Calcium
★★★★★
My husband is on his feet a lot at work and is prone to leg cramps at night.
It used to be that if he made sure to have a banana in the evening, he wouldn't get leg cramps.
However, since he started on a plant based diet last summer, we know that his potassium level is actually a little high. (Probably from so many bananas and lentils.) The doctor isn't concerned about the level, but I don't think potassium deficiency is his problem.
I started giving him magnesium before bed. This reduced the cramps at night but did not eliminate them.
Ahah! Suddenly the pieces fit. Plant based diet. No dairy. He is lacking calcium. He started taking a couple of Tums before bed. Voila! Leg cramps stopped.
I ordered some NOW Calcium citrate since Tums is just Calcium carbonate and not the best form of calcium, as far as I understand. The NOW Calcium also has magnesium, D, zinc and manganese. He took them last night and they worked but they are pretty big pills to swallow....
~Mama to Many~
Minerals and Eliminating Condensed Tannins
★★★★★
Condensed tannins make give fruits, vegetables, legumes, beans, and grains their color. The darker the color, the more of a problem they are for me. Not surprisingly, I no longer drink red wine--full of tannins. I stopped drinking coffee, teas (decaf still has tannins); anything aged on wood (trees are full of tannins) which means cinnamon, smoked meats, ACV, balsamic vinegar, white wines aged on wood (pinot grigio is a white wine reliably not aged on wood--it is my wine of choice along with vinho verde); very dark berries and their juices (ex: cherries, blueberries); whole grains with the hull attached; dark beans (ex: kidney beans, black beans). This is not a full food list of condensed tannins in foods; it's just a list of those things that guarantee leg and foot cramps for me. I can drink black or green tea by adding cream, the protein in the cream binds with the tannins--but one cup a day is all I dare drink.
It has meant giving up some favorite foods and beverages but the sacrifice has been worth it. As long as I take the minerals and avoid condensed tannins, no leg cramps.
Bill Thompson's Protocol
★★★★★
Here is a double remedy that has worked quite well for me. I was recently suffering from bad cramps in my legs at night(with a continual uncomfortable feeling muscle 'tightness' in the legs/feet) and I tried taking potassium which didn't work. Then I tried supplementing Magnesium Chloride (MC) at 250 mgs twice a day as Ted recommends and, strangely, that also didn't work. Then, not satisfied, I created a super-saturated solution of Magnesium Chloride (the same as I had supplemented) and that completely cured the leg cramps. To create a supersaturated solution of MC, just keep dissolving the Magnesium Chloride in water until it no longer dissolves -- that's your super-saturated solution of MC. Then directly apply that solution by hand to the cramp areas. Magnesium Chloride is easily and rapidly absorbed by the skin into the blood. Another option for you is just to dissolve the MC in 70% DMSO and just apply that directly to the problem areas for even greater absorption of MC into the blood.
I wasn't using any of the fancy, more expensive forms of Magnesium Chloride like the Zechstein brands, I was just using standard tech grade anhydrous Magnesium Chloride (with no water molecules attached). I'm still not sure why supplementing this form of anhydrous magnesium chloride didn't work for my cramps but it did work when I applied it as a supersaturated solution that is absorbed through the skin into the blood. Still scratching my head on that one.
I also had a numb feeling around both my big toes and around the sole of my foot, which was quite strange. I successfully got rid of that peripheral numbness by adding two tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar + one crushed garlic + a teaspoon of shaved ginger + a little warm/hot water in a glass. Let the infusion sit and express for 5 mins and then drink it all. The cure effect on the numbness in both feet was very rapid. This is an old Amish recipe for numbness at the extremities.
Wintergreen Essential Oil
★★★★★
Nettle Root Tea
★★★★★
I started drinking nettle root tea for my low blood iron levels, only to discover it cured my night leg cramps or charlie horse cramps as some call it. I collect the nettle roots from a near by field, wash them, dry in the sun for a few days and then grind them up which is the tough part of the process. I try to find the older nettle roots in big patches because they grow their roots over the ground and not in the ground, so no digging, I collect a big bag full which will last me the year or so. Just make sure to wear gloves and long sleeves so not to get stung when ripping the roots out.
If I go on a long walk, or a hard days work or take a hot bath or sunbath for to long due to the sweating out of minerals, I would get bad cramps in the evening mainly when in bed, so I make sure I drink a cup of nettle root tea. Drop a couple of teaspoons of dried nettle root in a saucepan and boil for 5 to 10 mins. Strain to a mug and drink. Taste is good too.
Works every time for cramps.
Magnesium + Potassium
★★★★★
Acupressure
★★★★★
Salt
★★★★★
Apple Cider Vinegar
★★★★★
Posted by Passion4film87 (Elgin, Il) on 08/01/2016
I had radiating pain on the entire left side of my mouth from who-knows-what, and not even Aleve - my go-to painkiller - was helping. Then I remembered - apple cider vinegar! I drank about 2oz. of it (like a shot, LOL) and then swished with a mouthful. My pain was instantly gone. Literally instantly. It hasn't been back, about 24 hours later. WOW!
https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/home-remedy-toothache-tooth-pain.html#acv
I just wanted to add that I did that, drank a shot of ACV one night when I got a cramp in my foot, and the cramp stopped instantly, before I even finished the ACV! I'm glad to have read your experience because that was so weird I wasn't sure it was the ACV. I'd love to know why that worked. I had a medium intensity cramp in my foot so I got out of bed, hobbled down the hallway to the kitchen and that did nothing for the cramp. Some say walking helps, and I believe that is true, but it didn't affect this cramp. Then, it took some time to get the vinegar out, find something to pour it into, etc. But it stayed the same until I swallowed the vinegar, and I only did that because I had just read about vinegar for cramps, I.e. I had no expectation that it would work at all. It actually startled me, it was like a small miracle!
Tonic Water with Quinine
★★★★★
If my muscles hurt from over use, I put a cup of epsom salts in a nice warm bath, pour my tonic water over a couple ice cubes with a squeeze of lime juice and, if it was a rough day, a little dash of gin. Works for me every time. Joking aside, it works because the quinine in the tonic water relaxes the muscles and your body absorbs magnesium from the epsom salts after the warm water opens the pores and soothes the aches. Give it a try (no gin needed) let me know if it works for you as well as it has for me. My sister's Doctor told her about the tonic water cure, the epsom salts is a well known old time remedy, I fine tuned the rest.
Regards to all.
