[SPAM] OT: Leg Cramps

[Guest guest]

You drink gatorade? Isn't that stuff bad for you? With all of the artificial

colors, and crappy ingredients? Would love to hear your thoughts on this

comment O' mine, I am new to the all-natural thingy, and would like some insight

from peoples. Thanks.

Lori V.

-

Butch Owen

Saturday, June 07, 2008 9:43 AM

[sPAM] OT: Leg Cramps

 

 

Howdy y'all,

 

All the info previously posted on this link was good info .. I think .. and

I left Anya's post at the bottom of this one .. as a reference. Lemme also

add two or three cents.

 

As we age we are more likely to get those night cramps .. many of you (like

me) have had it happen while sleeping and have probably become accustomed to

(like me) immediately knowing what was going down and immediately jumping up

outta bed in a panic cause we knew what we were about to face ..

excruciating pain!!!

 

I have had these on and off for the last few years .. I'll hit 66 years

young next month .. and they are increasing lately. Medical science (says

my Dr. buddy) has not real answers as to exactly why they happen but they

have answers as to when they happen .. that is .. what conditions can

encourage them to happen. I am convinced that the reasons why I have had

more lately is that we have stopped our daily walks because we are giving

more attention to our grounds .. I am over exercising in hot weather ..

working in my garden. That coupled with being generally dehydrated .. and

when I'm not working or playing with my son outside I am usually sitting on

my butt. My Doc buddy says that imbalances in the levels of electrolytes

and a low level of sodium can encourage muscle cramps. There are many ways

to get back into balance but the quickest way will also take care of the

dehydration .. drinking sports drinks .. like Gator Aid and such .. and

don't restrict sodium too much if you intend to exercise a lot during hot

weather.

 

Last Tuesday I pruned all of my tomato plants and then staked them while my

wife tied them up .. lots of leaning over and bending. That night around

midnight I was watching the political pundits on TV and got up and fetch a

glass of water .. I'm standing at the sink when I get hit with cramps in

BOTH legs at the same time .. above the knee. I'm holding to the sink and

trying to stretch upward on my toes and such .. and after maybe 20 seconds

or so they lighten a bit and I cautiously come down flat on both feet. I

took the glass of water and headed back to the couch .. but I didn't make

it. It came back and knocked me right off my feet .. I'm on the floor and

thinking NEVER has it been this bad .. even when I had a compound fracture

once I am certain that the pain was not so intense. It goes on for more

than a full minute and then I start to try to arch my toes upward toward the

knees but I just can't do it. I'm laying there moaning like a feller with a

sucking chest wound and its so loud that my wife hears it all the way to the

bedroom in the opposite end of the house. She comes in and I ask her for a

glass of water cause I am getting light headed .. pain is like BIG TIME ..

she gets it but I can't get into a position to drink it. She starts

massaging and after what appeared to be an hour but was really like 3

minutes or so I am able to scoot across the floor and grab onto the couch

and slowly lift myself up.

 

I was afraid to sit down or lay down .. there was no way in Hell I was going

to go through that again that night .. so I stood up and watched TV for

maybe 2 more hours .. then went outside and walked around the grounds.

Came back in around 0300 and finally decided to take a gamble and sit in a

straight chair. Sometime after that I dozed off. Today is Saturday and

those leg muscles are still sore .. some cramps can be mighty intense and

the spasms can cause inflamed muscles. Right now I am perhaps for the

first time in life afraid of something .. afraid of going through that

again! My Doc buddy told me that it can get worse .. said almost all

cramps involve a single muscle or a group of muscles that act together ..

but from time to time muscles that move body parts in OPPOSITE directions

can cramp at the same time .. that must be something like being drawn before

being quartered! He also confirmed what I already knew .. that is that

cramps are not gonna kill us .. they just sometimes make us think we are

dying .. but .. if a person has cramps as a matter of routine they need to

get checked out because there are medical issues that can cause frequent

cramps.

 

Some of you can associate with what I just laid out .. but why did I go into

that much detail explaining? Because them that can't might want to try to

.. and might want to try to avoid what I think has caused my problems

lately. Not much we can do about age and not much we can do about

exercising if we want to maintain a yard or garden .. but we can avoid

becoming dehydrated and we can vary the type of physical exercise we are

getting by not doing the same thing for too long a period .. this is pretty

much like stretching but not really .. though it helps to get the same

results. I am a believer in Gator Aid and such and like Anya mentioned

below .. I am eating lots of bananas and kiwi and such now .. gotta make

such we have enough potassium .. and I am doing all I can to avoid going

through what I did last Tuesday night.

