Severe leg cramps: How do you relax severe leg cramps?

Hi - it sounds like you discovered the formula to help your husband (carefully).

When my Mom was on numerous meds and getting horrible leg cramps, they did specific electrolyte testing and identified her deficiencies. Turns out she was drinking TOO MUCH water - at less than 5' and about 100 lbs, the 32oz water & ice tumbler she was draining about 3x a day was washing out too much, so the doctor changed her to a smaller tumbler (cognitive issues - she was determined to empty it 3 times) and told us to add a daily specific multi-vitamin/mineral (don't remember which) - she got 90% better over a short time.

Many meds, especially those for heart & BP, can mess with electrolytes - but too many supplements can mess with effectiveness of the meds as well. So if you take meds for heart, BP or kidneys, clear any supplements with your doc or friendly pharmacist to be sure you don't cause a new problem while trying to solve another one.
Sue

Sue, you are sooooo wise!
I keep mentioning the word 'balance'...our hormones, electrolytes, organs all depend on each other in the proper order and amount to keep us running well.

My sweet father often reminded us 'everything in moderation'....He lived a remarkable life until age 92, worked out in the pool daily, played tennis until he was 87....maybe a bit too long for safety, but this life focus helped him stay very healthy and active. I have added his advice to my life. Moderation, not a natural part of my personality!

I rarely have the all night leg cramping like I did for so long. And, like @barbb said, I've learned how to stretch my leg down with the heel and help the muscles release. I also add diaphramatic breathing that helps with relaxation and pain relief. Importantly, we determined the cause of the cramping, w/bloodwork and increased my potassium, magnesium and iron+C. Big improvement....

Blessings to all, elizabeth

It is hard to balance things for those we love. Having multiple myeloma, one of his most important life choices is keep those kidneys flushing, deciding how much to flush and variations in amounts can lead to little imbalances. I wish we were closer to Mayo so we could get that kind of testing easily. Luckily we do have a really good oncology doctor that we can talk to about these things. The secret is...........he used to be a Mayo doctor. We see him on a family plan these days.

I was having excruciating leg cramps that ran up my shin bone and I could not figure out how to stretch that muscle--once it started I was doomed. My PCP and pain management docs both thought it was related to a lumbar spine issue. After having two cortisone injections and finding no relief, I tried taking a magnesium supplement. I now take 250 mgs, twice a week and no more cramps. That small dose does not cause any lower digestive issues for me. Such a simple solution for such misery.

ess77 - Elizabeth I am pleased particularly to read your last paragraph here. I have mentioned my leg cramps to my internist (who I think well of) and the focus of our brief talk was on what caused them but there was nothing about what I could actually do for them myself! When you say "help the muscles relax" may I assume that means massage the calf muscles (as I do)? I no longer recall what my MD said about cause - or whether bloodwork was done! But since they are still an issue, though not too frequent, I will use your bloodwork testing as a guideline for me to pursue this with my MD. Thank you!!!

Good morning! I realize I am late to this conversation, and that this may have already been discussed, but since I suffered from severe, daily/nightly leg craps for years I thought I would chime in.
Mine tended to occur only in the evenings and when I was trying to sleep, but those were also the only times I was immobile (otherwise am at least standing all day and moving around). I began taking a magnesium supplement nightly, which not only helps me wind down and drift off to sleep, but it's regular use has all but eliminated the leg cramps I used to experience. After research, I saw Natural Vitalitiy's Calm formula (a powder) to be recommended often for the body's ability to absorb, so I take that each night about 10 minutes before I head to bed.
In the rare occasion where I still experience a cramp, my mom had acquired a natural product called from Caleb Treeze Organic Farm (appears to be called "Stop Leg Cramps" - at least that's what the bottle shows as a title) that can either be taken orally or applied to the affected area (what's cramping) during an episode. If it's bad and I'm desperate, I do both (take it by mouth and put on the cramp area) and that usually helps settle things down fairly quickly.

I wish you all the best - cramps are terrible, and when they begin to alter your sleep, they cause a plethora of other physical and mental problems as well.

Blessings,
C

Good for you, Barb. I'm so glad we can share these experiences and information. I can't help myself much with massage, as I have pretty severe arthritis in my hands/fingers/wrists and all the stupid joints! It hurts and I can't use them like that, so I found by trial and error and a lot of pain that if I push down with my heel, toward the bottom of the bed it stretches the entire leg hip/back to bottom of the foot. It also puts the foot and leg in a different position that seems to help. I have several herniated discs in my lumbar, so they sometimes contribute to the problems.

Also, it'll be interesting to see the bloodwork results, to see if your sodium/potassium/magnesium/chloride are out of whack. Bet so....and your doc will help you solve the issues. I take magnesium, potassium-prescriiption. Iron+C as I'm iron deficient. Have adrenal gland hormonal problems that were found to cause the deficiencies and lots of other issues in the body. once those things were diagnosed and treated, things began to even out.

Hope you get good answers, any are good! Then, you know what you're dealing with and can take action to resolve the problems. You'll do this and be on your way to good, peaceful, restful sleep. Blessing, elizabeth

I think even if blood tests are not showing deficiencies of any vitamins or minerals, taking a small dose of magnesium and or potassium should provide an instant improvement -- or not. And that will help to define what a resolution can be found. It will provide info to present to the doc to discuss the issue. For me, the first night I took the magnesium supplement I had immediate relief. It was a case of figuring out how little I could take and how infrequently I could take it and still have relief. Taking it daily was causing digestive problems and twice a week solves the cramping problem but doesn't cause any digestive problems. It is such a relief to be able to sleep through the night.