Why do you get leg cramps at night?

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Answer

Cramping during sleep is usually due to an exaggeration of a normal muscle reflex. When you turn during sleep, you contract your calf muscles and stretch their tendons. This stimulates nerve stretch receptors in the tendon and sends a message back to the spinal cord, telling the calf muscles to contract. Sometimes, the muscles remain contracted and hurt. Painful muscle cramps at night can also be caused by nerve damage such as that caused by pinching a nerve, muscle damage, a partially-obstructed flow of blood to the legs and abnormal mineral or hormone levels, so if you have this problem, check with your doctor. If you do not have a serious cause, you can often prevent night cramps by exhausting the stretch reflex before you go to bed by stretching your calf muscles with wall pushups, and applying a heating pad for 10 minutes before you go to sleep.

This is a quote of Gabe Mirkin, M.D., for CBS News Radio

Answer

Restless Legs Syndrome

(RLS) is a neurological disorder characterized by unpleasant sensations in the legs and an uncontrollable urge to move them for relief. The sensation typically begins while you're lying down or sitting for an extended period of time, such as in a car, airplane or movie theater. Symptoms typically are less bothersome during the day and are felt primarily at night. Individuals affected with the disorder describe the sensations as burning, creeping, tugging, or cramping. The sensations range in severity from uncomfortable to irritating to painful. For those with mild to moderate symptoms, many physicians suggest certain lifestyle changes and activities to reduce or eliminate symptoms. Decreased use of caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco may provide some relief. Physicians may suggest that certain individuals take supplements to correct deficiencies in iron, folate, and magnesium. Taking a hot bath, massaging the legs, or using a heating pad or ice pack can help relieve symptoms in some patients. Physicians also may suggest a variety of medications to treat RLS, including dopaminergics, benzodiazepines (central nervous system depressants), opioids, and anticonvulsants.

Answer

A problem with muscle cramps can sometimes be a problem with the muscle not being able to function properly due to a lack of proper electrolite balance. Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), and Magnesium (Mg) are absolutely essential for a muscle to be able to properly fire....and to properly relax. If there is a lack of these minerals in the body, the muscle can temporarily lose the ability to relax and, therefore, cramps. Try taking K, Ca, and Mg suppliments regularly and see if that doesn't make a huge difference.

This could also be the effect of insulin resistance. I'm not sure of your weight or sugar intake, but if you have too much sugar or processed crap in your diet for a prolonged period of time, the body goes into what is called insulin resistance. Insulin is an anabolic hormone that also serves to store calcium and magnesium. Insulin resistance, by these means, can be a cause of not only muscle cramps, but osteoporosis and hypertension as well.

(If you think about it, the middle wall of your blood vessels is a muscle. If it can't relax, it becomes constricted. If the blood vessels become constricted, then the same amount of blood has to travel through an all around smaller maze of vessels. The result is hypertension or high blood pressure.)

(As far as osteoporosis goes, how many people have you ever heard of having osteoporosis, but being on a calcium supplement? It's not the amount of ingested calcium that causes a problem, it's the amount that the body loses from not being able to store it anywhere. Osteoporosis is a pH problem and a hormone problem, not a diet issue.)

Solution: Home Remedy

Many people suffering from nocturnal leg cramps or RLS report that their symptoms improve when a bar of plain soap is placed underneath the sheets.

Another good remedy is to take magnesium and potassium supplement. It is not immediate but your symptom should decrease after a few days.

Peter Nisbet

First answer by ID1143004310. Last edit by Pnisbet. Contributor trust: 2 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 85 [recommend question]