Muscle Cramps
 

Ok, so one of my biggest barriers to working out are the horrendous muscle cramps that I get. I have read everything I can about what might be causing this and everything says: dehydration, low magnesium, low potassium or low calcium. I know that I have chronically low B12 and vitamin D but I've been taking both sublingually religiously. My Doc thinks I don't absorb them in the small intestine cuz of the Crohn's which is why I use the ones that go under the tongue and absorb that way. I also take magnesium and calcium every day and eat a banana every day for potassium. I suspect I don't absorb those well either. Essentially, I'm chronically malnourished no matter what I eat or ingest. I drink tons of water.

My feet cramp a lot and sometimes my calves do too. It wakes me up from a sound sleep most of the time and I have to get up and walk it out for a bit. I'm wondering if anybody knows of other ways to prevent this that aren't nutrition related (can't do much more about nutrients). It is worse when I work out a lot.

Has anybody tried things like Icy/Hot or Bengay for something like this? My OT background makes me think I have to apply some kind of stimulus that will stop the neurons from misfiring and causing these cramps. I'm just not sure what to do. It really affects my sleep. My doctor is out of ideas for me.

Any thoughts on this from anybody?

Thanks in advance.

I don't know. I would recommend feet and calf stretching every few hours or at least two to three times a day.

I had similar problems. My calves/feet used to cramp up from overuse when I was dancing around 30-40 hours a week. Stretching, using tennis balls and tigerbalm really helped me. Tigerbalm is similar to bengay/icyhot. Some people like, some people don't.

Stretching really does help a lot.

I do stretch a lot. I was a ballet dancer when I was younger and I'm very flexible so I do stretch a lot. I'm thinking if I put on something like Tigerbalm before I go to bed maybe I won't wake up in the middle of the night with these cramps. Did you use the tennis ball to massage your feet?

If your doctor is out of suggestions, it can't hurt to go to a doctor who focuses on more holistic healing- maybe an osteopath or a doctor who uses other traditions rather than western medicine. Maybe that could help. :)

nanners. with peanut butter.

Warm up before you stretch, stretch before you exercise, stretch after you exercise, cool down after you stretch. I know you said you stretch a lot, this is just my routine :) Replenish with a carbs/protein combo after you exercise, like apple slices and peanut butter (a personal fav) or a glass of chocolate milk (regular milk with chocolate syrup stirred in, not the Gustaffsons mystery milk).

When I rowed in high school, I would often have to wrap my legs in hot towels to be able to fall asleep. A little Advil can go a long way, too. I used to be awake all night and my legs would only be a tiny bit sore, but my doc said that's what was keeping me awake, just that minor discomfort. It also helps with middle of the night charlie horses that hurt so bad you CAN'T point your toes to the sky because you have no idea which way is up or down.

Also for you I would recommend not using sketchers shape-ups or anything like them.

Irony: I do go to an osteopath. I like DOs because they can usually give me alternate ideas. And yeah, these are those charlie horse kinds of cramps that will wake me up in the middle of the night, usually in my feet though, occasionally in my calves. The last time I had one in my calves, that muscle was painful for almost a week afterward. Ibuprofen has usually worn off by the time of the night that I wake up like that.

Hot towels is an interesting idea. How did you heat them? One of those heated towel racks?

Definitely not using shapers.

This may seem crazy, but try salt. I find when I get charlie horses, it's either salt or potassium. I laughed in the face of the guy who told me that once and he said, hey, try it. Eat something salty and see if they don't stop. And he's right. American diets are so focused on low sodium that especially in the time of year when we sweat more, we can actually not be getting enough. But I can't imagine a doctor every prescribing more salt!

The other thing I would try is a good pair of custom fit orthotics. It may be an external and not an internal problem.

But I (literally) feel your pain. I have princess feet and it has shortened many a workout, beyond throwing me out of bed in the middle of the night. Bunion surgery helped A LOT. So does keeping my feet elevated when watching tv.

I finally did end up getting a heated towel rack (one of the cheap ones) but before that, fresh out of the dryer they stay hot for awhile and warm for a looong time. On my knees I would dampen a hand towel and microwave it. It wouldn't stay hot for long but it would stay warm and the dampness was soothing.

It's pretty easy to mistake foot/calf/lower leg "cramping" with simply "soreness" - especially if you don't work out a lot, the culprit could be something much simpler than salts ... anything from improperly fit shoes to improper technique to difficulty getting loose.

Start from the ground up - if you haven't before, look at the wear pattern of your shoes and find styles that are designed to fit your footstrike. Next, get properly fit for a good pair of shoes that fit what you're using them for. Even something like moving from a "padded" running shoe to a "stability" shoe (think Asics Cumulus to Kayano) can make a huge difference in the pressure put on the foot and the small muscles of the foot/lower leg.

Try low-impact exercises as well, and build up slowly - this may help the muscles strengthen, particularly smaller 'support' muscles. Don't bite off too much at once. Things like yoga can really help too, increasing stability and working those muscles that don't get worked in normal, everyday tasks.

Once you've eliminated the mechanical or equipment issues, you can also work with a PT (or possibly very specialized trainer) to design a program to work around the cramping, too - but it may be easiest to start with the easiest things to change, and hope to get lucky. Good luck!

Foot surgery would probably be the best answer (feet are REALLY messed up from being put on pointe at age 8). My knees are messed up too (chondromalacia of the patella) so I only do low impact.. exercise bike with interval training programs and weights. I swim sometimes too. I do know that if the water is cold, my feet cramp very quickly. When I swam laps in the 90 degree pool when in Austin, no cramps at all.

I know they are cramps because my toes go into strange positions and I can't even manually move them. Definitely cramps. It's primarily at night, while sleeping, not while exercising, except when I'm swimming in cold water.

It also happens, with less frequency, when I don't exercise at all. It will be almost every night when I'm working out regularly.

I'm not going to let it keep me from working out.

Dee, do you drink a lot of water during/after you workout? Sometimes when you don't get enough water it can cause your muscles to cramp during fatigue. That's what I've learned in my own experience.

I had the foot surgery and still get random foot/toe cramping at night. It is worse when I don't wear my toe stretcher, night splint, or do my toe/foot exercises. To be honest with you it is linked more to plantar fasciitis issues, though foot surgery helped. Some people get cramping in the calf with plantar fasciitis, and the night splint really helps. Swimming is good, as is a recumbent bicycle or a rowing machine if you have access to those.

You mentioned a doctor in your first post, if not a podiatrist go see one. The one I saw was full of suggestions that really did help, with the result being surgery but the foot scans, custom made orthotics, and medical equipment (night splint, water cast), were brilliant. www.footsmart.com has a lot of items you can buy that may be less expensive than a medical store or insurance, and they often have deals on shipping or sales.

My sister was advised to drink half a gatorade/powerade everyday - the different salts in them help with muscle cramps...

that said, if your Crohn's is impacting your nutrient absorption, that probably won't help

I have run marathons for five years now, so when training and I get cramps I eat pickles and or drink pickle juice. Sounds disgusting but I've found it to work better than any cream, pill, or milk. Stay hydrated during exercise over 20 minutes long especially in the heat. Being from Texas your options were 6 am since it's still over 100 degrees at 11 pm. . Once your done exercising drink something high in carbs such as chocolate milk, a muscle milk, and beer (sounds strange but every marathon I've run free beer is offered at the finish line for carbs.) I also take as hot of a bath as I can stand before bed. Soak for a good 20 minutes, your body temp will rise and het your blood flowing and once you get out as your body cools it should return to normal sans cramps.