Nocturnal leg cramps

Can anyone venture a thought as to why I get cramps at night
in my bed but never get them in my recliner chair when I nap
in the afternoon ?

david...

as a layperson, my guess is blood circulation. being prone all night may
cause circulation problems that you don't get spending an hour or so in a
recliner where you're probably not prone... just my guess.

**Dalin**...

No, but I think drinking tonic water helps a whole lot with leg
cramps.

Dalin

Shirley...

My advice is to see a doctor to get a diagnosis just to make sure there is
nothing more serious than the leg cramps going on...

Jean B....

Best idea yet. They probably have various causes....

Joy...

I don't know what causes it, but I've read of a strange cure. A doctor who
has a column in my local paper says that hundreds of readers have written to
him saying that putting an unwrapped bar of soap under the sheet prevents
the cramps. He (the doctor) says he has no idea why it should work, but
enough people have said it does that he doesn't dispute it. I'd say it's a
simple, inexpensive thing to try, and couldn't do any harm.

I used to get leg cramps in bed often, and I started trying to figure out
why. I realized that they occurred when I stretched out my legs with my
toes pointed. Sometimes a cramp would wake me up, and I would realize that
my toes were pointed. I began making a conscious effort to point my toes
toward my chin whenever I stretched out my legs. Eventually that grew to be
such a habit that I did it in my sleep. The cramps stopped, completely. Of
course that would only work for cramps in the calves.

Paco...

Ha! Like doctors today are accessible!

Paco...

No, but they don't even take your phone calls (directly) anymore.

Joy...

NHunkele...

One of my grandmothers said to take the shoes you wore that day and
place them upside down (soles pointing to the ceiling) under the bed at
night and your legs wouldn't cramp. It worked when I was a kid. :)
Now I drink a glass of tonic water because I have a platform bed with
drawers under it.
Norma

Jean B....

Oh! I sometimes get cramps in my big toe when my foot is in
that position. At least that's easy to fix.

Now I recall reading about the bar of soap. I wonder what the
rationale is?

True, but sometimes there will be a nurse in the office who will take your
call. Some the nurses know more than the doctors about some things.

I actually have a doctor who calls me! Sometimes he'll call to tell me it's
time to come in for another upper endoscopy, and sometimes he calls after
the endoscopy to see how I'm doing. He's really rather amazing. Not long
after I started going to him, I asked if I could have a copy of the results
of a test. He made the copy himself and handed it to me! Now, whenever I
have an endoscopy (which I usually do annually), he gets his report typed up
(Maybe he does that himself, too - I don't know) and gives it to me, along
with copies of the photos he took - before I leave the facility where the
test is done!

Paco...

If you can get a quick "soon" appointment or they squeeze you in.

Jim Everman...

Jean B....

Uh, I guess it would take my mind off my legs.... Yuck!

Jim Everman...

It is bitter, but I usually only drink one glass a day so it's
tolerable. The problem seems to come and go so there will be weeks
where I don't bother with it. I've had the cramps (off & on) since about
1976.

Jean B....

That's a LONG time. So, can you drink the stuff after you
start cramping and have it work rapidly--or do you get them in
streaks and spells and thus start drinking it after they
reappear? Yuck (to both).

Add me to the list of those that use tonic water. I use to take
quinine until I found that tonic has enough. I've also tried various
minerals with no success at all.

Mikals11...

OK.... I agree here.... try everything and stick with what works.... thanks
for reminding me about the soap.... I forget why I stopped using it.... but
I think it was the smell of the soap I was using at the time.... Irish
Spring or one of the other high smell ones....

Chakolate...

No, but I can suggest you take additional minerals to stop it. Switch to
Morton Lite Salt, as it's half potassium chloride, and that will increase
your potassium intake. Take a calcium/magnesium supplement before bed
(that will also help you sleep).

If you had the twitchies (Restless Leg Syndrome) you should take vitamin
E, but if you don't get anything in the recliner you probably don't have
the twitchies.

Jean B....

Quinine is also supposed to help--I imagine that depends on

Joy...

I can't imagine, and neither can the doctor who wrote about it, but it seems
to work for a lot of people. I can't help wondering how anybody got the
idea of trying it in the first place?

Mikals11...

Me too Jean.... I used it years ago.... it helped for enough time to be
worth trying....

the cause, though.