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Rob (Kentucky) on 09/06/2025:
Apple Cider Vinegar for Leg Cramps.
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
Working out the back yard all morning gardening, mowing and making compost. I got dehydrated pretty bad and even had trouble eating my lunch as my mouth was so dry. Headache started and felt a bit sick, so had a shower and a rest. Then the muscle cramps started in my lower legs about mid afternoon and continued on and off into the evening. Took some magnesium powder I found in the cupboard. Was also massaging magnesium cream into my leg muscles as well but nothing was helping.
Knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, so thought I'd better look up what Earth Clinic had to offer.
Top remedy was Apple Cider Vinegar.
I took 2 tablespoons in a glass of water, was pretty strong to what I'm used to.
... instant relief. About an hour ago and no more muscle cramps since. Wow!
My father had really bad leg cramps. These cramps looked like baseballs on his thigh and calves. He would go down on his knees in pure agony. My grandmaw always gave him about 1/4 cup of ACV which he drank immediately. Within 20-30 seconds the cramps dissapated.
Posted by Passion4film87 (Elgin, Il) on 08/01/2016
I had radiating pain on the entire left side of my mouth from who-knows-what, and not even Aleve - my go-to painkiller - was helping. Then I remembered - apple cider vinegar! I drank about 2oz. of it (like a shot, LOL) and then swished with a mouthful. My pain was instantly gone. Literally instantly. It hasn't been back, about 24 hours later. WOW!
I just wanted to add that I did that, drank a shot of ACV one night when I got a cramp in my foot, and the cramp stopped instantly, before I even finished the ACV! I'm glad to have read your experience because that was so weird I wasn't sure it was the ACV. I'd love to know why that worked. I had a medium intensity cramp in my foot so I got out of bed, hobbled down the hallway to the kitchen and that did nothing for the cramp. Some say walking helps, and I believe that is true, but it didn't affect this cramp. Then, it took some time to get the vinegar out, find something to pour it into, etc. But it stayed the same until I swallowed the vinegar, and I only did that because I had just read about vinegar for cramps, I.e. I had no expectation that it would work at all. It actually startled me, it was like a small miracle!
God bless you all. I jumped up 3am with pain in right foot, and left calf. Finally in between tears I found this forum. The cider w/mother worked miracles like it does for so many other things its worth its weight in gold.
For muscle cramps, I use 2tbls apple cider vinegar (acv), 1/4 tsp baking soda, 2tbls aloe vera and 8 ounces of fresh pressed apple juice. it works every time for me.
Leg cramps getting worse over the last week, and very painful aching yesterday. So, I ended up here and with great hope and some skepticism I drank 2 Tblsp ACV with Mother in a cup of hot water and the relief was immediate! Aching was in both legs... I'm guessing it was drinking more coffee than usual? The pain is not worth it! ACV does hurt my teeth... I sprinkled in some baking soda this morning and that helped to buffer it. I brushed my teeth right after as well. Any other suggestions appreciated. I encourage you to try this if you feel even a twinge. I wish I had looked for it and implemented it a week ago. Many blessings to all!
My husband gets leg cramps at night sometimes. Usually he takes Blackstrap molasses and that helps immediately. (1 T. ) Well, he was out of town and dind't have any Blackstrap. He woke up with a cramp. He thought... "Well, my wife would tell me to take Apple Cider Vinegar." So, her drank a glass of water with a T. or so of Apple Cider Vinegar in it. It worked! He wasn't surprised as he has seen how well it works for so many things.
Actually there is no need for drinking cider vinegar to stop acute muscle cramps. You can simly rub the vinegar on the affected muscle and in 5 minutes the cramping stops. I have used it for years and it works. severe calf cramps repsond well and there is no residual pain or achiness in the calf.
I've been having a pretty nasty back spasm for the past 10 hours, so I figured I would try some ACV. I diluted it with a glass of water and drank it, but nothing happened... Does this just not work for a back spasm, or am I doing something wrong?
My grandma taught me this trick. Both she, my dad and I get horrible cramps (doubling over) and within minutes of taking a shot (or making a hot lemon, apple cider vinegar, honey tea) the cramps usually go away. Sometimes I have to do it every 30 min but my body is pretty out of whack because I have lyme and cirrhosis so I am just thankful to have relief. It helps my dad, he only needs to take it one time.
The vinegar works. I knew of this remedy from a friend whose son used get leg cramps. I got a Charlie horse last night. My husband massaged it out but everytime he stopped massaging, it would knot back up. He could feel the muscle knot up like a brick. I told him to get the vinegar. I was in so much pain I drank it straight and the muscle relaxed immediately. My husband could even feel it relax. Caution - stick to a tablespoon or 2. I gulped down so much, the vinegar messed up my stomach, but it was worth not having that pain.
I am 55 and battle fibromyalgia. One of the problems is muscle cramps, mostly in legs and feet, that approximate the hard, long cramps common in the 9th month of pregnancy. I can cramp up at any time depending upon the position I get myself into, but it is common for me to get bad leg cramps maybe every 2-3 months. Those keep me up at night loading on Vit C, Magnesium and Potassium, slapping hot towels on one leg then the other as I hop around crying in pain.
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.
