The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Acupressure
Posted by Alfred (Bangkok, Thailand) on 04/05/2010
★★★★★
Cramps in your legs
Crazy time to get cramps.. Usually when I am sleeping..Middle of night or just before dauwn,, thats when I stretch.. Most of the time if i stand up, right away.. they stop. BUT IF I do not. O sh_ _..The Best thing that works is to pinch your upper lip with two fingers, and hold..., Hold for a while even if the lip hurts, You can bite your upper lip that will work also..
I am told another remedy, but never tried it.. Pinch the Opening between your Big toe and the one next to it.. Pinch where the toes go into the foot. Pinch hard and hold.
Health #1,
Alfred
Epsom Salt
Posted by Coco (Oleron, France) on 03/28/2010
In France you can buy Chlorure de Magnesium in the pharmacie, or Nigari in any health food shop like biocoop. Works great, really cleans up the body and relaxes the muscles. With 20gr you make 1 liter, taking 5cc a day for 20 days, then take a pause of 10 days. It's recommended to take a B-vitamin complex, like brewers yeast (find it in any supermarket in France) at the same time.
Epsom Salt
Posted by Francisca (Michelbach-le-bas, Alsace, France) on 03/27/2010
I just eat bananas.... we can't buy Epsom salts here in France. I have also looked in Germany and Switzerland (we live next door to them, quite practical) but they only sell them in small quantities for constipation so I never tried them. Bananas have helped me well all my life! I don't have the time to search now as we a leaving on a trip but there are vegetables that are also very rich on potassium.
Aspirin and Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc
Posted by Anna (Philadelphia, Pa, Usa) on 03/14/2010
calcium, magnesium, zinc (all in one) also healed completely my calf cramp (no aspirin tried though), but then I run out of it, got another brand and... it didn't work that well... So I checked the bottles: the working one has copper! Now I have only those!
Buffered Salt
Posted by Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn) on 11/28/2009
JAN, cramps are usually caused due to the lack of electrolytes. Athletes are given Gator or Power ade to prevent this. It works for me and I'm not a jock.
Buffered Salt
Posted by Jan (Mesquite, Nv) on 11/26/2009
My husband also had a very bad problem with leg cramps, especially in the evening. I found a bottle of buffered salt supplements I had purchased and started giving them to him. Rarely does he get a cramp anymore, unless he forgets to take the buffered salt tablets daily. I just wonder if it's good for his blood pressure, but don't know who to ask.
Dietary and Herbal Suggestions
Posted by Sandra (Entiat, W) on 10/22/2009
I agree with the sugar (sweets, simple carbs) If I eat to much I have learned that I get terrible leg and foot cramps. Just to be sure :) I keep testing it out. Some things are harder to accept as a lesson learned than other lessons.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Harriet (Federal Way, Wa) on 10/15/2009
★★★★★
I am 55 and battle fibromyalgia. One of the problems is muscle cramps, mostly in legs and feet, that approximate the hard, long cramps common in the 9th month of pregnancy. I can cramp up at any time depending upon the position I get myself into, but it is common for me to get bad leg cramps maybe every 2-3 months. Those keep me up at night loading on Vit C, Magnesium and Potassium, slapping hot towels on one leg then the other as I hop around crying in pain.
Last week it happened again, but because ACV was on my countertop (due to this site) I swilled down 2 TBSP straight (when you are in that kind of pain you don't care what it tastes like) then chased with maybe 6 oz water. WITHIN 2 MINUTES THE CRAMP WAS GONE AND DID NOT RETURN! This is amazing. On nights when this happens I generally attempt to sleep on the couch so I don't wake my husband because IF I get any sleep at all it is in between spasms that wake me up violently.
I am grateful for this site. Thank you!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Connie (Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA) on 08/13/2009
Try mixing the vinegar in some apple juice or tomato/vegetable juice.
