Nocturnal Leg Cramps - Help!

Along time ago I heard that biting your lower lip (not too hard) but for 30+ seconds will shorten time of leg cramp. My husband does this for his nightly cramps and it works

I thought I had nocturnal leg cramps that made sleeping so difficult. No vitamins, supplements, creams or food helped me. I actually have Restless leg syndrome & a dr prescribed Ropinrole 3 x daily. It’s a life saver if taken a couple hours before bedtime.

Agree. But before taking ropinirole, or gabapentin or neupro, try the NIDRA device first. A non drug treatment for restless leg syndrome that is approved by Medicare.

I was on both Horizant (gabapentin) and a Neupro patch but I am now seeing if I can get off all of them. I have stopped the Neupro patch so far.

Thank you. I will certainly discuss this info with my dr soon. Any & all ideas to relieve our suffering is appreciated.
Medicare covering this device is another plus.
I couldn’t take the meds you mentioned, as it caused brain fog, especially gabapentin. I’m foggy enough. I found that Ropinrole was not expensive & it’s helped.
However , we’d all rather avoid medication if possible.

Kind of crazy but after suffering from leg cramps, often doubles on both legs at same time, I read (should say reread) something on Mayo to be sure and loosen all the sheets at the bottom of the bed, give your legs plenty of room to move around. I track this and it works sometimes but not always. Since doing this I have cut back on the number of nightly leg cramps and now have very few doubles. I've pretty much done everything else they suggest like water, electrolytes, stretching, heat, etc.

I used to wake up about every month with horrible leg cramps. I found out I needed to take more Vitamin D and calcium but also needed to do stretches of legs, glutes etc at least every couple days. Took care of the problem!

Staying hydrated prevented me from getting leg cramps 80% of the time. But when I get them they are really bad, but just taking one teaspoon of mustard (it sounds strange) would make the cramps go away within 1-2 minutes - I read that a chemical in the mustard gets absorbed by the tongue going directly to the brain and it stops the signals that trigger the cramps. BTW, when I travel I carry with me some of those little mustard packets and keep them near me at the hotel.

Try taking one teaspoon of mustard (I know it sounds strange) and the cramps would go away in 1-2 minutes... it works for me, let me know if it works for you (beats a bleeding lip).

Sometimes leg cramps are from decreased potassium. Consider some orange juice (can be diluted), which may help. Of course, jump out of bed and try to put as much pressure on the foot/leg and it will help it to go away. My mom had a great idea to use a rolling pin - rolling it where the cramp is on the leg, or rolling your foot on it for a foot cramp.
Hope this helps.

I have the same thing. Thanks for the input.