I frequently get charley horses in my sleep in the calf that I ripped the achilles tendon in a year and a half ago. I do carefully exercise (as the tendon healed short and I do not want to rip it again), have plenty of potassium in my diet and drink a fair amount of water.
Anyone have any other ideas for their prevention, they are quite painful really and it is interrupting my sleep.
2007-12-03 08:30:19 · 9 answers · asked by genaddt 7 in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Pain & Pain Management
I am not dehydrated - I drink plenty of water, my diet is high in both potassium and calcium. I do not use caffienated products as I have medical restrictions from them, same with anything containing high fructose corn syrup (which means no gatorade for me).
2007-12-03 13:15:38 · update #1
Try drinking a cup of valerian tea before bed. :)
((((((Barbara))))))
2007-12-03 08:34:56 · answer #1 · answered by Jack B, goodbye, Yahoo! 6 · 6⤊ 0⤋
I understand SOOOOOOO much. The same thing happens to me! I eat a banana or take a potassium tablet daily and it still happens. You can get a homeopathic leg cramp pill that has quinine in it. That helps and it works fast. I use it when I get a cramp. If you can not find it at a health food store you can drink some tonic water. This has quinine in it as well but I think it tastes bad. Some people like it and just drink a hlaf a can in the evening. (BLICK!) I also take Dr. Gott's advice (A medical Columnist in the news paper) and I put a small hotel sized bar of soap (Unwrapped) under my bottom sheet at the foot of the bed. I can feel it and find it and make sure it has not slipped out before I go to sleep! It does not bother me there. I do not know if it is in my head or what...it works! My dad does the same things too and he swears by the soap and the quinine! SO, there ya go! I hope anything helps and know that I feel your pain. literally!
2007-12-03 16:40:06 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Calcium works for me. Do you get enough? If not perhaps try, but if you are getting enough calcium, you should ask your doctor or someone professional on your end if taking a supplement is OK. That's what I do. I get what I need from supplements and then maybe a glass of milk on top of that or after a day of enough calcium, I might take 1/2-1 calcium tablet. Charley horses gone! Leafy greens & calcium enriched foods if you aren't much into dairy. I am an O.J. junkie! LOL I always get the kind with the same amount of calcium as a glass of milk.
Good luck & Happy Holidays!!!
2007-12-03 16:46:14 · answer #3 · answered by Cheripie 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Barbara,
sounds painful. The only thing that I can recommend is the way I position myself in bed when I go through this personally. However, I am not speaking from a position of previous injury either - I can only speculate that you go to great lengths to minimize the occurrence of these in the evening by positioning yourself carefully. Would cutting back on some of your work outs to this area help?
Wish I could offer you more.
Gerry
2007-12-03 18:07:41 · answer #4 · answered by Gerry 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Drink electrolytes with Mg, K, Na
Try Gatorade Performance, drink the 16 oz through out the day, some side effects include irritable bowel but not significant
Try not to sleep with your toes pointed ;^D
Jack recommended a nice homeopathic tea for you.
2007-12-03 16:39:04 · answer #5 · answered by Dr. G™ 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Oh believe me, I know how you feel, I get them real bad. in fact, my right leg is real sore right now that I can hardly walk. And I don't remember even having a cramp in my leg. It started Saturday, and for the life of me, I can't remember having a spasm. But I do have Fibromyalgia. You said you had a torn ligament in your leg. How did that happen?? If you don't mind me asking. Oh and my leg and foot is all swelled up. And it has happened before and the Doctor took test and didn't find anything wrong. But I am alittle worried. By the way, you can email me and we can talk sometime. God Bless
2007-12-03 17:23:24 · answer #6 · answered by Believer In God 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My mother suffers from this also. She now drinks "tonic water" three times a day and her charley horses seem to have stopped. It's got something to do with the quinnine in the tonic water her doctor said and told her it was okay, especially if it helps. You might want to try this.
2007-12-03 16:36:32 · answer #7 · answered by ckaipolani 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Dehydration, too much caffeine and too much booze should all be avoided.
Also, besides plenty of potassium, plenty of calcium and magnesium and vitamin B6 would also help.
2007-12-03 20:22:26 · answer #8 · answered by Susan Yarrawonga 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Calcium and potassium, You need it.
2007-12-03 16:38:30 · answer #9 · answered by don_steele54 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