omg, are these things painful! i read somewhere that they are related to diabetes. i had never gotten one before diabetes, but am getting them recently, mostly at night. and the days following one, there is this niggling feeling that if i try to stretch my calf muscle, it will start again! i woke up this morning after another one last night, and it being sunday morning, i was lazing about in bed, went to stretch and there was a twinge, reminding me i better not get too bold with the streching. this lasts for days. has anyone taken vitamin supplements that work for this?
I know many older men that get leg cramps including myself not to many lady's... very painful, I don't think common leg cramps are caused by diabetes, I also have leg pain related to high Ketones but it is a diffrent kind of dull nagging pain.
Charlie Horses are usually caused by a lack of potassium. I used to eat a banana after a night of having them and was fine, However, bananas make my blood sugar spike like crazy so I started drinking coconut water which has even MORE potassium than a banana. Give it a shot and see if lack of potassium is the case :)
I tried the potassium route and it was not effective. I think it is a serious diabetic thing. Try a GNC type place and ask--they will know. I had a real problem a couple of years ago and my PCP recommended a "health supplement," which worked great. Also, walking on a cold floor, as well as significant leg stretching works the best.
I am not a supplement person, but whatever it was worked really great.
Now...I have advanced to restless leg syndrome--does not cause the pain, is absolutely miserable, and I lose a lot of sleep.... Once again, leg/arm exercises revive the blood flow and solve the problem--when I get uncomfortable enough to get out of bed, move to a quiet place and do them. :>)
Like Spock said, I also believe it's a diabetic thing. My doctor prescribed Quinine for my leg cramps. But,these were NOT the usual Charlie horses I used to get as a kid. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I run out because the FDA decided it wasn't safe to take Quinine and my doctor refuses to write another prescription because of it. My Endo said to try taking B-6 vitamins.
Yes mine were really bad after I got out of the hospital- my dvt etc. affected it as well as low potassium. I drank tonic water(quinine helps), increased my potassium supplement, added a calcium/zinc/magnesium and added more calcium. That seems to have helped. Lots of water too. My endo and something I read online also said to put your heel to the ground when the spasm starts and this can stop it in it's tracks. This has worked for me. I haven't had a bad one for a while now, knock on wood!
Hi pancreaswanted,
Sorry to hear about your charlie horses!
If you search for the term "cramps" on here, you'll find several discussions of similar issues. Hope they go away soon!
Best wishes,
marty1492
yes, it's a diabetes 'thing'. quinnine was also recommended to me by my endo. it's the glucose effecting our nerves, muscles. i feel it most when i'm high and then start to come down and blood sugars stabilize.
I have been plagued by these, too. What a rude way to wake up! I've tried potassium supplements, bananas, and avocados. No cure for me. I've also tried magnesium supplements but haven't been scientific with using it, so I'm not sure it helps. My calf cramps come and go. I do notice that they always seem to appear during sleep after a day when I take more insulin than usual.
I forgot to say also if you eat low carb you need to increase your salt intake- that can cause cramps. My really bad spasms were always when I was sleeping and I was also hypoglycemic. You might want to check to see what your bg is when they happen if you haven't already so you know. If you're in bed you can just put your heel down like you would if standing up- that has worked for me.
My endo recommended tonic water, but the quinine is way insufficient and not enough or fast acting. If you drank a gallon of it daily it might help.
I have been T1 for 50 years and have had devastating and painful leg cramps since I was 10. And I have never been an older man. They are seriously painful.
My blood sugar has stayed stable in the low to mid 5s for 7 years. It does raise a bit just before I get out of bed in the morning, but has never been higher than 115 in the morning. Yet I have had horrible leg cramps every single night for a couple of years. Not just in my calves, but from my feet clear up to my butt. They usually occur about 3 a.m. and I can work them out, but they really hurt. Here is a list of things that have not helped: drinking lots of water, potassium, calcium with magnesium, quinine water. I had to stop taking metformin because it made the cramps much worse. The cramps are the same whether I've walked a lot or not at all. I have never been an older man, either, but I did have diabetic amyotrophic neuropathy 6 years ago and they said older men are usually the ones who get that, too. Hmmm.
thanks for all the info. i put "charley horse" into the tuD search engine and didnt get much. ill try cramps. so, of course, to make a change, haha, doctors cant help. ill try checking my bg when it happens again and start taking my vitamins. i was really good at taking vitamins before being diabetic, not so much now.
I guess one of the causes is Diabetes, almost everyone I know has had night time leg cramps or is going to have them at one time or another.
I had leg cramps everyday after my transplant, but I had many discrepancy's like low WBC, low RBC along with high potassium and Dehydration , they told me it was caused by my Anti-Rejection drugs.
They prescribed me Taurine, it's a Amino Acid, you can get it at GNC. I cannot say that it helped but my cramps have subsided and I no longer take the Taurine....my blood count is back in normal range.
The Mayo says many things can contribute. I suffer from many causes listed below* so I guess Leg cramps are just part of my life.
Metabolic problems
Addison's disease
Cirrhosis *
Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)*
Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
Chronic kidney failure*
Type 1 diabetes*
Type 2 diabetes
Medications and procedures
Blood pressure drugs*
Diuretics*
Oral contraceptives
Cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins)
Dialysis
Other conditions
Dehydration*
Diarrhea*
Muscle fatigue*
Nerve damage, as from cancer treatments*
Osteoarthritis
Parkinson's disease
Pregnancy
Before my T2 Dx, I suffered them almost every single night, they were excruciating! After my BG began to moderate with treatment, they became more and more seldom. I tried many supplements and quinine water - nothing helped. For me it seems, maintaining lower DG is the key.