Leg Cramps in the Night. (You'll never guess what helped!!!)

Ok, OUCH. Waking up at 3:30 AM with the muscles on the top of my foot and front of my calf seizing up is new to me! The uncontrollable contraction of the muscles did not respond to my rolling around in the bed moaning, massaging the muscles or forcibly bending my foot against the painful muscle contractions. I HAD to get up, and when I stood on it, it eased somewhat.

Walking, however, was a double-edged sword. Each time I took my weight off of the offending foot, the pain was excruciating. (I'd have thought the opposite would be true. Shows you how much I know about leg cramps in the night.)

Oh, and the look of it!!! I could actually see the seized up muscle in action... by the weird indention at the point of contention.

NOW DON'T YOU TELL ME to eat a banana because I'm low on Potassium, my friend. Fact is, I just recently bought bananas for the first time in ages, and have eaten one the last few evenings. (Otherwise, I'd had thought the same as you!) I actually, considering the circumstances, wondered if the influx of Potassium contributed to the leg cramps in some mysterious way-- maybe due to the absence of some other mineral.

Honestly, I wasn't thinking much except *OUCH* as I stood at the kitchen sink filling up a glass of water while bouncing on one foot in a desperate, sleepy stupor. I did feel thirsty. And that's when it came to me. I can't explain how I knew. Spirit told me? Collective Consciousness? Take your pick, it's all the same to me-- but the point is, I spied the Sea Salt in the salt grinder, and I knew it would help.

I put a few of the unground chunks in my mouth and drank some more water, still justa bouncing in klutzy sleepy stupor. Within 10 seconds of ingesting the rock salt (one piece dissolved in my mouth, the other two went down with the water) the leg cramps just instantly 'Turned Off' --as if someone had flipped a switch.

Coincidence or not? You be the judge. I did, however, find a wealth of info with a simple google search...
Leg Cramps & Sea Salt

While I'm at it, I seem to remember reading it is more dangerous to have too little salt than too much...
Too Little Salt in your Diet?

And while I'm at it, an interesting factoid about your first home-- Amniotic Fluid has the salt content of seawater...
Amniotic Fluid like Seawater

I'm throwing all of this out there for your information, and input, ATS! What experience do you have, if any, regarding Leg Cramps and Sea Salt? What are your thoughts on my experience vs. what you thought to be true?

(There was a recent thread about Cholesterol being 'wrongly accused' in heart disease. Is Sea Salt suffering the same accusation?) Just askin' !

Always put it down to low salt intake since the birth of my first child nearly 19 years ago. I rarely touched the stuff in early adulthood due to being bombarded by the bad salt thing, but the hiddeous nightly cramps I encountered later even the midwives put down to not having enough salt. Subsequently I didn't suffer for long. Moderation is key.

Being properly hydrated also works pretty well.

Stretching and exercise too.

reply to post by new_here


I think Paracelsus said: „Alle Dinge sind Gift, und nichts ist ohne Gift; allein die Dosis machts, dass ein Ding kein Gift sei.“

Translation: All substances are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy.

Just have to add that my grandmother sleeps with a bar of soap under her sheets to help with restless leg syndrome. I thought for sure that is what I would see here.

Salt, hmmmm.........gonna have to give it a try.

Originally posted by Suspiria
Always put it down to low salt intake since the birth of my first child nearly 19 years ago. I rarely touched the stuff in early adulthood due to being bombarded by the bad salt thing, but the hiddeous nightly cramps I encountered later even the midwives put down to not having enough salt. Subsequently I didn't suffer for long. Moderation is key.

Good catch on the midwife's part! To produce the proper 'seawater' amniotic fluid, I'm guessing the mother's body would donate all the salt it could, to her own detriment, to protect the growing fetus. Makes sense the mother would need more intake of salt to maintain the balance.

I had terrible cramps in my calves at night and the only relief was to get up out of bed and stand on the leg that was cramped up. I ate bunches of bananas hoping that it would cause this to stop, but they did nothing. I started drinking a green smoothy every evening. (Kale, spinach, celery, carrots, 1 apple, parsley, a dash of cinnamon, and some soy lecithin)
and haven't had any leg cramps for about 4 months. I assume that I am getting some sorely needed minerals including salt from this smoothy.

I am going diving next week on Cozumel and the last thing I want to worry about is leg cramps at 80 foot depth.

Originally posted by watchitburn
Being properly hydrated also works pretty well.

Stretching and exercise too.

No doubt! I do need to stretch more.
On hydration... just a thought:
Would proper intake of salt keep more of the water IN the body? (I'm thinking of osmosis)

Originally posted by Doodle19815
Just have to add that my grandmother sleeps with a bar of soap under her sheets to help with restless leg syndrome. I thought for sure that is what I would see here.

