leg cramps

[oldbiddy]

for several months I have experienced horrific night cramps in my legs, hands, ribs just about everywhere, legs reduce me to squealing with pain. I was told to drink more (due to my COPD) and so supplemented it with bottled water, this was when it all began. 5 weeks ago due to a family trauma the bottled water got left by the wayside, no more cramp! I started having lemonade and tonic in cans, no cramp. Yesterday I drank two glasses of bitter lemon from a plastic bottle, result 3 hours of agony with leg cramps. I know that it is claimed that plastic bottles cause all sorts of problems, anyone else thought of it with cramp?

[bigfoot3000]

Muscle cramping usually comes from lack of potassium, which I reckon may be the case but Im not a doctor, have you talked to yours and is he aware of these cramps?

[Sqad]

I cannot come to any rational conclusion why plastic bottles should cause cramps.
Lemonade and particular tonic, contain quinine which is thought to prevent cramps.
Your Bitter Lemon was, I suggest, a failure, not because it was in a plastic bottle, but because it contained no or very little if any, quinine.

Make sure that you drink plenty of water.

[oldbiddy]

thankyou for your answers. the quinine in tonic water is of a negligible amount and doesn't do anything for cramp.

[carlton23]

My GP prescribes Quinine tabs for me since I`v had night cramps due to COPD exercises, and they work for me, but, funnily enough, after walking around a supermarket yesterday, ARRRRGH, I got em during last night.

[oldbiddy]

Hi Carlton, yes those tablets are good, but iIonly take them if I get cramp and they take a while to work. Don't like taking tablets. no plastic yesterday and no pain last night.