i get on top of the foot and my toe curls! do the same thing as you, rub, put on shoes to hold my toe down...

I get them a couple times a week, when I'm sleeping. It seems to wake me up just as they are starting, and if I can stretch my leg out quick enough, it eases away. If I'm not fast enough, oh, my, it really hurts and there is some soreness for a couple days.

yes often and especially at night, I buy some little pills for leg cramps at CVS pharmacy
Hyland's Leg Cramps With Quinine Caplets
they contain quinine which helps relieve the cramps, they also help my restless leg too.

Drinking tonic water can help also since it does contain quinine.

Sometimes being low on potassium can cause them so eat bananas or take a supplement that has potassium in it. Drinking sports drinks can help because they have potassium and help re balance the electrolytes in our body.
Dehydration will often bring them on too that is because when dehydrated the electrolytes are out of balance.

I usually take a daily vitamin + mineral supplement.

I have been told they are caused by low potassium and to eat a banana a day or drink OJ daily.

I don't follow that rule and still get them a few times a year--VERY painful as you know!

I get them more in winter. The cold makes my muscles tense I guess.

I just flex my foot pulling my toes toward me to stretch it out. Rubbing does nothing for me. If I get a really bad one in the calve I get up and walk it off again flex in going up and down on my toes.

Not any more and I spend up to five hours on concrete at craft shows. I now use a bar of soap in my bed under the sheets - google - leg cramps and bar of soap - read what I'm talking about... It has worked for me for seven years...

I get them in my feet if I don't take my potassium pills.

When I do get them, I find that if I stretch my great toe up in the air as far as it will go, it helps relieve the pain.

Oh, I use the bar of soap, too....my kids think I'm nuts! I also have a little tonic water before I go to bed. I get them occasionally, but not bad.

They could also be caused by dehydration. Consider upping your water intake.

I use a bar of soap too..it works for me..

The bar of soap 'neath the sheets works for me!

In dialysis in the middle of dialysis you get the worst cramps in calves,feet.You cant get up,I often hear people screaming from cramps so bad,If my feet get cold or legs I get cramps.

I get them alot when I'm not exercising regularly. Woke up the other morning in a lot of pain and was sore the entire day...and had to go to work. Not fun. When I was exercising regularly they went away completely. Looking forward to when I can do that again.

I've often heard that the bar of soap helps with restless legs, but I didn't know it would also help with charlie horses.

I used to have charlie horses, but haven't had any for a while; restless legs occasionally still. I am taking calcium and vitamin D regularly now; maybe that has helped.

Sue

Taking a little extra magnesium at bedtime helps me avoid night-time leg cramps.

There are packets with a flavored magnesium powder that dissolves in water.

You should be able to find them at a health food store and one brand I like is Peter Gilliam's "Natural Calm."

I had severe leg pain and cramps and after the Dr. checked things out found out I was low on Vit D. He has me on Oscal with Vit D and 3 pills a day. As long as I do this, it really makes a difference Before you take anything, you should get a good blood panel check. It could be something else.

I get them if my legs get cold. So I always keep my legs covered at night even if the top of me is too warm for covers.

Pointing my toes upward helps some of them..Others I have to walk out.

patti

Yes, and they're very painful. I usually head straight for the bathroom tile. The cold tile seems to help. It also helps to make sure your potassium level is not low.

Stand facing a wall with your toes about 24" away, and put your hands up on the wall at shoulder level and lean hard into the wall, keeping your feet flat on the floor. Stretch the calf muscles. It's the opposite of pointing your toes, which hurts like heck.

My mother has been bothered from time to time with severe cramping at night, usually in her thigh. She read in People's Pharmacy that eating half a teaspoon of mustard will deal with it straight away. It works beautifully for her, so well that she sleeps with the French's bottle next to her bed.

They run in spurts. I'll get several over a period of a few weeks, then none for years. They wake me up out of a sound sleep. I wake up and try to walk them off.

Same as kathsgrdn. IF I don't excercise regularly I get them in my calfs, at night. If my running shoes are bothering me, then I get cramps in my toes and arch.

DH used to get them nearly every night. And they were bad. Sometimes it would take him 10 minutes or so of walking to ease them. I did the research and tried all the tips - magnesium, potassium, etc., but nothing seemed to make a difference. Then I read that some cholesterol medications can cause cramping. I told DH about that. He relies on me to put his meds in pill cases for several weeks at a time, so has no idea which is for what. So, you know what he did? He just stopped taking ALL of his meds! Didn't even tell me. Then one day I mentioned that he hadn't had any leg cramps for a couple of weeks and he told me what he had done.