Vitamin E, Calcium, Magnesium
Posted by Peggy Conrad (Sacramento, Kentucky) on 08/12/2009
★★★★★
After suffering terribly for years with muscle cramps everywhere ex: calves of my legs, bottoms of my feet, back, and neck. I finally discovered that Vit E 400IU, 1000mg calcium, and 1200mg of magnesuium daily, was my answer. Said it could take up to two weeks to start working, however, for me, it worked the very first night. This has worked for me for about eight years now. I have been able to cut back on magnesium to about 500mgs. a day now.
Bar of Soap
Posted by Rooster (Apple Valley, Minnesota) on 08/09/2009
★★★★★
A bar of bath soap placed at the end of the bed have cured my foot cramps that I had for many years. Whenever my wife changes the bed linen and forgets to include the bar of soap, my foot cramps re-appear.
Manganese
Posted by Harriet (Federal Way, Wa) on 08/05/2009
Natural Calm is MAGNESIUM, N O T Manganese. I know. I've used it for years. Dissolves in hot water.
Horseradish
Posted by Ken (Saint Louis, MO) on 07/17/2009
★★★★★
Horseradish works great for Muscle cramps, headaches, and ulcers. I eat a spoonfull with a glass of water and the cramps go away in a minute and do not return.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Redhen (Euclid, OH) on 07/10/2009
★★★★★
Thank you so much. I took two tablespoon of ACV and followed it with a cup of hot water.The cramps stopped immediately. The cramps start in my hands and feet and then my legs. I usually use mustard, it works but not as fast as the ACV
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Lori (Victoria, KS) on 06/30/2009
★★★☆☆BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS
My husband has been taking 2 tsp of ACV 2 times a day for a couple of months for leg cramps. He takes the ACV with a medicine spoon and drinks it straight then chases it with water. Today he is experiencing tooth pain, not really sensitivity but pain. We are wondering if this could have anything to do with the ACV. He has been getting relief from his leg cramps so we hate for him to stop taking this. He was having such severe leg cramps that he wasn't able to get more than a couple of hours sleep at a time before being awakened with a cramp. He is carefull not to get the vinegar on his teeth and doesn't think that he can dilute it and drink it with water.
Mustard
Posted by Flo (Segamat, Johor, Malaysia) on 05/25/2009
Hello! I've been reading Earth Clinic since yesterday. When I came across this Muscle Cramps.... I just had to tell about this "Cramp Keep Away" remedy. No medication, No explanation as to why it works BUT IT WORKS. Not only for me but for my friends who tried it.
What is needed is a cake of soap - any brand. Keep it close to you - in your pocket, on your table, bed, chair etc. You don't even have to take it out of its wrapper. Cramps leave fast and stay away! I found it in a Korean lady's blog a year ago.
By the way I'm going to start on ACV to lower my HBP.
Mustard
Posted by BKay (Bozeman, MT) on 05/25/2009
★★★★★
A great remedy for muscle cramps is mustard. I get muscle cramps in my feet and legs frequently. When I get them, or think they might be coming on, I take a couple teaspoons of mustard and get almost immediate relief.
Calcium
Posted by Kathy (Ontario, CA) on 05/24/2009
★★★★★
I used to have leg cramps almost every night. So I would get up and just raid the fridge! I knew that I was missing something in my diet. So ultimately the thing that really helped was taking a calcium pill or 2 before bed and that always lets me sleep thru the night with no cramps! Also on the days that I didn't drink enough water my cramps would flare up. I would just but the chewy calcium....but it seems that any brand works!
Pickle Juice
Posted by Pamm (Alabaster, Alabama) on 05/23/2009
The reason Pickle Juice Works is because of the Sodium content in it. One of the reasons we get muscle cramps in our legs and feet is because we are lacking sodium in our diet rather it be from sweating or diarrhea or addison's disease or urinating a lot or etc.. I have a problem with low sodium & I noticed I would have muscle spasms or cramps all over. As soon as I eat saltine crackers or peanuts they would go away within minutes. So its great that pickle juice works but its because of the sodium in it not the pickle juice itself. So for people out there that doesn't like pickle juice try anything with high content of sodium next time you have muscle spasms. And also try anything with potassium in it too. Good Luck!
