how to stop getting muscle cramps

[emmie]

does anyone know how to stop muscle cramps, they wake me up several times in the night and as a bad sleeper this is making things worse. The left calf muscle goes into a spasm and its flipping painful, knotted and i have to walk around for a bit before feels remotely better, not good at 3am

[hc4361]

You'd have to drink an awful lot of tonic water to get enough quinine to make a difference, and you be up and down all night going to the loo

[emmie]

Hc nothing different now then. Oh well it's worth a try

[Old_Geezer]

Maybe it's the placebo effect ?

[chrissa1]

My sister who had a mastectomy two years ago gets sudden spasms on that side of her body. Is this the same thing?

[nannybooby]

em sometimes not enough salt or cheese in your diet is to blame,

[Sqad]

If quinine does have a prophylactic effect on cramps, then how much quinine do you need to prevent them?


I don't know.

Might it be that the small amount of quinine in tonic water is all that is needed to "do the trick?"

[emmie]

if i liked gin, i'd have a gin and tonic, because if the tonic didn't work the G&T certainly would. all i know is i have woken up almost the same time three mornings in a row because the left calf muscle has gone into a spasm and clamped together like too tight elastic and only getting up and walking around relieves it.

[nannybooby]

try getting your oh to give the offending bit a rub , or vodka in the tonic

[didoatwork]

My mum takes a tumbler of tonic every evening after her tea. She's suffered for years, but now very rarely does she get cramp. It may well be that she believes it and that is why it works. That doesn't matter though, does it.

[emmie]

no o/h, he passed away a while back, otherwise i would.

[nannybooby]

sorry em , how about rubbing in deep heat too then

[Dee Sa]

I also endorse Quinine tablets 300mg from your GP,whilst it doesnt stop it completely,it does about 90%, I get where my toes all stick out straight, so I cant even walk to the bathroom or I turn over in bed and my calf muscle goes, but now it only happens occasonally.
Hope it works for you.
ps the reason they say drink tonic water is because it contains quinine, but not enough I think.

[flicrat]

I get cramp in toes or calf muscles and have to get out of bed and walk around, then get back in very gingerly ,as it can easily start up again as i stretch out! However, that is manageable. It is when my thigh muscle cramps up that the pain is excruciating and it is so difficult to stop that. At a meeting the other day I started that and I had to stand up for half an hour. Rather embarrassing! Anyone got a quick fix for thigh cramps?

[Ann]

How strange this question has popped up just as I have had an excruciating attack of cramp across the top of my foot and up into the shin bone. I can honestly say I've never been in such agony, it made me actually cry and shout "OW" hundreds of times! and no amount of flexing my foot and rubbing it helped. I had to wait for 10 mins until it gradually wore off ............what causes that ? I wasn't sitting with my feet under me, just on the settee watching tv.

[didoatwork]

My Mum seems to get it on the night after a long walk.