Sometimes I flex my foot wrong and it cramps and I think oh shit,

[Floyd R. Turbo]

this is it this is how it ends!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. OH, yes!

Happens to me far too often.

[mr_lebowski]

2. Totally know that feeling, usually wakes me up, at which time I jump outta bed and stand on it

After 10-20 seconds, it calms down ... almost always.

Then it's really hard to get back to sleep

[Chin music]

3. Drink more water.

Ive had calve cramps so bad Ive limped for two days after it relaxed. At night is the worst. Talk about immediate wake up. My other 'leg' is a peg though....whaling accident. Bering Sea in '77. (j/k)

[True Dough]

6. Gatorade/Powerade is good too

They contain electrolytes that can ease cramps. I have aging relatives who have tried it and I've witnessed the relief within a minute or two.

[Chin music]

7. +1

[Wounded Bear]

14. No, Brawndo!

[Demovictory9]

23. after i had a few bad ones, I googled some tips. been drinking more water.

[dweller]

4. wait till

trigger finger takes hold ... then you're doomed 😖

✌🏼️

[Chin music]

5. Had that since Nam in '66

Last edited Sun Mar 31, 2019, 01:07 AM - Edit history (1)

Partially why I slipped off the boat in the Bering Sea. (j/k)

[dweller]

10. do you think it's

cold temp related?

I usually have my bouts in winter but can't say that 100% sure since it's only been the last year and not sure if I had bouts in spring/summer etc

thank you for your service btw

✌🏼️

[Chin music]

11. I think it's from potassium too, like the other poster said.

[TygrBright]

8. A banana a day has been helpful for me.

Women are supposedly even more prone than men to age-related potassium deficiencies.

Those hard "charliehorse" cramps are often related to low potassium levels.

So a year or so ago I started eating a banana a day, and doing a few slow leg stretches right before turning in.

Not sure whether there's any relation or whether it's something else entirely, but I've definitely had fewer of those "half-awake OMG TOTALLY AWAKE GET THE HELL OUT!!!" midnight cramps.

informatively,
Bright

[alwaysinasnit]

12. Good advice but it doesn't hurt to have potassium levels checked as it can be dangerous when

potassium levels are too high.

https://www.healthline.com/health/high-potassium-hyperkalemia

[tblue37]

9. Muscle cramping like that is usually a sign of dehydration. nt

[Crabby Appleton]

13. +1

Indeed

[Wounded Bear]

15. Hydration is important...

but overhydration can leech the elements like potassium and other salts out of the body.

All things in moderation. And like the poster above said, it is a good idea to have levels checked periodically when you have a physical.

[tblue37]

16. In general, though, Americans do not drink enough water. I know I have trouble

staying hydrated, though I am very aware of how important it is. As a consequence I often get muscle cramps as I wake up, which is why I keep water by my bed.

I think it is partly because we are usually so busy and pressured here that it is hard to remember to drink enough.

Also, again because we are so busy, we tend not to drink too much because we don't want to be running to the restroom all the time, which is one of my reasons, actually. But now, after decades of limiting my water intake to avoid needing too frequent potty breaks, I find it hard to drink more than a few swallows at a time, so if I don't do so frequently enough, I end up not drinking enough.

For example, I keep a 16-oz mug of water with me when I teach or have conferences with students. I try to drink it down and then refill it between my second and third classes (I teach 4 in a row). But often I finish my fourth class with water still in the mug from the first filling, because I have been so busy and distracted while teaching that I have forgotten to take many drinks from it.

I eat a banana each morning for potassium, but I simply do not hydrate enough, so I get those cramps in my legs, feet, and lower back as I wake up. Therefore, I drink as much as my stomach can handle before trying to get out of bed, and after a bit the cramps go away.

[Wounded Bear]

17. I hear you, and I've had those cramps myself...

and I also struggle sometimes with adequate hydration. I'm retired, though, so work busy is not my excuse.

A couple of years ago, I ended up going into urgent care for it. They put me on an IV. It's the first time I've had one strictly for hydration. I also found out I was low on sodium. Go figure. I volunteered to eat more chips and shit, but my doctor wasn't really up on that idea.

One other symptom is to watch the color of your urine. If it gets dark, you know you're probably low on fluids.

[NJCher]

18. vinegar

applying vinegar as a topical to the cramp gets rid of it.

If this happens a lot, you can get a package of wet naps and fill its plastic container full of vinegar. Let the wet naps soak up the vinegar. Later, pour off the vinegar (makes a good cleaning solution). Then when you have a cramp, just take the vinegar-soaked wet nap and rub it on the cramped area. It will go away within a few minutes.

Another possibility is high blood sugar levels. Have that checked.

I get these cramps a lot during the start of gardening season because I increase my tromping-around-the-property time by about 9 fold. Being prepared for them helps a lot. They go away fast and have turned out to be only a small problem now.

[rurallib]

19. pinch your upper lip

it will go away

[Iggo]

20. Yep.

You're gonna fold yourself up all the way down to some ora-gamey bindle and that'll be it for you.

[yellowdogintexas]

21. keep a tennis ball handy and put it under the arch of your foot

then put your weight on it.

Also, eat something with yellow mustard. Lots of yellow mustard

[yellowdogintexas]

22. Eat something with yellow mustard on it. Works

I have been known to eat saltines with yellow mustard on them when I get a cramp. The turmeric in the mustard helps with the cramp immensely

[lillypaddle]

24. Calcium and magnesium pills help

but they take a bit to work, so I chew a tums and that usually does the trick pretty quickly.