Oy. Nearly drown in my own pool because of a hamstring spasm. Ouch! My bad, I was "racing" my daughter, and I had fins on, and I almost won. (By the way, if you get a spasm right under your gluteus, standing up straight doesn't take it away. I had to hobble to the stairs and sit and do a runner's stretch.)

They are plaguing me something terrible lately. Feet, calves, hams, hands, neck. The other night watching a movie with my kiddos my big toe suddenly pointed straight up to the sky!!! Freakish.

I saw on FB that Bridge is having lower back ones today too. Poor girl.

So I take cyclobenzaprine when I need it, and boy have I needed it. But it doesn't solve the problem, you know? Just lessen it for a couple hours while I sleep.

I've been reading up on it and a Calcium and/or Magnesium/phosphorous deficiency can cause this. I have been taking a vitamin specifically for this though. Always a little more than the FDA recommends.

Does dehydration cause them too? Cause I can't seem to catch up on my water either. Always thirsty. Waking up parched in the am.

So my questions: WHAT DO YOU DO FOR SPASMS, AND ANY IDEA WHAT CAUSES THEM?

(I ate carefully today NSD wise and it seems to be helping.)

sorry to hear this! they certainly are NO fun!

i know you already take Ca/Mg/K (as you stated), maybe your body needs even more?

i was getting the calf ones all the time especially upon waking especially if i forgot and stretched upon waking, silly me! those were with me for years, but then more recently i was getting the foot cramps and toe cramps more and more often.

for me, starting magnesium, and it wasn't even very much, 200 mg at bedtime, seemed to nearly solve the problem. since january i've only had those spasms twice now.

the other thing i suspect is a change in hormones. i've read that the roller coaster hormones of perimenopause are notorious for these, especially the AM calf cramps, but not just those alone. i never had the problem til i started perimenopuase. of course that's about the time all the arthritis stuff kicked in too. but now that i'm in menopause for about a year or two, finally i think the hormones are not so much of a roller coaster ride. so it could be the magnesium, but it could be the change in hormones as well. not sure if you are old enough to be having a change in your hormones? but something to consider.

and yes, think dehydration can play a part as well. so i just try to drink plenty, though muscle relaxants certainly suck the water right out of me, or so it feels, due to the dry mouth thing.

in conclusion, mine did get better, either due to starting magnesium or due to entering menopause.

Donna - I get the same problems, including toes...!! (Yes, an it sure does looks freakish ) Can aget em any time, day or night, screamaing agony. hate it most when calves, 'with' back and front of thighs GO...strewth. Worst one was a 2 hour spasm with 12 hours to get rid of the residual effects. Never forget thatta episode!

I take Mag Sulph and Zinc. Works pretty good. Best to *ensure you take every day for a few weeks. Then stop, then start over again. Keeps control of the spasms happening.

Don't swim alone, OK? Take care -

Thanks Sue and Molly.

Trying to be a detective here, and one thing I figured out is that my Cal/mag/K pill that I normally take included vit D (which makes Cal more absorbable) but I ran out and bought a different brand. It had the same amounts of cal/mag/k, but NO vit D. I took it for a month a couple of weeks ago, and cannot seem to get back on top of it.

As for perimenopause, I'm 36, so not sure but anything is possible.

Another possibility is that I have laid off the vit C that I was taking copious amounts of. Found some research about spasms and vit C.

Moll, you have had it worse than me. That sounds "terrible" my friend!

And Sue, YOU ARE RIGHT, I hadn't realized the muscle relaxers were dehydrating me. Of course.

So more water, more C, and more cal/mag/k WITH D!!

Thanks ladies!

And eating healthier yesterday has seemed to help. (Duh, right?) I'm 25% better today.

Donette,
That has been a huge problem for me all my life.
Nothing seemed to help. But I do know it does no good to rest the muscles.. They cramp when I do nothing!
My ankles used to get black and blue!!

WOW Girl thats horrible I hate spasms...

Sounds like your doing everything right..I know Zanaflex has worked wonders for me, I had some horrible spasms and some muscles locking up on me, dont know what I would have done without it.

I hope you get it figured out!

Hugs!

POTASSIUM!!! The OTC dosage is 99mg, it SAVED MY BUTT when I was pregnant with BaileyBoo, I took 99mg at bedtime and it was like magic. A friend with MS (not the stupid one . . . lol) recommended it when I was first on Pred and MTX and started having bad cramps, he said eat bananas every day or take a pill. Gatorade is also a big help, it has a lot of potassium in it (it'll also help you get hydrated - maybe this would kill two birds for you?). Bananas made me puke while I was preggo, so I opted for the pills.
I'm taking Potassium and Pred right now to kill the Nasty-A$$ back spasm, in addition to an extra dose of Methocarbamol (Robaxim.) I've always found that cyclobenzaprine doesn't do CRAP, for either me or Cody, his favorite MR is Soma, (Robaxim stones him really bad). I have a running rx for 500-1,000mg Robaxim TID as needed for my Fibro stuff, it helps a bunch. I usually take half of that, so that when I get a REAL issue like the aforementioned Nasty-A$$ Spasm From Hades, I can double up and whoop it. We haven't tried Zanaflex, or, if he's tried it, he doesn't remember bc the Army had him doped on Morphine at the time. He gets nasty SI spasms from his Army injury, about every six months I have to take him in for steroid shots and Soma and Toridol after he does something stupid (last time, it was lifting a gallon of milk out of the fridge!). A couple weeks ago, he bucked 10,000 pounds of hay in 3-strand bales (120 lbs each) onto a trailer, then off and stacked into a barn, but THAT didn't set it off . . . no . . . that dang gallon of MILK, though. THOSE are dangerous.

Ugh, I hope you get it solved quickly!! Spasms suck. I'm also using Salonpas patches and Absorbine (the hard-core one full of Absinthe) on my back, and those ARE helping some. I need to lose some weight so my SIs are closer to the skin.

Hugs!
,
Bridget