Cramp in one leg

[islasmum]

On the past three mornings I've woken up with really bad cramp in my right calf, which lasts for about 10 mins - can anyone suggest what might be causing it?

[joannie10]

are you in an area enjoying the hot weather - might be old wives tale but when you are hot and sweat a bit your body could just be lacking in some salt. Try drinking tonic water - the quinine really does the trick! I have been getting bad cramps this week but putting it down to the fact I climbed a mountain at the weekend so extra strain on the muscles and the hot weather so am just going to enjoy gin and tonic all weekend!!

[Sqad]

Nobody knows the reason for the majority of cramps, but salt and potassium deficiencies causing cramp are usually due to either dehydration or the side effects of drugs.

Are you taking any medication?

I agree with joannie's post.......try tonic water.

[rowanwitch]

get the fevertree tonic best by miles

[MarkRae]

> Try drinking tonic water - the quinine really does the trick!

http://en.wikipedia.o...water#Quinine_content

[rowanwitch]

Ssssh you just ruined the placebo effect

[craft1948]

It's the only reason I drink g&t.................

[woofgang]

I had a phase of suffering from really bad cramp in many parts of my body. I also used to get crampy pains in my fingers resulting in burst blood vessels. I couldn't get any sense out of my GP so I did some research and tried cal mag zinc tablets. I now don't burst the blood vessels and the cramp has gone too.

[Sqad]

No! no!..it still contains quinine, however small the dose.

Does anyone know the dose of quinine which relieves cramps?

[Old_Geezer]

According to the link it'd be a couple of litres worth. May avoid cramps but wlll be running to the bathroom regularly instead.

[Sqad]

O_G......When they mentioned the therapeutic dose in the link.....it was for Malaria.

Nobody knows the therapeutic dose for cramps.......it may well be, much less

[rowanwitch]

I think the phrase is can't hurt might help

[MarkRae]

From the same link:

"Because of quinine's risks, the United States Food and Drug Administration has declared that nonprescription sources, such as tonic water, should not be used to prevent or treat leg cramps."

[Sqad]

Mark.....I disagree with them.

On one hand people are saying that quinine shouldn't be used because of adverse side effects.

On the other hand people are saying that tonic water shouldn't be used because the dose of quinine is insignificant.

Which is it?

[islasmum]

Thanks everyone - I'll give tonic water a go - I like it in any case and in this weather it will be refreshing as well - I saw my doctor a while ago about something different and asked about leg cramps then - he said that most people in this country eat sufficient salt in their daily diet probably without knowing it for cramps not to be an indication of low salt. Anyway, as I said, I'll try tonic water.

[mrs_overall]

I'm prescribed 2 drugs for severe cramps:
Quinine sulphate - 300mg
Clonazepam 0.5mg

[islasmum]

And do they help you, Mrs_O?

[Buenchico]

Click through the links here (Symptoms, Causes, etc) for everything that doctors know (and, equally, don't know) about leg cramps:
http://www.nhs.uk/con...ges/Introduction.aspx

However one possible cause is insufficient salt in your diet. (While 'experts' are always telling us to reduce our salt intake it's often forgotten than a certain amount of sodium is essential for our well-being. Many over-the-counter medications, for dealing with cramp, actually contain little more than common salt).

Chris

[bunkmoreland]

another reason at the minute is purely lack of drinking enough water to combat heat loss! we just dont drink enough water in this country anyway. you need at least 8 glasses normally,if you dont drink enough water in hot conditions like now,muscle spasms i.e. cramps occur.

[mrs_overall]

islasmum, yes the combination of both drugs work.
As for the cause of cramp, mine is a side effect of a specific medical condition which I'd rather not reveal on here.
I hope your cramps soon stop. xx

[islasmum]

Thank you Mrs O and everybody - I shall look at my salt intake and buy tonic water come monday, and see if those help.