 

Not gonna say that I wouldn't wish cramps on my worst enemies .. that's

taking it a bit too far cause there are a couple of folks in the world I

would like to see get them daily .. but I wouldn't wish them on 99.9999% of

the folks .. so y'all might wanna take heed during this hot weather and make

sure you do all you can do to try to avoid this situation. ;-)

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-)

 

Butch .. http://www.AV-AT.com

 

On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 8:02 AM, Anya <anya wrote:

 

> > I know I am low in potassium that is why I do the orange juice and

> > parsley

> > thing, because water pills take away potassium and I get bad leg

> > cramps, kick a

> > hole in the wall leg cramps in the night ...

>

> I had brutal leg cramps, sometimes in the quads, sometimes in the

> calves, ankle/foot or toes. I would take potassium occasionally, tons of

> magnesium, try stretching, hotpads on the legs before bedtime - very

> little relief. Last October, my blood tests showed excess potassium and

> calcium, so I had to stop taking them. I got the go-ahead to take as

> much magnesium as I wanted, but still little or no relief. I had cramps

> practically every night. The ones gripping my ankle and foot were awful,

> they'd make my foot contort, and I heard a loud pop when I tried to

> force it back into a neutral position.

>

> For Christmas, I got my mother a motorized lift recliner chair to help

> her get up. The guy gave me a good deal on a regular recliner for

> myself. I had a bit of a prejudice against them, with visions of Archie

> Bunker and holding a beer can being imprinted on my cultural engramme

> regarding that kind of chair. I needed a new chair in the sun room where

> I take breaks from work to read or watch TV, so I got it.

>

> The leg cramps stopped within one day of using it. The problem was I was

> not elevating my legs enough for the blood supply to return to the heart

> during the day, so there was a major traffic jam at night when the

> gravity took over to complete the blood flow, which caused the cramps.

>

> I pop in and out of the chair probably 20 times a day, sometimes for

> just five minutes. I've only had a few Charley horse cramps in my calf

> in six months after a lot of sudden exertion, like climbing a lot of

> stairs, which is kind of understandable.

>

> YMMV, of course, but I suggest trying to raise your legs periodically

> during the day, maybe with just a footstool to start if you don't have

> or want a recliner chair.

>

> --

> - perfumes, aromatics, classes,

> consultation

>

>

>

>

>

 

[Guest guest]

You can make your own 'natural' Gatorade with 1 cup orange juice, 2 cups water

and 1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt . This

will provide potassium, magnesium, sodium and glucose, all the benefits that

Gatorade is supposed to give you, w/o the additives.

 

Sandra

 

 

 

 

 

 

You drink gatorade? Isn't that stuff bad for you? With all of the artificial

colors, and crappy ingredients? Would love to hear

your thoughts on this comment O' mine, I am new to the all-natural thingy, and

would like some insight from peoples. Thanks.

Lori V.

[Guest guest]

could you do this with any pure juice not just orange ??

-

sanr

Sunday, June 08, 2008 9:32 AM

Re: [sPAM] OT: Leg Cramps

 

 

You can make your own 'natural' Gatorade with 1 cup orange juice, 2 cups water

and 1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt . This

will provide potassium, magnesium, sodium and glucose, all the benefits that

Gatorade is supposed to give you, w/o the additives.

 

Sandra

 

You drink gatorade? Isn't that stuff bad for you? With all of the artificial

colors, and crappy ingredients? Would love to hear

your thoughts on this comment O' mine, I am new to the all-natural thingy, and

would like some insight from peoples. Thanks.

Lori V.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I have not anything else but I don't see why not.

 

 

 

 

 

could you do this with any pure juice not just orange ??

-

 

You can make your own 'natural' Gatorade with 1 cup orange juice, 2 cups water

and 1/2 teaspoon salt, preferably sea salt . This

will provide potassium, magnesium, sodium and glucose, all the benefits that

Gatorade is supposed to give you, w/o the additives.

 

Sandra

 

You drink gatorade? Isn't that stuff bad for you? With all of the artificial

colors, and crappy ingredients? Would love to hear

your thoughts on this comment O' mine, I am new to the all-natural thingy, and

would like some insight from peoples. Thanks.

Lori V.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

R.W. Knudsen Brand juices makes organic and all natural versions of

the nasty gator. They use filtered water, grape and apple juice

concentrates, natural flavor and sea salt. They run just under $3/per

bottle and if you mix them with half water and store them in the

fridge, they are super chug-able on hot days. www.knudsenjuices.com

 

 

, " Lori VanScoter "

<lvanscoter wrote:

>

> You drink gatorade? Isn't that stuff bad for you? With all of the

artificial colors, and crappy ingredients? Would love to hear your

thoughts on this comment O' mine, I am new to the all-natural thingy,

and would like some insight from peoples. Thanks.

> Lori V.