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Leg cramps

S

SVcummins

Well-known Member
After a 16 hour day my legs get cramps something terrible is
there any magic potion that will help them from being so bad .
I drink at least a gallon sometimes two a day .
 
Lots of things will help.
Gatorade cut 50/50 with water. Pedialyte.
Bananas and potatoes.
Tonic water.
Potassium and Calcium supplements.
I am sure there are a lot of other options.
 
When I was working, I had trouble with legs cramps in the middle of the night. My wife got some pills for leg cramps I think for the Dollar store. I took 2 before going to bed and that stopped them. I quit taking them after I retired and got along OK until a week or so ago when they started again. I take 2 before bed and no more leg cramps.
 
When I get cramps I will drink pickle juice and or take several spoonfuls of yellow mustard, either one works for me.
 
You won t believe me, but mix a tablespoon of baking soda (yes the stuff in the refrigerator) in a short glass of water. Belch and your cramps will be gone. If I drag myself out of bed and take some as soon as I know a cramp is coming, it will be gone before I can get back in bed. It really works like magic.
 
i am a belever also that too much straight water throws the body out of wack. i always do the gatoraide 1/2 and half thing also. throw a bit of salt and sugar in your water cooler. when i was roughneck on the rigs i could drink a gallon of water a day, but nowhere near now. i find i can drink water and drink water in the hot weather , and it just dont cut it. chug a lug an ice cold beer and all is good.
 
5 months ago I started taking 400 mg of magnesium for a heart issue. Like you, several times during the night, I'd get leg and foot cramps. I haven't had a single one since then. Works for me!


Beagle
 
My mother in law suggested tonic water for me and it worked great. Not the best tasting but it took the severe leg cramps away fast. Kow Farmer Kurt.
 
(quoted from post at 18:38:03 05/21/21) After a 16 hour day my legs get cramps something terrible is
there any magic potion that will help them from being so bad .
I drink at least a gallon sometimes two a day .
Click to expand...

It mite not be a bad idea to go to a clinic and have "blood work" done.

The levels of sodium, potassium, and magnesium in your blood are indicative of certain health problems/conditions an when "out of whack" can cause leg cramps, heart arrhythmia and even DEATH.
 
(quoted from post at 18:38:03 05/21/21) After a 16 hour day my legs get cramps something terrible is
there any magic potion that will help them from being so bad .
I drink at least a gallon sometimes two a day .
Click to expand...

Try some salt tablets....
 
This is what I use.
cvphoto89204.jpg
 
Yellow mustard, the kind youd put on a hotdog. I take 2-3 tablespoons for almost instant relief.
 
I suffer from cramps which are partly caused by my diabetes, the best relief I have found that keeps them away, I found at the YT Pharmaceuticals Advice Tractor Forum and that was to take Q10 capsules. :0)

Another device that a number of my fellow sufferers here in England swear by is a Reviver device that you put your feet on and it sends small electrical pulses through your leg muscles.
 
Probably best to stop looking for some quick fix , and use google old common sense. And by that I mean, be sure to stop and eat regular meals at regular times . Breakfast, lunch and supper. And perhaps take some fruit like apples, orange or bananas along with you to snack on along with some water to drink. Taking time to get out of the drivers seat, and walk around and give your muscles a chance to flex and relax will work wonders. I like to take a hour or so for meal time, and about 20 minutes of that time is nap time after I eat. Never had any issues with leg cramps, or much in the way of other pains. People will look after their equipment with regular maintenance, why not treat your body the same?
 


Because my wife and I are older than dirt and I had my heart problem and died and we made the decision to stay active, my wife did a lot of research into various health problems and how to avoid them. Fist thing is we started eating healthy and lost weight. I got down from 239 to 192. Next we started taking various supplements. The one for cramps is Mag Glycinate which we take at bed time. It is produced by Metagenics. This is probably the same as Super99 and Eagle Beagle take. Plenty of water is important as well.
 
Me too, and I have them about every night whether I do anything during the day or not, or if I drink a lot of water or not. I've even had them when I was in the hospital and asked for some mustard to relieve them. The nurses would bring me a few packs of mustard (thinking I was nuts), but it works for me. Keith
 
Just have to walk them off. Get them in hands as well usually when driving and just have to wait them out.
 
I use to get them sometimes very bad, usually at the end of the day when i get home from a hard day and strain of my legs. Pickle juice does work. Never heard of the yellow mustard, i will try it.
 

I get them real bad. Usually on a hot day when dehydrated or at night. Try sliding out of bed stiff legged when you get charley horses in the back of both thighs and then walk to the refrigerator. I can tell when it is an issue sometimes. When sitting and bend my legs under at less than a 90 degree angle sometimes I can feel them tighten up. Then I head for the frig. Sometimes it does it without warning.

Always drank pickle juice for it. 2 gallon jars of pickles will make a gallon of juice in a milk jug. Take 3 to 7 chugs of juice and then it takes a minute or two. Then I learned about mustard. Take 2 or 3 tablespoons and hold it on your tongue for a while before swallowing or when really in pain, just start squirting some in your mouth from the bottle. Mustard works a lot faster.
Sometimes I will chug some pickle juice before going to bed. I carry a jar of pickles in the car with some mustard packets when traveling. Happened a couple times at McDonalds and have had to stiff leg myself to the counter to ask for some pickles and mustard and they come up with them seeing me in obvious pain. It may be coming into an airconditioned space after being out in the hot and dry air.

I've studied it. Pickle juice is vinegar, salt, and electrolytes. Any of them by themselves don't work. Same for mustard. The mustard seems to tell your brain to relax the muscles.

Now that you started this, guess I'll start a thread about my other issue, restless leg syndrome.
 


