★★★★★
My husband is on his feet a lot at work and is prone to leg cramps at night.
It used to be that if he made sure to have a banana in the evening, he wouldn't get leg cramps.
However, since he started on a plant based diet last summer, we know that his potassium level is actually a little high. (Probably from so many bananas and lentils.) The doctor isn't concerned about the level, but I don't think potassium deficiency is his problem.
I started giving him magnesium before bed. This reduced the cramps at night but did not eliminate them.
Ahah! Suddenly the pieces fit. Plant based diet. No dairy. He is lacking calcium. He started taking a couple of Tums before bed. Voila! Leg cramps stopped.
I ordered some NOW Calcium citrate since Tums is just Calcium carbonate and not the best form of calcium, as far as I understand. The NOW Calcium also has magnesium, D, zinc and manganese. He took them last night and they worked but they are pretty big pills to swallow....
~Mama to Many~
Minerals and Eliminating Condensed Tannins
★★★★★
Condensed tannins make give fruits, vegetables, legumes, beans, and grains their color. The darker the color, the more of a problem they are for me. Not surprisingly, I no longer drink red wine--full of tannins. I stopped drinking coffee, teas (decaf still has tannins); anything aged on wood (trees are full of tannins) which means cinnamon, smoked meats, ACV, balsamic vinegar, white wines aged on wood (pinot grigio is a white wine reliably not aged on wood--it is my wine of choice along with vinho verde); very dark berries and their juices (ex: cherries, blueberries); whole grains with the hull attached; dark beans (ex: kidney beans, black beans). This is not a full food list of condensed tannins in foods; it's just a list of those things that guarantee leg and foot cramps for me. I can drink black or green tea by adding cream, the protein in the cream binds with the tannins--but one cup a day is all I dare drink.
It has meant giving up some favorite foods and beverages but the sacrifice has been worth it. As long as I take the minerals and avoid condensed tannins, no leg cramps.
Apple Cider Vinegar
★★★★★
Those plagued with nighttime leg cramps can find relief by supplementing meals with a glass of water, fortified with apple cider vinegar.
Prevent leg cramps by combining 1 teaspoon honey, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, and 1 tablespoon *calcium lactate in 1/2 glass of water. This is taken once a day.
*Calcium lactate is a mineral that is used to treat or prevent low blood calcium levels (hypocalcemia) in people who do not get enough calcium from food. Calcium lactate is also used in the treatment of conditions such as osteoporosis, disorders of the parathyroid gland, or certain muscle problems.
From the Book: The Vinegar Book by Emily Thacker 2005
Apple Cider Vinegar
★★★★★
Acupressure
★★★★★
Crazy time to get cramps.. Usually when I am sleeping..Middle of night or just before dauwn,, thats when I stretch.. Most of the time if i stand up, right away.. they stop. BUT IF I do not. O sh_ _..The Best thing that works is to pinch your upper lip with two fingers, and hold..., Hold for a while even if the lip hurts, You can bite your upper lip that will work also..
I am told another remedy, but never tried it.. Pinch the Opening between your Big toe and the one next to it.. Pinch where the toes go into the foot. Pinch hard and hold.
Health #1,
Alfred
★★★★★
Last week it happened again, but because ACV was on my countertop (due to this site) I swilled down 2 TBSP straight (when you are in that kind of pain you don't care what it tastes like) then chased with maybe 6 oz water. WITHIN 2 MINUTES THE CRAMP WAS GONE AND DID NOT RETURN! This is amazing. On nights when this happens I generally attempt to sleep on the couch so I don't wake my husband because IF I get any sleep at all it is in between spasms that wake me up violently.
I am grateful for this site. Thank you!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Magnesium
★★★★★
★★★★★
Coconut Water
★★★★★
Acupressure
★★★★★
Magnesium
My husband has had some cramps. He depletes all his minerals working 7 days 12 hours in the heat.
These are often impossible to determine why. I have a list of steps I take from this happening.
Serrapeptase, high potency. As a precaution against any blockages.1 capsule on empty stomach in am.
Baking soda. 1 whole lime, 6 to 8 tsp, squeezed in a glass or 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar. Add 1/2 tsp baking soda. Let fizz. Add 1/2 glass of water and drink. 2x a day 1/2 hour after meals 5 days out of 7.
