HELP! Muscle Cramps!!!!!!

HELP!  I'm having severe cramps in my toes, feet & calves.  I massage the cramp and it eases off only to move to another area of the leg.  This has been going on for hours in both legs!!  Can anyone sugges things to do to ease muscle cramps and/or prevent them?   I already take prescription potassium due to low labs 2 years ago.  I'm also drinking 32-48 oz. per day.  I know that is a bit low for most, but my surgeon only requires 48 oz. per day. HELP!  I am miserable and ready to head to the ER if I can't get some relief soon! Vickie J. PS - I tried icing the muscles and that didn't help either.

This can be a symptom of blood clots -- get to the doctor!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to call my PCP today.  Never thought about clots - thanks for the warning! Vickie J.

Vicki- I had a clot in my left calf and the only symptom I had was a cramp like pain that got progressively worse.  I am fond of saying that clot probably saved my life because after I got the clot -- they took a detailed family history and after learning my brother had several clots they did genetic testing.  It was discovered I had three clotting disorders.  This was before I had my surgery.  So had it not been for that clot I would have gone into surgery without anyone knowing I had the clotting disorders.  As it was, my surgeon was able to take all the precautions necessary to prevent blood clots during and after my surgery. I hope the doc gets you all fixed up and that you are feeling better soon. Red

Red, Wow!  Sounds like you really dodged a bullet!  Sometimes those storm clouds of life really do have a silver lining!!  I'm glad you found out about the clotting problems before you surgery.  I developed large hematomas after 2 of my plastic surgeries which concerned my ps that maybe I had begun to have clotting issues since my gastric bypass.  But after seeing a hematologist & lots of tests the doc decided I just had fragile veins that were prone to "pop open" around the stitches.  She said it was like trying to sew wet paper towels together.  You can do it, but it doesn't take a lot of force to cause the veins to pull open around the stitches.   We think maybe a hard coughing fit might have caused one of them but not sure about the other one.  However, the day after my LBL the nurse's aide who was trying to get me up to go potty but didn't know how to operate the bed goofed and laid me out  totally flat - a NO NO when you've just had a LBL.  So I suspect that is what caused that hematoma.  Of course, there is no way to know for sure b/c by the time they took me back into surgery (both times) the bleeding had stopped on its own and all the ps had to do was evacuate the huge pool/clot of blood (hematoma) and sew me back up.  I got a giggle out of my ps describing how he evacuated the hematoma, packed the wound and "sat down for 15 minutes" to see if it would start bleeding again.  I can just picture him kicking back in a Lazy Boy recliner in the O.R. reading a magazine or watching Survivor on TV while I'm laying there on the the opoerating table like a filleted flounder .  How's that for a mental image??  LOL!!    I guess I shouldn't joke - my ps is fabulous!  He recognized the problems & handled them quickly.  I can only imagine how much worse it wouldn've been if he hadn't spotted them so fast. I've put a call in the my PCP and am waiting for a call back from his nurse.  Since the cramps have been in both feet & legs I doubt it is a clot, but I still need to get some kind of relief.  They've eased off since I've been up on my feet cleaning house today, but I'm sure the moment I sit for down for more than 5 minutes they'll be kicking up again.  I'll let you guys know what I find out. Vickie J. PS - about the I signed my name but before I could hit send, the phone rang from my PCP's nurse.  Doc wants me to drink 2 bottles of quinine water per day (YUCK), take Slow Mag (a magnesium supplement) and come in tomorrow AM for a fasting blood work-up.  Joy! Joy!  They just took 8 tubes of blood in Aug. for my annual "big" round of labs.  I sure hope he doesn't need that much tomorrow!!  Oh well, ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

Vicki- I hope the blood work comes out ok. Red

OMG!!!

You need to drink more water. This can be from dehydration and an electrolyte imbalance. Try a banana, orange, baked potatoe...these all have potassium in them.

I am going to increase fluids & see if that helps.  I'm also getting some bananas today but hadn't thought about oranges.  I'll pick up some of them, too.  Thanks! Vickie J.

The number one reason for cramps like that is dehydration.  We can get moisture from the food we eat also, but since we don't eat as much food we do need to drink more. There are other supplements you can take OTC for cramps if dehydration isn't the problem.