If I thought the hemorrhoid and heartburn were bad, last night I experienced a whole new level of pain...
At 2 a.m. I was awakened to the worse Charlie Horse I've ever experience. I went from horizontal to vertical with a piercing scream in 2.8 seconds. If I expected a calf rub from Mr. Jem, I was sh*t out of luck. Allegedly I have begun snoring so loud that he couldn't sleep and he wasn't feeling generous. At all. (Ha! Payback for the months of putting up with HIS snoring.)
I was able to massage my leg and fall back asleep, but my calf still hurts this morning. I've left a message with my favorite massage therapist to see if she can help me. Someone suggested upping my magnesium intake. Any other ideas?
13 comments:
Sorry you've been hit by the trifecta! With a Charlie house, point your toe and HOLD IT... If you let go an it still hurts, point your toe again. It's a miracle!
A couple of my pregnancy books recommend routinely stretching your calves prior to going to bed. I guess any type of calf stretch would work; the simplest one I know is simply bracing your foot against a wall and flexing it back.
The magnesium is supposed to help, too. But I take it--have for a long time, for migraine prevention--and I've still had the night leg cramps on occasion.
Also, make sure you're drinking plenty of water during the day. . . 2 liters at a minimum, optimally 3 liters a day.
Potassium (bananas) is supposed to help with regular cramps. Couldn't hurt!
This is random but my aunt swears this works -- she keeps little packets of yellow mustard next to her bed. When she gets a charlie horse, she opens one up, sucks out the mustard and then, miracle, it's gone. Is it the turmeric? The mustard seed? I've got no idea.
push your foot against a wall..completely flat as long as the cramp lasts.
I had that too while pregnant; the magnesium helps and you have gotten other good tips.
Calf cramps are common, and yeah, stretching and potassium and magnesium are your best bets.
This is JUST A CAUTION, but it's worth saying--if you have lower leg pain *and* it is red or swollen, call your doctor. Sometimes blood clots (which are more common in pregnancy) present that way. 99% of the time, it's nothing, but if you do have redness and/or swelling with the pain, better to call than not.
I lucked out and had only one while pregnant...but it hurt for easily 2 weeks after so I highly recommend the massage. If it continues doc might want to u/s for clots (mine did). Fun, right?
I eat bananas before bed, it really does help!
I had these all the time when I was pregnant, and if I felt one coming on I would straighten my leg and point my toes upward (hard to describe, but I would do the OPPOSITE of pointing my toes) so that the front muscles of my leg were flexed. It worked most of the time, but for the few times it didn't, walking helped, especially if I made sure to not walk normally and not on my tiptoes. My muscles still felt sore in the morning, but not nearly as bad!:-)
This is normal and happened to me a lot. Stretching before bed actually DOES work... but it really sucks to be woken up from a deep sleep (according to your husband) with sharp calf-pain.
The good news is that I've never had it again. Definitely pregnancy related (at least for me).
I'm not a doctor, I only play one on the internet.
Calcium helped me to manage the night cramps.
I've had those wake you up from a dead sleep in excruciating pain from a charlie horse without a pregnancy! They are NOT fun! Taking magnesium regularly helps tons for me.
As a couple others have mentioned, if you do get them, flex your toes (not point) and grab your big toe if you can to stretch your calf.
Also, I thought I'd mentioned that while bananas are good for cramps, I have heard they can add to constipation. Haven't tested it myself.
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