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aches and weakness in legs

Aging Well | Last Active: Dec 18, 2022 | Replies (17)

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@care242

Because my Lumbar Spinal Stenosis affects the nerves in my legs they are sore and sometimes a little weak when standing and walking but typically not sitting which I've been told is usual. However at night the aches and occasionally cramps can be nearly unbearable and very worrisome as I worry about if the blood is having trouble circulating and that is the cause of the, sometimes nearly unbearable, pain. I don't have any swelling in my ankles or feet but because of probable arthritis and a recent injury, one knee seems a little larger. My concern is if the damage to the nerves in the legs can cause blood clots because they are inactive when I am sleeping, (or some of the time, trying to sleep).

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Replies to "Because my Lumbar Spinal Stenosis affects the nerves in my legs they are sore and sometimes..."

After an air travel for around 12 hrs., I am facing this problem of pain in legs & feet. The skin also burns. More sleep in day & less at night. Taking Meftal Forte Tablet once daily. Watching the outcome. It is only 3 days as of today. Aged 83.

I also have Lumbar Spinal Stenosis and it affects the nerves in my legs similarly to what you experience. I have found that keeping a heating pad handy helps relieve the cramping. I leave it at the bottom of my bed. At the first sign of cramping I turn the pad to "low" and leave the pad either under my lower leg(s) or resting on the shin(s). (It helps that I already sleep on my back, so I don't have to switch to a less comfortable position to use the heating pad.) The slight heat almost always soothes the cramp within a minute or two. My heating pad turns itself off automatically after an hour, so I don't worry about falling back to sleep while it's still on (and remember, I set it on "low").

Sometimes when the cramp is severe I'll get out of bed and walk to the bathroom, not because I really need to use it, but more so for the activity. The walk seems to help uncramp the leg and (funny as it sounds) this gives me something to occupy my mind for a few minutes, just long enough for the cramp to dissipate.

Another thing I do when I DO use the bathroom is have a drink of water afterwards. Yeah, I know you're thinking "but then you'll just have to get up again in an hour or so." You're right, but I figure it's probably better to keep the muscles hydrated than to endure another cramp.

About a year ago I tried adding a pinch of salt to the water, on the theory that when we urinate we're not just passing water but also the electrolytes that have been filtered out by the kidneys. Each evening after brushing my teeth, I'd set up a large glass of water with the salt, leave it on the counter, and every time I got up to to urinate I take a big sip or two. At first I thought I'd hit on the perfect solution because for the first month I didn't have a single nighttime cramp. But, sigh, that didn't last. The usual pattern of "some nights cramping, some nights not" resumed, and so I gave up on the salt.

One last thing I do is take magnesium at bedtime. I like to think that while it doesn't totally eliminate cramping, it's helping to reduce the frequency and severity of the cramps.

And sometimes I think that everything I am doing is just a meaningless rain dance, but I keep trying....