Addie Aline's Journal, 05 Mar 16

Like Charlie horses in your calves? Magnesium tablets help. Your electrolytes are not balanced. Especially if you are working out a lot and sweating. I get them when I train hard. A sports drink can help, too. And I've heard bananas help with cramps, but I'm not a banana fan, so I can't confirm personally. As for your ankle.... I got nothing. :) 

If you aren't taking a magnesium supplement, this might help. Also if you are not getting in enough salt, you should bump that up as well. Serum electrolytes might still be normal on your lab tests but your muscles might feel depleted. 

Sometimes my potassium dips and creates leg and foot cramps at night. My doctor recommended eating more potassium rich foods and tons of water. Dehydration also gives you cramping I was told. This is just from my experience.  

I take a magnesium, potassium, calcium supplement with my multi vitamin.. Also make sure you are getting enough salt.  

My Mom always swore by bananas for her leg cramps. She said it was the potassium that helps. Not sure, but thought I would share! 

Magnesium and potassium - they help when my hands cramp up, too! 

magnesium and vitamin C and true potassium can help. Also vitamin D along with those.  

Are you aware that eating a pickle sweet or kosher will take the cramps away immediately? my husband and I have been using this cure for years. It is amazing does not even take a full pickle. Sometimes he will just take a sip of the juice which I could not handle. People have said that if you use vinegar in your salad dressing, you will not even have the beginning of these cramps.  

I take magnesium tablets every night - at least two. How is Marcel? 

salt and magnesium. I would only take potassium if your level is low; advised by an MD. Can be dangerous 

yep, they're right, salts and electrolytes will do it. If you're dieting, maybe you're adding more water to your diet? This could be flushing some of those salts out of your body.  

little bit of pedialyte...tastes gross, but works.  

Cramps are caused by an imbalance of potassium and sodium in your muscles. The basic function of a muscle contraction is activation of the nicotinic receptor which opens its intrinsic sodium/potassium channel, causing sodium to rush in and potassium to trickle out, if you don't exercise. But if you do exercise, it could just be reaction from injuries to the muscle. I normally get cramps on sore muscles after going HAM in the gym the day before. I'd also get extremely painful involuntary hamstring cramps when I get acute gout attacks behind the knee cap, it's basically the muscle responding to an injury close by, and trust me, you don't want gout in the knees. I was once crippled and bed ridden for 3 weeks straight after a multiple-joint gout attack and had to learn how to walk all over again after all the inflammations went away. That was way back when I drank alcohol and ate/drank sugar like a champ. The pleasures of sugar and carbs isn't worth the karma of pain, at least for me. 

I always take a Potassium supplement but also have found magnesium works, too. Low carbing works like a diuretic and you pee out potassium. You have to replace it.  

I am on a prescription diuretic and my dr has me on potassium I upped my magnesium yesterday and will use more salt now I've been using nosalt. I do drink a lot of water. @singkellensing I will try the pickle method right now. Thank all you guys so much.