Am. 1/4 tsp of potassium bicarbonate powder added to 1/2 glass of water in am.
Iodine foot painting. 5% lugols iodine painted on foot in 1 inch square on foot before bed. This enriches the iodine in lower body as it often gets little being used up in the rest of the body is a great companion to mag oil.
1/4 tsp of sea salt in water. This provides all the trace minerals in correct amounts to enhance mineral status.
Progesterone cream. Applied 2x a week to help balance hormones. Apply to trunk 1/2 tsp. This was surprising but it worked.
Liquid chlorophyll 1/2 tsp in a liter of water. Add 20 drops liquid phosphorus. Drink 1 oz as needed. This is also a great pain tonic.
20 mule team borax. 1/8 tsp in a liter of water. Drink through the day in beverages. 4 days out of seven. Balance hormones. Replaces fluoride with boron in body.
My daughter applies potassium bicarbonate directly to her leg to stop cramping. She reduces it in water and swipes it on.
I suspect you need a good vitamin d levels test. You may find out you are low. It is foundational to health. Good levels allow for absorption and utilization of all your efforts. My Mom had restless legs that got cramps and painful. Taking d3 and its companions made all the difference. There is a home test too. I have not tried myself. Reading Dr. Michael Holicks book or watching his you tube information and following his dosage chart (google it) will offer great insight into this.
These are all effective on their own. But cramping and heath status can be many things. We have found it takes a day to discover if you are on the right track. 3 days to be well on the way to stopping and real healing.
Eliminations
Msg
Table salt..use sea salt only
Plastic
Aluminum
Foods containing...gmos...commercially grown insecticide sprayed food. Glyphosates..gluten
Soy
Fluoride
Aspartame
Bath soak or 1/2 the ingredients for foot soak.
2 cups epsom
1 cup borax
1 cup hydrogen peroxide...to oxygenate the body
1 cap fish tank dechlorinator...to protect heart from chlorine steam. 20 minutes.
Janet
Pickle Juice
★★★★★
Pickle juice works within seconds whenever I have muscle cramps in my legs, feet, or hands. I couldn't believe it when one of my friends recommended it but it has never failed to work.
Epsom Salt
I have personal experience with this one and I know how painful it can be! Really BAD.
It would be best if, in the initial instance, you perused the "Muscle Cramps/Cramping" section on this Site for a comprehensive review of the problem: sort of a "Cramps 101" for lifestyle changes etc.
I think a half cup of Epsom Salts (Magnesium Sulphate/Sulfate), fully dissolved in a foot bath/bowl of water, as hot as you can (comfortably) stand it, would be good to do. Too hot and it will damage you of course! Keep your feet in for no longer than fifteen to twenty minutes (by which time the water will be cooler anyway). There is a theory that a longer soak is counter-productive.
A foot reflexologist might tell you that trans-dermal foot soaking is the way to go, especially for Magnesium which can be difficult for the body to absorb actually.
I might prefer to do this twice a day to get a quicker response.
What I would do though, is to take 1 to 5 ml (or half a tsp) of Magnesium Chloride liquid in a glass of water twice a day, always replace the cap and store below 25 degrees centigrade. (Maybe difficult for you at the moment?! ). That works a treat for me. In a genuine emergency, I have been known to down a glass of salt water on at least a couple of occasions.
If one "over doses" with Mag. you might get loose stools but that is just the body's way of restoring the balance. No harm done. Nobody die.
I hope this is helpful, it should be, especially if you carefully follow the advice on Earth Clinic ... Editors Choice section etc. Seems strange that there is not much more feedback from our learned Posters on this affliction.
This condition IS fixable!!
Cheers from Michael,
Down Under
Stretches
I read that if you rub Vicks Vapor Rub _ for your chest cold_ on the area where you get the cramp at bedtime you do not get a cramp.. I tried it for my cramps and after a week, I stopped and the cramps never came back.
God Bless
Gary
Culinary Argan Oil
★★★★★
I was getting terrible muscle cramps - sometimes as bad as 10X a day - I was afraid to go anywhere because I didn't know when I would unexpectedly get them and they were extremely painful and scary - I didn't know what was causing them & still don't.
