leg cramps

[edsmith]

I get leg cramps a lot, I had to take quinnine for them,only after they started, I read some where that gatorade would prevent them,though that was kind of farfetched, tried it anyway, I drank about 16oz. a day, after one day no more cramps. stopped drinking it and they returned. gatorade works. if you get leg cramps, give it a try, it may help you.them suckers really hurt.

[R.M.]

Something else that helps is tonic water.

[Bret4207]

Eating bananas helps to. I'm told it's a low potassium level, Gatorade has lots of that.

[btroj]

Something else that helps is tonic water.

Tonic water contains quinine.

Bret was right, it is the potassium in Gatorade that made the difference.

[square butte]

Manesium Taurate once a day will in most cases stop the leg cramps. Usually it's potassium an magnesium that will be deficient. There are other forms of magnesium on the suppliment shelves - but magnesium taurate is less likely to give you the squirts. The AMA has a warning out for quinine. Can't remember what the danger factor is - but no longer recomended for cramps.

[bob208]

i have been taking magnesium tablets they have stopped the cramps.

[dragonrider]

What Bret said, you need the potassium in bananas

[letsmeltlead2693]

I think it is something to do with low electrolytes. You body was telling you need something so you were sore and when you had the K or Mg you needed, you felt better.

[MT Gianni]

Hig School wrestling coach told me cramping was a fault in the bodys electrical circuitry to the muscles. The fix was potassium, calcium and magnesium or bananas, table salt and milk. It has worked for me since 72.

[1Shirt]

It is never a waste to check this forum daily! All sorts of good info!
1Shirt!

[RugerFan]

Dehydration will also cause cramps. Thats another reason that Gatorade would help.

[hiram]

Cholesterol medication, Vytorin, can cause leg cramps.

[429421Cowboy]

I have had leg cramps since i was a little kid due to poor circulation in my legs from a heart condition that was fixed almost ten years ago when i was nine. Gatorade is the best thing in the world for them, i also take a potassium supliment to help. If they are really killing me i'll hop in a hot shower or tub to get rid of them while the Gatorade has a chance to start working.

[gray wolf]

If it's the potassium ?? then you can try pedialite (spelling )
it's the electralight (spelling ) supplement for children. Most drug stores have it.
A little more money than gator aid but without the sugar.

[fishnbob]

Dehydration will also cause cramps. Thats another reason that Gatorade would help.

+1 RugerFan, I get them when I don't drink enough water. Also I have found that alcohol dehydrates me and I get them when I drink too much. Maybe I should mix water with my whiskey instead of Sprite. Looks like the ice cubes would help out a little.:wink:

[Longwood]

I used to buy Sportnine at the bicycle shops.
I would sometimes get cramps in my legs so bad I could hardly peddle.
One of the the tablets would make them go away as fast as 5 minutes.

[runfiverun]

pickle juice or just eating pickles will make you not get cramps also.
one of the local [byu] colledge football teams started doing that in the 80's.
i keep a good supply of pickles around the house just to remember to eat them.

[firefly1957]

I have had them since youth a daily calcium helps I rarely get them when I take it.

[Echo]

My problem is potassium loss due to diuretic prescription - so I take Klor-Con potassium supplement, and no leg cramps. And eat bananas. And drink pickle juice.

[Dale in Louisiana]

Bananas over GatorAde. The bananas are kinder to your bowels, have lots of other benefits.

dale in Louisiana

[Bret4207]

I wish you guys would stop saying, "Brets right." I don't hear that much and it gives me the creeps...

[btroj]

Bret is right, it is creepy.

[429421Cowboy]

[QUOTE=Echo;1610447]My problem is potassium loss due to diuretic prescription - QUOTE]

Me too.

[runfiverun]

I wish you guys would stop saying, "Brets right." I don't hear that much and it gives me the creeps...

somebody's gotta do it, i usually have the got/doin it wrong covered...

[jsizemore]

How many bananas should you eat in a day to make the cramps go away?

[DIRT Farmer]

Lipator was the main culprit in my case. All satins can cause problems.

[Bret4207]

Bret is right, it is creepy.

HAR!:veryconfu

[Bret4207]

How many bananas should you eat in a day to make the cramps go away?

I don't know. All I know is that when I get crampy in the legs and I eat a banana it stops pretty soon. I'm sure some people might need 2 and other 1/2 a banana. I imagine a couple a week would help or a multivitamin that's gots lots of potassium.

