Last night I woke up and my left foot had "locked" up into a spasm/cramp. My other leg was also a bit "nerve-y." Nothing really new about
that. I had discussed it with an internal medicine doctor a couple of years ago, and he said it's usually a positional thing (stretching the foot the "wrong," way, etc.). I then started putting a pillow at the foot end of the bed so I couldn't stretch too far in my sleep, and it generally helped.
I think I know the cause of last night's episode. I wore a pair of shoes I usually don't wear in the grocery store. Had no problem while I was shopping, but I sure paid for it overnight! Lesson learned.
Generally, if I have a regular muscle cramp, it will ease quite fast. But these nasty spasms take a while. I have to get out of bed, hobble to the couch, and try to massage them away. Not easy to do, as the muscle gets tight and doesn't want to release; it slides back where it shouldn't. I do take a muscle relaxer as well as magnesium before bed. I also try to drink lots of water and take calcium. Bananas are sometimes helpful. And I do stretches every day, and have specific ones for my feet.
Just wondering if anyone else deals with this occasionally? It's annoying and messes up my sleep. And, ouch!!
"Pray, hope, and don't worry." St. Padre Pio
"Let nothing disturb you; nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything." St. Teresa of Avila
"The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful, to make the most of what we have, to be happy with simple pleasures and have courage when things go wrong." Laura Ingalls Wilder
Post Edited (Luvzminis) : 7/7/2023 2:12:34 AM (GMT-8)
Yes, my feet periodically cramp at night. I haven't been able to correlate it with any cause, so you are ahead of me. I keep thinking I should drink more water, but haven't done it yet. Good luck!
Hi, Luvs and Lynwood. Boy, do I remember those days! I’d have a foot spasm so that my foot was pointing like a ballerina and I could hardly straighten it out. I’d pull the front of my foot back towards my leg to try to stretch the muscle out. I started taking more calcium and that helped quite a bit. I take two maximum strength Citracal tablets twice a day…one before breakfast and one before dinner. I choose Citracal because it’s more easily absorbed.
Then I started the muscle relaxer Methocarbamol 13 years ago and the spasms stopped. I take very little of it…one 500 mg tablet before breakfast and one before dinner.
So this is what helped me. Those spasms are very, very painful!
Sherrine
Forum Moderator/Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia, Crohn's Disease, Ostomy, Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease, Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Glaucoma, Scoliosis, Ankylosing Spondylitis
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God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
Thanks much, Lynnwood and Sherrine! Sorry you both have had to deal with this, but I'm also glad to know I'm not alone! As you likely know, fibro can be so odd--just about everything can go haywire, it seems.
I think I need to adjust the timing of my meds, taking them later in the day (Citrical, especiallly), and yes, I've had good success overall with Methocarbamol. I do find that as I age, I need to increase the Methocarbamol just a bit. My doctor is great, understanding, and flexible. She seems to understand how unpredictable fibro can be.
Thank you again--I appreciate your help!
"Pray, hope, and don't worry." St. Padre Pio
"Let nothing disturb you; nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything." St. Teresa of Avila
"The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful, to make the most of what we have, to be happy with simple pleasures and have courage when things go wrong." Laura Ingalls Wilder