I use potassium pills. I'm on a low carb diet so all the drinks and fruits with lotsa carbs are out. The pills and some water work every time. Dead easy.
 
Drinking a lot of water may cause you to be low on essential electrolytes.

You may want to ask a Dr.

My late wife had to take dietetics and she had leg cramps which she took pills for. You need to get electrolytes and get your battery changed.
 
I'll 2nd the potassium pills for helping the cure but if you truthfully examine your intake; you'll figure out what's causing it!
 
Good luck with the cramps George, is it water that you are drinking a gallon or more of each day? Your shopping cart is going to be full with all the suggestions. You didn't mention a visit to your doctor, what did he have to say (assuming you saw him)?
 
Have read through the replies but didn't see this listed, so here goes.

Wife had leg cramps really bad for years. Come to find out it was due to prescription medications; Lipitor and Vytorin. Wife figured out that the first one was causing the cramps, so doctor switched medications. Same result in less than a week, so she took herself off. Doctor was OK with that. She has only had a couple cramps in the past couple of years.
 
I had severe leg cramps for years, my doctor at Mayo prescribed Quinine tablets that worked great. Quinine can no longer be prescribed so he told me to drink tonic water because it contains trace amounts of quinine. I mix it with orange juice and it works well for me. If you stay away from the store brands or the diet, the taste straight isn't that bad. Hope this helps!
 
(quoted from post at 17:52:39 05/22/21) I mix it with orange juice and it works well for me. Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

I like to mix my tonic water with Tangueray. I try to eat one banana every day. Still, if I am on my feet for long periods, I get some pretty stiff cramps sometimes.
 
Are you on your feet most of this time?Could be a shoe problem. I used to get leg pains till I started buying better quality work shoes. I would rotate them , switch between 2 older pairs at work (Heavy duty mechanic) and wear the newest pair back and forth. Then when my legs started aching I would throw out the oldest pair and use the newer pair for work and break a new pair out of the box for back and forth. I found work shoes lasted longer when you didnt wear the same pair every day till they were junk. It could also be electrolyte/ dehydration as many people mentioned. I drink half gatorade or powerade half water and it works for me. If some of these things dont help go to the doctor. Could be you are pushing your self a little too hard too. Good luck .
 
I used to get severe leg cramps and after some research found out it was the statins I was on. Dr put me on something else for cholesterol. Haven't had cramps since.
 
I guess I hate the taste of straight mustard and and pickle
juice so bad Ive never had any luck just makes em tighter
.when I get real bad ones it takes 2 or 3 days for them to
completely relax .
 
Thanks for all the replies Ive tried pickle juice yuk mustard yuk yuk gallons of chocolate milk I have noticed a decrease in cramps drinking a Gatorade or Powerade a day but I really dont like the sweet . Im going to look for some of those leg cramps pills and see what that does . I spend my day driving and crawling up and down tanker trucks and hooking and unhooking heavy hoses i guess thats why I get the cramps they are definitely a lot worse when I dont get enough sleep which is pretty much all spring through about October
 
Do to the meds Im on they do blood tests twice a year nothing abnormal. The meds have actually helped reduce the cramps a lot but I still get them pretty bad sometimes get them in my stomach muscles and they really really hurt because I have yet to find any way to bend or stretch that doesnt just make it tighter and tighter
 

Wait till you get cramps in the rectal muscles, then the taste of pickles and mustard won't matter. I can get cramps there and the crook between the thumb and first finger as well. When I get stomach cramps it is time to head to the toilet fast.

I've been trying to drink about one gatorade or powerade zero every day which seems to help keep them away. The zero drinks don't have the sweetness and calories and are ok warm. Keep a capped one by the bed in case of getting thirsty at night and keep it capped in case of a restless leg attack where I end up rolling around and kicking everything off the night stand.

I think some of it is from the atorvastatin, lisonipril, claritan, and tamsulosin which all seem to dehydrate me some. Used to take quinipril but it really dried me out to the point of dry throat and cotton mouth so we switched away from it.
 
A few years ago I was having neck problem my wife talked me into trying acupuncture
so when the Dr came in I ask him what concerns did he see most of
and lower back was th emost but he also said he see a lot of
restless leg syndrome, he said most everyone he treats for it he can help
by the way he helps my neck problem, acupuncture works
 

Just wanted to add that Vlasic pickle juice tastes better than Mt. Olive brand. Also ate a bunch of Vlasic bread & butter chips today and drank some of the juice. Much sweeter tasting.
 
"I don't like the taste." "I don't like the sweet."

So you'd rather have the 3-day-long leg cramps then? If not, then Barney Fife says, "Suck it up buttercup" and learn to like Gatorade or whatever helps. Choke it down if you have to. A few seconds of inconvenience to relieve days' worth of pain seems like a small sacrifice...
 
The common thread in the cures is that something is out of whack with your minerals.

I've had cramps due to lack of hydration, lack of magnesium, and lack of vinegar. Eating bananas (for potassium), and drinking milk or taking calcium tabs, didn't seem to help my cramps. I've also tried the homeopathic tabs, and they didn't seem to work for me. I could tell if the night would be bad with leg cramps if my hands cramped up during the day.

There is a good reason in ages past farm wives would make "switchel" https://www.ruralsprout.com/switchel/ for those doing a hard day's work. Made with vinegar, like mustard and pickle juice, it must have something to do with making the minerals available to your system. I dunno what about it makes it work, but I do know what works.
 
(quoted from post at 18:47:41 05/21/21) When I get cramps I will drink pickle juice and or take several spoonfuls of yellow mustard, either one works for me.
Click to expand...

X2 especially the mustard. This has been my go to for the past few years.
 
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