon as it starts. I'll dive outa bed and try to stand so as to keep the offending calf muscle stretched out and usually it's gone in about thirty seconds. Recently I had one I could not head off, had to just lay there and take it. I might oughta keep that Smith Model 10 a little further out of reach. One night I dived out of bed and lost my balance and crashed into the wall. My poor wife thought she was in the market for a funeral.

During fishing season, I get them every time I go out on Erie from fighting the waves with your leg muscles all day.
You don't even notice your doing it 'till the cramps hit at night.
I also get hand cramps from reeling all day. I've driven home over 90 miles with turning the steering wheel with my wrists.
Nothing like standing next to your bed, unable to move, with tears of pain in your eyes for 2 to 4 hours at night.

Best I found is quinine water, but it doesn't work at least 1/2 the time.

Bad part is, I'll be back out on Erie the next day.

"I'm to sick to fish" was said by nobody, ever.

Tarry-
I'll bet you have a rib or two that is/are subluxed (out of place).
See a good chiropractor.
BTDT.

I blame my foot cramps on atorvastatin.

misery loves company

and calf cramp is a miserable sumbitch.

some of you (gunswizard and bruinruin for two) have the same as me, cramps so hard that it's sore for a couple days after. I drink a lot of water. But I did have coffee yesterday afternoon, it's been colder than a witch's teat here so a cuppa seemed like a good warm up.

I prolly need to see about taking some magnesium anyway. Bone broth is interesting, but dang I'm afraid I'd run out of bones at a cup a day.

appreciate the replies gents and any cures or remedies you come up with.

me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Howdy - saw your whiny-ass thread about leg cramps. One sure way to get these things going is to get dehydrated when you are on your feet a lot. The best way to avoid them is to gulp down some Gatorade or such - it has all the required chemicals. You are welcome.

/s/ Your Hero, Joe


got this via pm, it was just too classic of a response not to share. I repllied, those calf cramps bring the sissy in me purt near the surface

Have had a lot of nerve damage from back probs. Even after surgery cramps front and back of leg at same time developed. Magnesium. Only thing that has helped.

Benadryl works like magic! Works in under a minute, the problem is it makes me sleepy! I take about half a pill. I use the cheap Wallmart generic.

Try "Hyland's Leg Cramps". It's an over the counter holistic remedy. No side effects I'm aware of. I think most pharmacies, Walmart and Amazon carry it. Works well for me and two other older people I know of. A guy I fish with recommended them. He gets leg cramps after sitting in the same position for a few hours in a small boat. He takes one when he feels the leg cramp starting and says the pill knocks it right out. I get them sometimes at night after a few hours sleep. One or two pills and they're gone within a few minutes. I recommended them to my brother and he said they work great.

Not very expensive. Amazon sells them for around $12.00 a hundred tablets

Yeah, Yeah!!

seriously.......eat bananas

https://livewell.jillianmichaels.com/can-bananas-good-muscle-cramps-5569.html

I've been having killer foot cramps the past week or so. Bad.

I take a statin drug too, so that's probably the reason.

Wife uses this, and it works. She does have other contributing factors which are not easily addressed. If we all could get spine, nerve, and muscle transplants these would all go away

so bad they bruise . take magnesium every night . helps alot. mine are compounded by having MS. have had them in my ankles that would turn the ankle sidways so far i was sure i'd hear a snap any minute.

just had the wife look these up, Wally World .com has them for $10.45, will try it!

Bananas, potassium, if you take lisinopril, that keeps the kidneys from ridding excess potassium. I just get up , hop to the bathroom, then try to get back to sleep. Usually with somewhat limited success.

I'd go for a body transplant.

Nobody said to swill some vinegar everyday before bedtime?

am thinkin that's where the pickle juice plays a role Don, mild vinegar.


or are you suggesting I just use vinegar as a mouthwash so the missus don't bother me? No worries there pard.

Yup.
Pharmacist said she never heard of such a thing.

Two minutes later she is saying she is sorry. Right in the medical books !

She had gone and looked it up.

And yes. It works fast.

I get them severely after long distance bike rides or hikes in the mountains. The only treatment that works exceedingly well is: Dr. Healy's Biogenics Magnesium Lotion. Stops cramps almost instantly for a long time.

i have had 4 or 5 in one leg an 5 or 6 in the other at the same time .when i moved at night .found out my blood pres med made my potasume high dr put me on meds to bring it down.cramps went off the charts stop taking the meds an i have not had no more problems. one nite if i could have made it back to head board of the bed i would notto have a nother one

I go off and on getting cramps. I hate waking up in the middle of the night, because I can't just straighten my foot I have to get up and stand on that let with the cramp. The dog sleeps on the rug next to my side of the bed and end up stepping on him half the time. I take a couple of potassium each night and it helps. I also take some blue pills from Costco, that's like Tylenol pm, only the generic type pill. Not sure if that helps but it helps me get to sleep. Seems like every time I think I've been doing ok with the cramps, and back off to one tablet, I get the cramps again. Bad deal is when it happens I have trouble getting back to sleep.