Thank you so much. I took two tablespoon of ACV and followed it with a cup of hot water.The cramps stopped immediately. The cramps start in my hands and feet and then my legs. I usually use mustard, it works but not as fast as the ACV
My husband has been taking 2 tsp of ACV 2 times a day for a couple of months for leg cramps. He takes the ACV with a medicine spoon and drinks it straight then chases it with water. Today he is experiencing tooth pain, not really sensitivity but pain. We are wondering if this could have anything to do with the ACV. He has been getting relief from his leg cramps so we hate for him to stop taking this. He was having such severe leg cramps that he wasn't able to get more than a couple of hours sleep at a time before being awakened with a cramp. He is carefull not to get the vinegar on his teeth and doesn't think that he can dilute it and drink it with water.
I take 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar dilluted with 4oz. water for leg cramps at nite. Works very well! I used to get leg cramps 3 or 4 times at nite, no more since I've been drinking dilluted APC.
I had once read that APV helped Charlie Horses. So when my husband had one after a hard day on his legs, I gave him 2 Tbsp of ACV in a glass of water. I don't know which worked best, the ACV or the shock when he drank it. Since then, we have used it many times with almost immediate relief of the Charlie Horses or cramps in the legs or groin.
I just tried the Apple Cider Vinegar and glass of hot water. I had overdone a workout and hadn't stretched. My quads and calves were cramping up really bad. (really painful). It really worked! It worked almost immiediately, I couldn't beleive it! I'm still sore, but that's an easy alternative to constant cramping. Thanks!!
I have found over the last few years something that has helped me tremendously that I would like to share. I am very susceptible to having cramps in my feet mostly at night but during the day as well. If a medication is prescribed to me and it has a side effect - even a 1% chance - of causing cramps, I will have them severely. I am so sensitive to cramping even by a slightest move at times.
I read somewhere a few years ago about ACV helping with night cramps. So I bought some and decided that the next time I had them, I would try it and see if it worked. It is the best solution I've EVER found. I take 1-2 Tbs. (depends on how often or severe the cramps are) and chase it with a glass of hot water from the faucet. It works every time! I can also attest - and some skeptics are going to think I am crazy, but - it works immediately! If I don't get relief fron 1 Tbs. with hot water within 10 minutes, I repeat this again. I've also found that if I am having trouble with a lot of minor cramping before I go to bed, I will go ahead and take 1-2 Tbs. with hot water. It seems to assure me of an uninterrupted night of cramps. The hot water seems to be the trick as I think it gets into my system quickly. Don't know about that. It also removes the taste from my mouth very fast. I don't know why nor do I care; I just know it works.
All I can say is that I will always keep a bottle on hand. It goes with me even when we go out of town or camping for a few days. I've not found any thing that is as effective and gives me such fast relief.
I've been told by others that I need to eat a banana. And I've also had my potassium checked and it doesn't show a deficiency (so they say). Therefore, doctors seem to toss this aside and take this terrible pain lightly. I got tired of this so I rarely, if ever, mention it to a physician any more. I really believe they do not know what to do. I use to take Q-Vel, which is quinine, vitamin e and lecithin in a capsule, until they took it off the market because of the quinine. It worked well but lost access to it. Since then, I've tried this and have found this is a quicker relief anyway. I'm telling you this is the best "drug" you can buy. Oh yeah, I forgot to say, I use the cheapest there is in my area. Therefore, I am not relying on an organic product or high-priced brand name ACV.
Thanks for letting me share and I hope this will help someone else. I've suffered all my adult life with this and am finally finding relief!
I used to get serious leg cramps and tried vinegar from a recommended home remedy. One to 2 onces of apple cider vinegar brought relief from almost any cramp within a minute or so. A happy side effect was the complete elimination of heartburn. I had an ulcer as a teenager and very serious heartburn as an adult. I used to take wads of antacids, but haven't touched one in over ten years. As an avid bike commuter I became aware of the requirement to drink plenty of water at least 24 hours before riding. This keeps my cramping to a minimum. The total combination of adequate daily water and periodic vinegar (apple cider vinegar is the tastiest and gentlist) and consistent aerobic, sweat exercise has eliminated the above two maladies and when combined with adequate sleep, has eliminated fatigue.
After 15 years of personal experimentation I have become convinced that a regimen of organic, pesticide-free food, adequate water, sleep and daily exercise is the key to be a default state of human health.
I had a leg cramp the other night. I went to my kitchen and took a tablespoon of ACV in a glass of water (4 - 6 ) ounces. It helped almost immediately.
Apple Cider Vinegar cures muscle cramps almost instantly. Because Mom, age 88, is using this cure she needs to know, "What are the adverse affects of all the vinegar?" // Mom uses rather a strong potent. This makes it easy to sock it back, to hold a spasm at bay. // Lately, more doses of vinegar are needed for stronger, 'lurking' spasms in her weakened leg. // On another note, her need to gain weight is being stifled, not knowing why.
I saw somewhere that apple cider vinegar cures Fibromyalgia. I don't definitely have it, but was diagnosed with it based on symptoms years ago. I've had muscle spasms varying in severity for 24 years. I just started to come out a 1 1/2 year bout with it. Drank vinegar and have been completely pain free for a week. It's asinine this isn't common knowledge. It feels kind of like an metabolism enhancer too. I'm down to 1 tablespoon twice a day. And I repeat I'm completely pain free. I don't know what was wrong with me, thought it was just something I had to live with. Somebody tell a doctor!
Hi,
