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I used to have bad leg cramping, too. My doctor told me to take a magnesium supplement. The cramps went away within a day. Periodically when I've stopped taking the magnesium, within a few weeks the cramps would come back. As soon as I start taking the magnesium again, the cramps go away.
I take a supplement that has magnesium and calcium. If Ca is helping, I am not sure, because my doctor said I just needed Mg.
I’ll bump up the conversation, since DH has been having severe muscle cramps at night lately. Dr. Internet said magnesium helps, so he’s started taking it, but so far it hasn’t helped. A friend who has suffered from them (so has his wife) said they take a swig of tonic with quinine when the get a cramp and it seems to help.
Hubby’s doctor offers no suggestions for this, so I wonder if anyone has any new input, besides what has been mentioned.
DH gets semi annual checkups and his labs are perfect.
I’ll bump up the conversation, since DH has been having severe muscle cramps at night lately. Dr. Internet said magnesium helps, so he’s started taking it, but so far it hasn’t helped. A friend who has suffered from them (so has his wife) said they take a swig of tonic with quinine when the get a cramp and it seems to help.
Hubby’s doctor offers no suggestions for this, so I wonder if anyone has any new input, besides what has been mentioned.
DH gets semi annual checkups and his labs are perfect.
If your husband is an older person, it is probably zinc. My dh buys it at the drug store, it's cheap, and it works like magic. He takes it before bed. One time we were on a long road trip and it got so that he couldn't drive due to the leg cramps. He was in agony. Got off the highway and went into a drug store and bought the zinc (that he had forgotten to bring) and he sat there in the car taking it every 15 minutes or so until the leg cramps were completely gone.
He used to take quinine but leg cramps got so bad that it didn't work anymore.
I’ll bump up the conversation, since DH has been having severe muscle cramps at night lately. Dr. Internet said magnesium helps, so he’s started taking it, but so far it hasn’t helped. A friend who has suffered from them (so has his wife) said they take a swig of tonic with quinine when the get a cramp and it seems to help.
Hubby’s doctor offers no suggestions for this, so I wonder if anyone has any new input, besides what has been mentioned.
DH gets semi annual checkups and his labs are perfect.
Starting something new can take some time to get to where it needs to go. I swear by mag and also take extra potassium from foods and also supps. He could be one who comes in at the low end of mag and potassium labs and it's good to get those up higher, this is what I do. Docs will say one is OK regardless of where they come in at the range...low end, mid or uppper.
Muscles can cramp when the water content isn't right, when the ion content isn't right, when the sugar content isn't right, when the oxygen content isn't right, when the vitamin content isn't right or when the way any of those things are handled isn't right.
The cramps can be alleviated by correcting deficiencies or excesses of any of those things, but they can also be treated with di-cations like Mg &/or Ca even when those aren't part of the problem. They act like tranquillizers, so to speak, for cell membrane ion flux. So when someone takes Mg or Ca and the cramps get better, it doesn't necessarily mean they had a deficiency. (If you have hi BP and you take lisinopril and it works, does that mean you had a lisinopril deficiency?)
Drugs like lidocaine or quinidine also slow ion flux across cell membranes (that's why they can be used to treat cardiac dysrhythmias.) Quinine is the "right hand" version of quinidine, a "left hand" molecule. Studies showed it was no better than placebo in treating leg cramps and it was denied its indication 30 yrs ago.
Many times nite cramps are caused by muscle fatigue from hard work or limping around all day on a gimpy leg. Just stretching out the calf muscles at bedtime may be all that is needed to prevent the cramps.
Soap in the bed DOES help. I tried it myself recently with remarkable success. And yes, the effect of soap on leg cramps has been and is being studied. Drinking pickle juice, another "old wives' tale," also works for many people. This article discusses possible reasons:
So he now has a magnesium supplement, a banana supply, a zinc supplement and tonic water with quinine. Fingers crossed.
I had a completely unrelated issue that was TMJ. I was literally clenching my jaw so much that it was causing cramping at night and taking a certain medication that was supposed to help with migraines actually made it worse. I would wake up with searing neck pain, Charley horses, etc. I tried taking magnesium supplements to no avail in multiple formats, but stopping the medication and making sure I was hydrated before bed seemed to do the trick along with wearing the night guard. Yeah I do have to go to the bathroom a little more at night, but it is better than the alternative. I also try to eat a banana a day to prevent random cramping during the day.
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