[/quote]


THIS! I get them where they run from my taint down the inside of my leg to the tendons on the back of my knee. When it's a bad one I almost cry like a bish. I tried benedryl and it didn't help. Tried bananas, potassium pills, and tons of gatorade. None of them helped me. Only 2 things I've found that do. Chugging pickle juice, and the Hyland's. But not the pills you swallow, the tablets you dissolve under your tongue. They are friggin magic I swear. Put 2 or three under your tongue and just wait a couple minutes.

Wifey gets them after we go dancing, pickle juice helps her.

man some good chit here fellas,

thank you all


never ceases to amaze me what's available vis a vis our collective experiences.

gonna grab some benadryl, actually probably have it for bug bites (talkin severe bug bites where you swell up) and some Dr. Healy's Mag lotion

Not sure if this is the same thing that the OP complained of, but about a year ago my legs started to get weird twitchy feelings along the hamstring at night (and only at night). Not quite cramps, but it kept me awake and I had to stretch out the leg every few minutes. My doctor said it was restless leg syndrome and gave me gabapentin. Cured it right away.

Quinine, have been using it when necessary at least 30 years now, maybe 40.

Some great information so far . After I had my first knee replaced they sent me home ( too early ) and I had Calf pain so bad I yelled every step I took ( and I was on Pain Meds ) . Went back in the Hospital for a few days and worked my way out of that fiasco . Several years later I was scheduled for my second knee replacement and was out doing the local Garage Sale Circuit . Talked to another old Geezer who said he had terrible Calf pain and went to all the local Specialists to no avail . Someone told him to take a Walmart over-the-counter called Slow-Mag . Soooo , I decided to try it for about 1-2 weeks just before the second knee replacement . I know it's a small sample size of ONE , but guess what .....no Calf pain . So you guys have hit on why it worked . It contains Magnesium Chloride , Calcium , and a few other things . I sometimes get those calf cramps in bed , but I hop out quick ( at least quick as my Stenosis allows ) stand up , and the pain goes away in a few seconds . I developed Plantar Fasciitis last summer so now I try some stretching exercises . I sometimes get better info. from listening to folks than from some Doctors ! I should also note that I only took Slow-Mag for a short time as my Doctor in those days told me not to take it long term.

I've been taking magnesium for about 12 years, after having a Liver Transplant in 2006.
Bad thing to get to much. I've had quick trips to the hospital about 4 times to get the level down.

symptoms of magnesium overdose may include:

diarrhea
nausea and vomiting
lethargy
muscle weakness
irregular heartbeat
low blood pressure
urine retention
respiratory distress
cardiac arrest

I don't know HOW many times I've woke up with calf cramps. Often both legs - I wind up on tippy-toe hanging on a wall, until my 200+ pounds can flatten my feet out again.
Since they occur in the early morning, I'm NOT doing Benadryl (makes me too drowsy) - but I'll try the Hylands.
I believe mine stem from a few things - the most important of which is - I can't convince myself I'm not a camel! It almost never occurs to me to drink water.

In their wisdom the drug regulators made quinine prescription. They Maybe partly right, but I forgot how Schweppes Bitter Lemon with quinine used to help wife, and me. Now the best you can do is tonic water with very little quinine in it. Wife does take gabapentin for restless leg, fine line on making her extra drowsy and combatting the problems.

The therapists always tell us to do our stretches, and I do for at least 2 or 3 days after getting told.

same for me mark


most often get them very early morning. one poster sez he just takes half a pill....hmmmm

I go to work late enough though that it might work for me, cramps usually come 4-5 a.m. and ain't no way I'm going back to sleep with that pain, though I tried for awhile this a.m. if I could take a Beny, get rid of the pain and go back to sleep, life would be mo betta

I get them ALL the time. Magnesium has not helped me. I have heard that antihistamines can help but who wants to take Benedryl at 3 am? I get them worse when I am dehydrated but I get them even when I am not too dehydrated some times as well. I wonder what works that can be taken long-term without ill effects.

I get them in my calves and a lot of times in my quads. Very rarely in my hamstrings. Those will make you cry. I can watch my quad quiver like it's in seizure. Only cure is the get up and walk it out. Sure ruins a good night's sleep.

I took mom to Mayo's a few years ago. Spoke with their head nephrologist (kidney doc). He told her in no uncertain terms to piss pale. Drink enough water throughout the day to piss a pale color. Usually at least 8 glasses of water (64 oz). Good for the kidneys, good for hydration which is the best way to avoid cramps.