I won't go into my diatribe here about doctors prescribing unnecessary meds. Suffice it to say that you might want to check side effects of any cholesterol meds you might be taking and ask your doctor to switch you to another.

When I get them I sit up in bed and i stretch my leg straight and grab my toes. This always works forme.

SamKaren
your resident DJ

I take leg cramp pills when I get them. I get them if we dance a lot or if I go up and down stairs a lot, like the motor home steps.

I get them a lot.I hate the ones that are on the top of the foot and curl your toes! Owwwwww!!!
I have seen several people mention the tablets that contain Quinine.I have read about recent studies that say you shouldn't take Quinine.I would be very careful.I have taken them in the past and my mother took them but i don't anymore.I take a couple of potassium tablets and that seems to help but you also have to be careful with potassium.

Here is a link that might be useful: Quinine

I started getting them real bad this summer. Always during the night. Sometimes they would travel up from the calf into the thigh, those are the worst. Generally just walking them off or stretching in the opposite direction of the cramp helps. As they progressed though I was getting them in the front of the leg, on the sides and into the back, if I stretched one way, it made the other worse. I found the air conditioning vent at work was directly under me, closed it off and try to keep the legs warm. That helps. In addition I take calcium/magnesium lactate 2 nights in a row and on the third night I take a heaping tablespoon of black strap molasses. If I take the pills too often, diarhea. This combination has worked for me for the past few months. I get one about every month or so now.

my Dr. told me:

if you have dull burning pain you are low on calcium, if you have muscle spasms or charlie horses you are low on magnesium.

Well, I'm pretty sure I'm good on my calcium intake (cheese! yum! ice cream! yum!).

I will look into taking a magnesium supplement and Google to find out if there are foods that are naturally high in magnesium.

How do you folks think the bar of soap works? It's not something I think I'll try, cuz there's a cute little 1-year-old dog that sleeps on the bed with me, and I wouldn't want her messing with it (I imagine it would take only 1 lick to make her jump off the bed and sleep elsewhere, tho!) but I'm interested in what makes the soap keep that cramp away!

I have been reading about the bar of soap since I had never heard of that and I decided to give it a try.
You put the bar of soap under the bottom sheet between it and the mattress so the dog would not be able to get to it, I had that same worry till I read the many many positive reviews and directions. Most said to put it in a sock or stocking and then put it at foot of bed under the bottom sheet on the mattress that is where I put mine. Some seemed to prefer Ivory but many said it did not matter the brand. They also seem to say they have to be changed out after 3 or 4 months, or when you again have a cramp. It can be the small hotel bars or a full size.
No idea what is in the soap that would help but sure won't hurt to try it.

Hmm, I don't usually have bars of soap in the house. Do you think I can just use my shower gel instead?

JUST A JOKE!!! hahahaha. (I had a bottle of Mountain Dew Code Red today. I'm blaming all that caffeine...)

Hey, I thought it was funny!

But really--anybody know more about the bar of soap?

Sorry--I just can't buy into the soap cure. What possible scientific evidence would there be for a bar of soap under the sheets stopping a cramp? Although some people swear by it (I've even seen where it has to be LifeBouy or Irish Spring soap), I'm sure it is a myth. If bar soap sends out such fumes that they can cure a cramp, I am glad I use soft soap! Quinine, however, might be useful. It is a long-time remedy. I don't know about the pills, but quinine is found in selzer water. I keep a bottle in my frig and take a cup or so when I get a cramp. It does seem to alleviate them somewhat.

I get them only rarely. When I feel one coming on, I push my heel down and my toes up (towards the top of my body) and sometimes that will keep it from cramping.

I think the bar of soap thing sounds interesting. I'd never heard of it before, so did google it. My thought is that it's cheap, easy, and can't do any harm. So, why not try it! Or at least, I think I will, if leg cramps ever become a problem for me.

For those who want to increase the amount of potassium in their diets, bananas are just one source. My mom was on a high-potassium diet at one time (because she had a deficiency) and there are a lot of other foods rich in potassium. I've put a link to a list below.

For those who are thinking about Vitamin D - my doctor says that Vitamin D is not just a vitamin but a hormone and that it is very necessary to the body (bone health, protects against breast cancer, antioxidant, etc), and that there is practically no way that those of us in the northern locations can get enough vitamin D from the sun. She had me on a high dose of Vitamin D until my levels increased to an acceptable level (confirmed by lab test) and then lowered my dose to a normal level which I am now on for maintenance.

Here is a link that might be useful: Potassium rich foods