Bar of Soap
Posted by Kathy (North Platte, NE) on 04/12/2009
★★★★★
Foot cramps, leg cramps: While listening to a hospice nurse talk one day, she happened to tell a story about her father having leg cramps at night. They tried everything possible but nothing would stop them. Until one day someone told him to put a bar of soap under the fitted sheet on his bed, down near his feet. (I use a sport scented soap - but apparently plain soap works too)So I thought, why not try it? I have been having leg and foot cramps for a few years at night, sometimes excruciating pain! The first night with the bar of soap I had no occurence of cramps and I thought it might be the power pf persuasion. But it has been months now and I have had one or two very mild cramps and that is it!! What an easy solution- but I have no idea why it works!
Mustard
Posted by Alice (Orem, Utah) on 03/17/2009
★★★★★
I have suffered with leg cramps since my youth. The best thing I have found after trying several remedies is to take a teaspoon of yellow mustard each day followed with warm water or milk. Once you get it in your system it seems to be o'k if you miss now and then. Soon as I get forgetful and don't take it for awhile, the leg and feet spasms are back. Any brand of yellow table mustard works. Hope it helps someone else.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Tess (Palm Beach, FL) on 02/12/2009
Hi Shelagh, not sure this will be of any help, but I found this while searching under Vitamin D3 cures:
http://www.merck.com/mmpe/sec01/ch004/ch004k.html
"Symptoms and Signs:
Vitamin D deficiency can cause muscle aches, muscle weakness, and bone pain at any age."
There may be other vitamin or mineral deficiencies which can also cause intense muscle pain. I will keep looking.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Shelagh (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida) on 02/12/2009
★☆☆☆☆
This is a bit crazy- I fell on the job last June & tore my anterior deltiod- I am receiving massage therapy and chiropractic treatments which are helping- but the healing is so slow going it's making me nuts! I am 51, I kayak for 'therapy' and have been unable to do this since my fall. And last night I fell again; tripped over a raised bit of something in the concrete... this time I badly injured the opposite elbow- I was actually sitting on the cold ground for a half hour before I could catch my breath & talk myself into biting the bullet through the pain & forcing myself to get up. I had my cell phone and actually considered calling the police for assistance!
I endured interesting muscle spasms all night & even throughout today as I tried to straighten my arm... elbow hurts like hell if I attempt to straighten it- I will seek treatment for this since I am still dealing with shoulder issue.
Ironically, now my 'bad' shoulder is my 'good' one. Sigh.
My question: what to do for acute intense muscle spasms? I rested last night with my arm elevated, iced, rubbed Epsom salts into the area for magnesium... massaged with witch hazel, wrapped in rags with ACV... I took 3 500 mg caps of turmeric. Sleeping was still a miserable ordeal. A slightest movement would send screaming spasms into my elbow and forewrm... causing my hand to clench...
I finally bought otc pain relievers this afternoon because I had to work...
Tonight I can't sleep for the pain... am going to make a cayenne concoction with turmeric... repeat some of my machinations from last evening, see if I can dream up any magic potion... in the mean-time, any other suggestions?
Thanks people. Peace.
Tonic Water with Quinine
Posted by Mary (Gainesville, Fla.) on 02/01/2009
★★★★★
I drink a half glass of tonic water for leg cramps. It containes Quinine. I get up in the middle of the night and it takes about ten mins. to work.
Fruit
Posted by PT Sherm (Provo, UT) on 01/21/2009
★★★★★
I accidentally took two diuretic pills right before going to bed, thinking they were other pills and woke up with both legs seized by leg cramps. I was in tremendous pain in both legs like never experienced before. I am alone could not even walk to go get anything else or walk it out. I reached for one of the stored fruit kept stored in my nightstand that I use for low blood sugar for emergencies. I started eating them and within 20 min I could go back to sleep without any cramps. fruit is full of potassium.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Robert (Barnegat, NJ, USA) on 01/11/2009
★★★★★
I take 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar dilluted with 4oz. water for leg cramps at nite. Works very well! I used to get leg cramps 3 or 4 times at nite, no more since I've been drinking dilluted APC.