Actually, we probably would have lots of potassium in what we eat, it's just that most of it is so processed and adulterated that the "goodness" is worked right out of it.

[btroj]

There is no "right" amount of potassium to get in order to stop the cramps. Depends on diet, how hard you are working, the temperature, hydration level, and many other things. You lose potassium thru sweating, the more you sweat, the more potassium you might need to replace.

My suggestion is to learn what your body needs. Try a banana or two before you get into a situation that may cause cramps. That plus good hydration may well prevent them. If they occur daily, eat a banana or two, or three, a day and see how that works. Again, hydration is also important.

If you have chronic leg cramps and are not working Hardin the heat where swearing is the problem I would suggest seeing ypur MD. Could be low potassium due to some other cause and a potassium supplement via prescription could neon order. That is a last resort as the potassium tabs, or caps, you get on prescription have WAY more potassium than even 2 or 3 bananas.

[MT Gianni]

How many bananas should you eat in a day to make the cramps go away?

2-3 a month does it for me in the winter, double that in the summer.

[Stick_man]

There is a bottled water on the market that is super high in electrolytes and works great at quickly re-hydrating you. The water is pulled from deep in the ocean below Hawaii. It is not yet available in every corner store, but it is available through Amazon.com. It is a "premium" water, priced near the same as Smart Water or Fuji, but it is the only unflavored bottled water I can stand to drink. (it is available locally for me) It is high in potassium, magnesium, and a bunch of trace minerals. (much higher than anything else I have seen).

I have a couple friends that are competitive cyclers that swear by it for keeping them hydrated and eliminating the cramping in their legs.

[Johnk454]

There is no "right" amount of potassium to get in order to stop the cramps. Depends on diet, how hard you are working, the temperature, hydration level, and many other things. You lose potassium thru sweating, the more you sweat, the more potassium you might need to replace.

My suggestion is to learn what your body needs. Try a banana or two before you get into a situation that may cause cramps. That plus good hydration may well prevent them. If they occur daily, eat a banana or two, or three, a day and see how that works. Again, hydration is also important.

If you have chronic leg cramps and are not working Hardin the heat where swearing is the problem I would suggest seeing ypur MD. Could be low potassium due to some other cause and a potassium supplement via prescription could neon order. That is a last resort as the potassium tabs, or caps, you get on prescription have WAY more potassium than even 2 or 3 bananas.

This is VERY true. Hypokalemia is the name for "low potassium". Muscles need it to function, so everything from your leg muscles to your heart and even your bowels are affected. Some people need the prescription potassium pills. My doc said I couldn't eat enough banannas to get my potassium up into the proper range, so I take the horse pills.

I really hate HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE - the pills and diuretics are hard on nearly everything else.

[MtGun44]

The wife gets leg cramps occasionally, and bananas is the solution. Potassium.

Of course, bananas are pretty radioactive due to the K-40, but since our bodies are
made to REQUIRE potassium and all postassium has a fraction of K-40, there is nothing
to be done about it.

I just thought it would freak some folks out. :bigsmyl2: Folks get really wrapped around
the axle when somebody says "radiation" !!! Boo!

A truck load of bananas will set of radiation detectors, really.

I'll bet you'll ALL freak if I said that a moderate continuous dose of radiation, well above
most background radiation, is really GOOD for you, prevents cancer and prevents birth
defects.

I'm trying to guess how many will say I'm nuts.

Bill

[btroj]

And don't ever forget that too much potassium is just as bad. A large dose of potassium can be used in lethal injection. Stops the heart cold.

[TCLouis]

I have leg cramp issues after hard work out and about or a big sweaty day ( I sweat like a racehorse) but dilute gator aid (1/3 strength) takes care of it.
July and August can have one "stewing in their own juices around here and electrolyte loss is a BIG issue for me.

Banana is really good too.

No matter the source of your electrolytes, start with some before, use throughout and then some after.

There are other sports drinks out there and most likely do what they advertise.

[TJF1]

Drink pickle juice it works

[longhorn]

Usually magnesium, potassium, and calcium, in that order. I believe most of the population walks around magnesium deficient. Potassium deficiency is almost always a drug side effect.

[Bob Krack]

I am guilty of not drinking enough water. Bananas do not help the leg and feet cramps for me. Big glass of water before bedtime (with enough time for a pit stop too) and I sleep with no cramps.

'Course, I'm not sure what causes all these cramps in my head........ since it only happens after an hour or so in front of the computer.