I started taking 2 teaspoons a day of culinary Argan oil (one teaspoon at lunch, one at dinner), and within a few weeks, I realized the cramps were occurring less & less - it's been about 2 months since I started taking the Argan oil, and the cramps that I experienced for about 6 months are finally gone! I can't believe it and wanted to share on this site, which has helped me to find natural solutions for other health issues. Two family members who also started taking the Argan oil also noticed their cramps were went away - they did not get them as bad as I did, and I think that's why their results were more immediate. I highly recommend this amazing oil that not many people know about!!
There are two forms of it - the topical Argan oil and the lesser known culinary Argan oil. You can't ingest the topical kind - only the culinary kind. Argan oil is from Morocco and Israel.
Hydrogen Peroxide
My understanding of how the H202 is working to relieve leg's muscle spasms is simple: spasming may be lack of oxygen. Others deficiencies... Such as lack of magnesium can also cause spasms. But you got it right and found peroxide worked.
But go one step further. The spasms and the fact that extra oxygen helped is a possible warning for you. You might have oxygen deficiency in your system. I take Natural (not synthetic) vitamin E to help deliver oxygen throughout the body... Especially muscles. Remember the heart is a muscle.
So the point is this: If you were having muscle cramping for years and if the hydrogen peroxide helped, then you might be oxygen depleted and that is dangerous most importantly for the heart.
Vitamin E (which is refined out of virtually all our grains) is essential to oxygenate muscles. I've taken 800 iu daily for about 40 years. E does 20 different things in the system. By taking E, I don't have to take an aspirin to thin my blood, for instance. By taking E I don't worry about cholesterol levels, because nothing is sticking to arteries, the E coating the veins and arteries. By taking E I know there will be no sudden heart craved spasm of my heart... instant death.
Remember the heart is constantly working and of all the muscles the one you cannot afford to have spasm!
Natural E is called "d-alpha tocopherol" and you get it in health food stores ... not in drug stores which sell the synthetic.
Start with 200 iu daily and over a few months increase to 400 and then go to 800. E will dissolve existing plaque formation so the slow start up of E is better so there is not a sudden release of a clump of plaque.
Glad you found a solution,
Dave
Apple Cider Vinegar
★★★★★
Acupressure
★★★★★
Bar of Soap
★★★★★
Pickle Juice
★★★★★
Buffered Salt
★★★★★
Apple Cider Vinegar
★★★★★
★★★★★
After eating a ton of fruits, I started having muscle cramps that were so intense that I could not sleep, and could not walk. But all of my muscle cramps disappeared 4 or 5 days after I cut my fructose intake to zero. FYI, there is fructose in all fruits, fruit juices, honey, tomatoes, ketchup and soft drinks.
B6
★★★★★
I have usually cramps in feet and legs. Hope it helps other people as well.
★★★★★
I started drinking nettle root tea for my low blood iron levels, only to discover it cured my night leg cramps or charlie horse cramps as some call it. I collect the nettle roots from a near by field, wash them, dry in the sun for a few days and then grind them up which is the tough part of the process. I try to find the older nettle roots in big patches because they grow their roots over the ground and not in the ground, so no digging, I collect a big bag full which will last me the year or so. Just make sure to wear gloves and long sleeves so not to get stung when ripping the roots out.
If I go on a long walk, or a hard days work or take a hot bath or sunbath for to long due to the sweating out of minerals, I would get bad cramps in the evening mainly when in bed, so I make sure I drink a cup of nettle root tea. Drop a couple of teaspoons of dried nettle root in a saucepan and boil for 5 to 10 mins. Strain to a mug and drink. Taste is good too.
Works every time for cramps.
Acupressure
Might I suggest a glass of water with Magnesium Chloride liquid (a very few drops ) might help with the muscle cramps a lot. I can speak from personal experience with this recommendation. Works for me every time and quickly too. Buy a reputable brand - ask around!
Apart from the muscle cramps, Magnesium helps with so many other tasks in the body and most people are short of it these days. Not very expensive to buy either.
The taste is not too bad if you only put a few drops in a medium-sized glass of water. otherwise it might be a bit off-putting!
You have my permission to claim the credit if it works!
Cheers from Down Under