Well now that is indeed curious! Can you explain the rationale behind it? Very interested, even though I do not suffer from restless leg syndrome.

reply to post by new_here


Well if people havn't noticed this one little oddity I will point it out.. Look at the side of a coke can it says "VERY low sodium" In the easiest place to see on the can...

Odd in the culture of Salt = Death... And yet in Roman times people were payed in salt. "He's worth his salt." It wasn't just for taste.. People often died going without this sometimes rare commodity..

Everything about coke dehydrates you, and this is to get you to drink more coke.. Hint Hint ....

You NEED salt to retain water..

Heres a little link.
Source

The electrolytes in *** work in two main ways:

They replace the electrolytes you lose when you sweat.
They help you to retain fluid so you stay hydrated, as well as maintaining your blood volume, sweat rate and muscle blood flow. Without electrolytes your urinary output increases (ie. water passes straight through) and you won't remain hydrated.

Being a tall guy who who sometimes drinks a lot of beer I have noticed this all myself.. Dizzy standing up too fast with low sodium.. Beer strips you of all these vitamins/minerals. Then you wake up and drink water... Headache doesn't go away, brain starts feeling like it's starving, like it can't think well.. Then get that salt and brain goes "Yummy! Thanks man."

reply to post by Dustytoad


From your source...

Without electrolytes your urinary output increases (ie. water passes straight through) and you won't remain hydrated.

Not to get too person with y'all, but I had to pee A LOT yesterday. Often and a lot at the time. I was not drinking enough to keep up with it and I knew it. Not for lack of trying. It's like your source said... seemed to 'pass right through' me!

Thank you for this tidbit. It may help me in the future to 'predict' and therefore prevent the leg cramps!

Curious to me, is what caused my body to be depleted of salt? I'm not a soft-drink person. I can't really pin down anything different to my diet yesterday to cause this to happen. Hmmm...

AHHHH are you kidding me???! Today i have the exact same problem with my right foot!! the pain is from my ankle, Ive never experience anything like this. Had to call in for work on this, i am going to try this!

reply to post by new_here


Here's another source.. Has many other pages for more info.
Symptoms Low Sodium:

headache,
confusion or altered mental state,
seizures, and
decreased consciousness which can proceed to coma and death.

Other possible symptoms include:

restlessness,
muscle spasms or cramps,
weakness, and tiredness.

Nausea and vomiting may accompany any of the symptoms

Source


Possible Causes Page Some people just don't get enough salt.. I used to drink a lot of coke and so did my brother. He was hospitalized with low blood pressure.. I always had potato chips with my coke so I was fine. Haha Imagine that...

the key to this may be the REPLACING of the 'table salt' [mass manufactured sodium chloride] , in a balanced amount , with other types of salts that benefit the body.

sea salt being a much less refined sodium chloride has other minerals in it and is probably better.

this link to an alchemy site has a dozen different salts available [bottom 1/2 of page] and some pdf.'s as extra info.

i like, almost forgot to put this link in

intresting to read , i'm not saying it will work.
myself, i never add salt to my food.
also ... baking soda is a type of salt [ arm and hammer kind ] just brushing your teeth with it is a good way to 'ingest' some. it helps to lower the acidity of the body, which is good.
a real 'salty' thread you got goin' here.

I'm going to try that! I am tortured by night leg cramps. I highly recommend Highlands leg cramp pills, as well, they save my life on a regular basis.

Wow New Here, I have a huge problem with my feet cramping at night and they feel like they're ready to break. It is excruciating and even heavy duty pain meds don't help. I've tried taking potassium gluconate as I hate bananas but to no avail.
I'll be trying your suggestion for sure!
Thanks

I used to play football and if anyone would get leg cramps, which kill!, the trainer would run out and give the player some pickle juice, boom, all better!

Originally posted by 5ofineed5aladder
I used to play football and if anyone would get leg cramps, which kill!, the trainer would run out and give the player some pickle juice, boom, all better!

Yeps..

Pickle juice is the liquid substance used to give cucumbers their salty, sour taste. It is usually made of water, salt, calcium chloride and vinegar (acetic acid), and occasionally contains flavorings like dill or “bread and butter”.

PURPOSE

The use of pickle juice as a defense against muscle cramps first attracted headlines when the Philadelphia Eagles credited pickle juice with their cramp-free win over the Dallas Cowboys in the over-one-hundred-degrees Texas heat. Rick Burkholder, the Eagles’ head trainer, called it his “secret weapon.” Pickle companies (such as Mt. Olive Pickle, Vlasic Foods and Golden Pickle) claim that pickle juice is similar to an isotonic beverage and can prevent muscle cramps caused from strenuous exercise.

Source

Isotonic beverages are what I was talking about earlier.. Your gaterades/powerades...

Sounds like a charley horse.

Next time that happens, stick your leg straight out, toes pointing to the ceiling, and keep flexing your foot, trying to point your toes at your head, flex until the leg cramp goes away.

Works like a charm every time.