Bob

[MtGun44]

So nobody bites on the radioactive thing?

Think I'm kidding or just don't care?

Bananas are good for you, and they are radioactive.

Bill

[catmandu]

I tried the bananas and they took a while to work.

I tried the put a bar of ivory soap under the sheets when you go to sleep, it helped.

But my dad told me of an old remedy and it worked instantly.

Take a mouthful of yellow mustard. Swallow. Go back to bed.
The taste isn't so hot, but it does work.

It's hard to argue with success.

Paul in WNY

[MtGun44]

Mustard. Hmm.

I like mustard on a sandwich, but I think I'd prefer a banana.

Bill

[gbrown]

My dad was a structural steel ironworker. In warm months, they sweat tons. He would get leg cramps at night so bad, his moaning in the front room would wake me up. He finally started using boot laces to apply tourniquets to his knees to stop the flow of blood and stop the cramps (like putting your muscles to sleep). This is very dangerous, please do not do this. Late in life, he was diagnosed with a calcium deficiency. It was explained that his body could not properly extract calcium from foods he ate. Calcium is very necessary to muscle function--sodium speeds up the nerve impulses, calcium stops it. If the nerve pulse does not stop, the muscle goes into tetany--all the nerves keep firing--causing cramps. Dad was given some type of calcium supplement. If possible, go to your physician, explain the problem and possibly the physician can give you something. Most OTC vitamins sound great, but are full of things your body cannot turn into usable elements needed. The intestines are designed to extract molecules of elements from food, which already have them in convertible form for the body. Taking a vitamin with powdered oyster shell (calcium) does not mean the body can do anything with it. Everybody seems to believe in bananas--they sure won't hurt--good food and what your body can use. I'm +1 on that.

[Wag]

A big +1 on pickle juice. My wife has to take diuretics daily along with potassium and calcium supplements. On the other hand, bananas are the best source of potassium and raw sesame seeds are the best source of calcium.

Once in a while, though, a cramp will hit her and pickle juice will stop the cramp instantly.

As for supplements, best to get what you need through food if you can. Most supplements are simply discharged through the urine making the multi-billion dollar supplements industry into a sewage disposal business!

--Wag--

[Bob Krack]

So nobody bites on the radioactive thing?

Think I'm kidding or just don't care?

Bananas are good for you, and they are radioactive.

Bill
I'll bite, Bill. Curious but not enough to search the web for myself.

Are you willing to explain?

Bob

[ErikO]

Lipator was the main culprit in my case. All satins can cause problems.

Yep, I've gotten used to the dry cough but bananas help out with the cramping.

Ain't statins great? :roll:

[badgeredd]

I don't know if you guys are aware of it, but recent (within the last 18 months) studies have found one should not take a potassium (pill form) supplement when taking a high blood pressure med. Gatorade is a much better alternative. The potassium supplements with a hypertensive med can cause heart problems.

Also my Dad used to mix up a concoction of one cup vinegar, one to two cups water, a half teaspoon of nutmeg and one to two teaspoons sugar for leg cramps and dehydration. He worked outside and in the summer time would perspire a lot loosing a lot of base minerals and water. It does work...but I'd guess one has to acquire a taste for it. I've grown up and old with it so I like it.

Edd

[mold maker]

Most OTC pills have worse side effects than what they help. For that matter so do what the Doc prescribes. Have ya ever paid close attention to the advertisements on TV for exciting new drugs??? They scare the dickens out of me.
I had my potassium check with the last lab work. Doc said my level was slightly high and I should discontinue the potassium pills for a while.
Half a banana with my heart healthy O's has kept the cramps away for the last 3 months.
Wife says I'm part monkey anyway, so I'll keep it up.

[TNFrank]

Something else that helps is tonic water.

Throw a little Vodka in it and you got a great drink right there.;-)

[Mal Paso]

Gatorade works! I hiked a water system yesterday and No Cramps. Thanks! This was limiting my work.

I think we need to work on the economy next. There's more talent here than all of government.

[44man]

Loss of liquid, plain and simple. Too much booze or sweating.
Plain water is good.
I read where lemon juice in water can prevent or even cure up to 15 cancers. Vinegar with honey is good for you.
I refuse to take pills the doctor says I need. They will kill you faster then good food and water.
I am 74 and take NO pills, stick hose things where the sun does not shine.
I found the best thing ever is to never go to a doctor.