Also potassium in the form of bananas, sweet potatoes, and avocados among other things..

BTW, Coffee is a natural diuretic. Makes you pee. Excess peeing makes you dehydrated.

I sometimes get terrible cramps in my hamstring and calf. The pain in the hamstring is twice that of the calf. I have to bend down and stretch my hamstring and the damn thing will just twitch like hell. I can’t stand upright until it quits twitching or it will come right back. It seems to happen at church a couple times a year after working hard outside the day before.

! That's me too. I have a couple I do but I only spend a few seconds on them. I have those paper instructions around somewhere, but don't stick with it for long.

when the cramps come on, mix some apple cider vinegar with water and drink it. You can also do it as a preventative measure.

Sorry to hear that atv, specially since theres no muscle inside that holds your insides together.

I wonder what you injured. Maybe wouldnt hurt to get aortas, pancreas, diaphram, etc checked out.

I hope youre taking magnesium, Barry. Its good for the heart, also.

Dennis, you might try some cheap store brand (WWorld, Walgreens, etc) loratadine. Its a great H1 antihistamine that doesnt make you sleepy.

Potassium pills every day for prevention. If I skip a few days, I'll start getting them.

I've been troubled by them for years. Had my right foot lock up on me last night. Jumped out of bed and straighten it. Wished they could all be stopped that easily.
Had a good friend show me the benefits of 800 mg. of Ibuprofen. Hardcore back packers call it "Vitamin I". If I know I'm in for a tough day in the mountains, I take one before starting out and one every -4-5 hrs. And one before I go to bed. Without them, at age 73, I'm going to be in a world of hurt coming out from an opening morning grouse hunt. That hunt is 4.5 miles plus in and a 2700 ft. climb, BTW.
When I'm on my month long hunting trip, I will take one before bed if I've been hiking rough ground much. I sleep much better and never gets cramps. Trust me, after a tough day on the trail, I will get them w/o "Vitamin I". E

Magnesium, zinc and calcium work for me.

Those lucky enough to not have chronic night leg cramps simply can't understand how painful and sleep depriving they are. I get them often, have had the issue since my mid 20's. I take potassium sometimes, have recently started taking it every day. Hope it helps. A couple of years ago my left calf locked up so hard that it woke me up yelling. I jumped out of bed and forced my heel down, desperate to make it stop. It was cramped up so hard that when I shoved my heel down I tore my soleus muscle (the one that runs all the way to the ankle underneath the bigger calf muscle). About half of it tore off and balled up down near my ankle. My calf swelled up to twice the normal size, I bruised all the way from my foot up to the back side of my knee and was on crutches for a couple of weeks. Doc said that if more of that muscle had torn I was looking at surgery. Took a couple of months to walk normally after that.

Oranges or orange juice when bananas are not available.

I have been using Benadryl for many years for cramps, tried loratadine and it does not work anything like as well or as quickly, IME. I usually know when they are likely to come and take Benadryl at bedtime. Very rarely do I cramp in the night after that.

Yes (Dr Art)told me the Benadryl trick just need to take them early at night or have a hangover like feeling in the morning.

I get jolted out of bed at least once / week w/ a calf cramp. I will occasionally get a severe cramp in the large adductor muscles in my thigh following hard climbs or snowshoeing in deep snow. I have found that stretching well after exercise and a banana post workout helps a lot. I drink 1 gallon of water daily w/ electrolyte supplements. If you drink reverse osmosis bottled water it is almost devoid of electrolytes. We set the timer on the phone and get up and move and stretch and exercise hourly for 5 minutes, since starting this regimen we have found that mornings are better. Old age sucks and must be resisted w/ exercise.


mike r

i forgot in my earlier post to mention soy milk. when i lock up i shotgun about 8 oz of soymilk( get the vanilla flavored and it ain't so bad!) will release my cramps within 30 seconds. ymmv

Pickle juice works for me. They seem to cluster, I'll get foot/lower leg cramps three nights in a row and then go weeks without. Doctor also suggested tonic water. Gives me a reason to drink tater sqeezins.

So many different solutions . For those of you that yours is not working have some TONIC water with quinine close at hand, Several have mentioned it and I have used it and it has worked every time.

No expensive pills or or or other things that can cause other problems . Simple and not expensive or toxic, if you use moderation .

I took the advice about the Benadryl for my foot cramps after reading about it here yesterday.

For the past several days, I'd get a cramp in my right foot from the big toe back.. That muscle was getting sore as billy goat's pecker, and getting worse with each cramp.

After I took the Benadryl, I only had one more cramp. It sure has been nice to have some respite from all that!

Thanks!