What to Do for Leg and Foot Cramping

I have always taken calcium when my legs start to cramp up. This is something the pharmacist told me years ago and it seems to help. P.

I read a study not long ago that said that the only thing that has been scientifically proven to reduce night cramping is stretching well before sleep.

I get that every once and a while and heard that it is that you are low on iron. Try a supplement and see if it goes away. I also increased my water intake by double and it seemed to help.

Good luck!

Try low sodium V-8. We do competition bbq, and are on our feet for 40 hours straight. We get some killer cramps doing this.

Regular V-8 would work too, but it's sooooooo high in sodium. The taste of low sodium takes some getting used to - I was expecting it to taste like V-8. Finally when I thought to think of it as it's own drink, it worked. I sometimes put hot sauce in it.

Hi C.,
I had very bad cramping in my feet and calves during my first pregnancy. POTASSIUM is the key! Eat something high is potassium each day (with 225mg per 1/2 cup serving). i.e. banannas, if you don't want banannas, try eating potatoes. Here are some more items that are higher in potassium. Orange Juice, Milk, fresh apricots, tomatoes, vegetabe juice, Honeydew, cantalope, avacadoes, lima beans, winter squash. All meats and fish are also higher in potassium.

I hope your cramping goes away soon, I know how annoying and painful they can be!

M.

C.,
for whatever strange reason, if you eat a banana a day,
it keeps the cramps away!!!
I believe, it's potassium there that helps.
My husband has cramps, whenever he forgets to eat bananas for several days.
So, once I started having leg and foot cramps (i do not know why), I tried his recipe, AND EVE SINCE, I HAVE NO PROBLEMS ANYMORE.
(AN APPLE A DAY IS A GOOD ADDITION TO THE MENU TOO, of course,
but yes, a Banana a Day is for us, you and me! ;) !!
Best,
M.

Dear C.
When I was expecting my first child I had awful leg cramps. My doc told me to drink an 8 oz. glass of Tang Orange Juice every day. I thought he was joking. How simple was that. So I tried it everyday, my leg cramps went away so I stopped drinking the tang. The cramps came back. So I drank the Tang every day after that until I delivered our child. I still drink tang when I have leg cramps now, and that was advice from 32 years ago. So give it a try. Your mamasource pal, L..

Take calcium (liquid capsules or even liquid form is not bad), in addition to eating more foods with potassium.

Do you consume sea salt? It has trace elements and minerals that can stop cramping, if you put a SMALL pinch on your tongue when the cramps start and then just use it in cooking.

The minerals mentioned by the other gals are worth looking at, but also how is you water intake? If you drink plenty, don't worry about it. But not enough can absolutely cause this! My 15 year old daughter is very sensitive to dehydration, more than the average person. When she doesn't drink enough, she even cramps in her arms and hands! We had thought for a long time she was experiencing growing pains, but found out from her Dr. that not drinking enough fluids can definitely cause cramping. She upped her water intake and sure enough, all of her cramping subsided. Good luck, I hope you find your solution!

Take potassium and calcium or eat lots of bananas. It is a signal that your body is low on calcium and potassium. I get them all the time, and when I start eating bananas within a couple days they go away. They are very painful so I know what you are going through.

Hi C.,
When I was p.g. people told me it was a lack of potassium. I would eat more banana's and avocado. I really don't remember if it helped. Boy! they hurt! When I was older I would feel them coming on and try to relax quickly or flex my toes, standing on the ball of my foot and putting pressure really helped too. Lastly, I have found deep tissue massage will help. You need someone that can strip your calf muscle. This muscle is called gastrocnemus. It is a double bellied muscle the therapist rubs it till it is soft and pliable and she/he can work soleus the deeper muscle in the leg. It hurts but only for the time of the massage. No more leg and foot cramping siezing you at night or first thing in the morning. GL K. K.

I know this is going to sound crazy but... my mom and sister (both nurses who don't believe in old wives tales) said to put a bar of soap in between your bedsheets at night. They swear by it! I'm not sure what kind of soap or if you need to rub it on the sheets or just leave it at the bottom of the bed.
I just googled this and here is a link to snopes.com verifying that this does in fact work! Here is the link: http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/legcramp.asp
Good Luck!

I had leg craps really bad while while pregnant, and I ate bananas, they helped alot!

Hey C., I had cramping really bad so I was sure to eat a banana every day and anything high in potassium. Also there are some really amazing yoga positions that would help. Let me know if you would like more info on some yoga poses. I have been practicing yoga for 10 years and I have two books that are position specific for pregnancy.

B.

calcium and magnesium works wonders, but you really need to use the liquid kind. Take a dose right before you lay down to go to sleep.

I agree, potassium. Bananas, smart water (electrolites w/o the sugar of sports drinks). Potassium is a water soluable mineral, so if you do drink LOTS of water it could be washing it out. If the change in diet doesn't work you could always check with a doctor. You dont' want your levels to get too low for too long.

My solution has always been calcium. If I started getting them, I would get up and drink a glass of milk. It did the trick for me. And sometimes when I am really smart, I drink it before the cramps! :)
I have also been told that potassium helps, so eat a banana. Whether it works for you or not, it can't be bad to have an extra banana and milk in your diet.

Less dairy, more calcium and more potassium always did the trick for me. Orange juice with calcium and bananas was a daily snack for me while pregnant to avoid these. Worked like a charm. The reason it's less dairy even though you need the calcium is there is other stuff in milk that can cause cramps. GL! I know it's miserable!

Magnesium as well as Calcium is really important for this. The product called Calm by Natural Vitality is great. It is a powder you put in water, and gives almost immediate results.

Try a heating pad. If I keep my legs WARM (and a good massage) helps...along with your other advise. :)
Good luck and happy holidays!!

You can try Oyster Shell calcium, found in most stores in the vitamin section. I've suffered from foot and leg cramps since my early teens, and this is the one thing that has always worked for me.

You need potasium. Eat bananas, supplements, gatoraid.

When I have problems with the type of cramping or "Charlie Horses" you describe it is usually because I am dehydrated or have been wearing shoes that change the support or pressure on my feet. Try drinking more water and changing which shoes you are wearing.

If those things don't work, you may need to explore further what electrolytes are out of balance.

N.

I always drink a large power aide and it seems to iron out whatever deficiency is causing the leg craps or muscle twitches.

However when I was pregnant and getting leg cramps on a nightly basis my doctor told me to up my calcium intake with supplements. It took a few days, but it did seem to help.

Supposedly this is really caused by low potassium. Eat potatoes and bananas to level that back out. That never seems to work for me, but everyone is different.

Good luck!

In addition to the bananas everyone has suggested, try stretching before you go to bed. It worked for me when I was pregnant.