[ANOther]

I get cramps in my leg at night from time to time and would like to find some over-the-counter remedy for them. Problem is, every single cramp remedy I see on the market (Cramp 911, Hylands cramp pills and salve) are 1. expensive as the deuce and 2. homeopathic, and I'm skeptical about homeopathic remedies (check this article if you don't know what I'm talking about: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb...pathy-01052011). What do MDs recommend?

[fatmac]

My mom had terrible leg cramps at night for a while, and her MD put her on the pill (Yaz, I think). She has since switched to an IUD but swears that the bc worked wonders for the leg cramps.

[cheryl126]

I've heard that leg cramps can be caused by mineral deficiencies such as calcium, magnesium and potassium, so maybe try a multivitamin and see if that makes a difference.

[Sea]

Are you careful to stay hydrated, and have appropriate salt/mineral balance? Anytime I lack potassium I'm more likely to have cramps (which is often when dieting). Bananas are the most common simple solution; avocados have 4x as much.

[LiannaKole]

I get cramps in my legs at night sometimes. For me, it's usually a potassium deficiency or I'm dehydrated. I'd drink more water and eat more bananas.

Also, what helps me a TON is when I catch it just starting, I quickly and gently bring my heels up to my butt so that my legs are folded. That halts the cramps in their tracks. I don't know why.

[JoJoJo2]

Be sure you stretch after exercising, that might be causing the problem.

[LightRaven]

My grandmother gets them at night. Her doctor told her to eat a banana a day (something about potassium and magnesium) and they went away

LR

[Initiative]

I take a lot of baths and I have a heated blanket. Heat is what really helps me, especially if my feet can't get warm. If my feet are cold then I get horrible cramps in my legs. My mom bought me some slippers called anti-stress microwavable comfort booties by earth therapeutics. They have lavender and chamomile in them too. She found it on Amazon for $20. You can't walk on them but they help a lot for pains in the lower body. Tea might also help, try finding some with Valerian (if you are able to have it) it might help calm the nerves enough to sleep.

[bargoo]

I gt leg cramps and have found the best thing to do, is get out of bed and walk for a minute or so. It is hard to make yourself do this but it works.

[MoveMoveMove]

For a while, I was having leg cramps every night. A doctor I had told me to sleep with an opened bar of soap around my calves and if a cramp started to rub the soap on the area of the cramp. I don't know if it's a psych thing or not but it worked for a while. She said she was told about it as an old wives tale but it worked for her. Ivory and Lever 2000 were what she recommended.

She also recommended magnesium so when the soap stopped working I switched to taking 250 mg magnesium supplement every day. I rarely have leg cramps now. Recent blood work shows my mag levels are fine.

[Tigtan]

When I experience leg cramps at night I took liquid calcium. Something my grama told me about years ago. It has always worked for me. note: watch for sugar content when buying liquid calcium ;-)

[Dusti]

Oh, this brings back painful memories. About 3 months ago I was having horrible leg cramps. I always thought it was restless leg syndrome because I couldn't sit for long periods or lay down and they would wake me from a dead sleep and I would be up for hours with them. I used to try and walk the pain off but really that did not work for me. The only thing I have found that has made them disappear (for me) had been Epson salt that I bought from a drugstore. I would pour a 1/2 cup in a hot bath and the pain would lesson each day, now it is gone. If it does come back I know what I can use now. My blood work hasn't come back with any issues that I can link to the leg pain, so I don't really know what caused it.

[amandie]

Do you get enough potassium in your diet? About 4 months ago, I had really horrible leg cramps for about 2 weeks. So painful and nothing helped until I started taking potassium gluconsmate (sp?)- eventually they went away and have yet to return. I still have that handy potassium bottle but wow, I can remember the pain like it was yesterday. Did it feel like it was a cramp/spasm that would not ease up and/or a tightness of some sort?

[ANOther]

I eat one banana every morning; in fact that stopped me from having cramps for several years, then they came back with a vengeance. The way the muscles pull around my ankle it feels like my leg wants to tie itself in a knot. Sometimes I find that getting up and walking helps (I usually have to make a comfort stop at least once during the night anyway). Thanks all

[murphmitch]

I get these when I'm not taking my calcium supplements. Once I'm back on them, they go away.