Why Am I Getting These Wicked Cramps? page

[Doulos]

Twice in the last 10 days I've awoken at night and in stretching out my legs the calf muscle in my left leg goes completely spastic. It just tightens up out of nowhere like I'm trying to curl 500 lbs on a calf machine and it doesn't let go!

It's some of the most intense pain I've ever encountered and leaves me wanting to scream but I can't even get my breath to do so. It takes two days to fully recover from this and I fell like I walk around with a slight gimp in the mean time.

Here's some extra info: this happened to me last summer too, probably 5 episodes, it never happens in the winter. My wife had something similar happen last year too but not this year.

[Velocity]

1) Drinking enough water?
2) Potential mineral deficiencies -- I've seen lack of potassium and/or magnesium as culprits.

[Doulos]

I was drinking enough water when the incidents happened.

I thought it might be some type of minneral thing too. This started up after I started taking 3 caps of ZMA (recommended dose is 3 caps) before bed. I thought about eating bananas too, but I don't want the fructose before sleeping so I got some NuSalt (potassium chloride) and cap'd them.

You can't consume that stuff on an empty stomach or it'll tear up your lining so I take it after I finish dinner hoping that the potassium charge will carry through the night. Keeping my fingers crossed. I seriously go to bed in fear of this happening now.

[jturk]

Muscle cramps are pretty common with pb - for some folks its not an issue, for others (myself included) they're a bitch.

It's your skeletal muscle's way of asking for more glycogen - mine disappeared (they were quite bad for a while) after adding back more starch in my diet, primarily from sweet potatoes. Magnesium at bedtime can also help, but starch is key.

Just out of curiosity, how would you describe your body type (ectomorph, endomorph, mesomorph)?

[Griff]

Drink more water, and take a potassium and a magnesium supplement.

[Nion]

Drink more water, and take a potassium and a magnesium supplement.

This.
Happened to my husband too, he was in so much pain i'd have to pull his foot back to relieve it. Once we addressed the mineral deficiencies it went away.

[dml]

If your carb intake is below 50 grams per day or so, you should make sure you are getting enough sodium as well as potassium and magnesium. I salt my food liberally, since I eat no processed foods. I take SlowMag for magnesium, plus Mark's vitamins contain magnesium.

I have information from a number of sources, most recently a book on low carb eating, that it is really important to get enough sodium, magnesium, calcium and potassium while eating low carb. And, as others have mentioned, be sure to stay hydrated. For me, I do enough exercise, including CrossFit, that staying hydrated in the summer is a real effort, especially on a low carb diet.

[petriquor]

This actually happens to me almost every morning the day after overindulging in junk food. Probably has been due to mineral deficiencies, since I substituted nutritious food for crap.

[Korga]

Thanks all of you, I was having a hard time with this too.

[Sue]

Eat foods that are PB approved and rich in magnesium and potassium. Do a search.