Q. My sister gets cramps in her feet at night. They are so severe that she has to get out of bed to deal with them.
She has tried mustard, soap, pickle juice and V8. Is there anything else that might work?
A. She might try a magnesium supplement before bed. Sometimes that can prevent muscle cramps like the ones that plague her. People report that B vitamins may also be helpful. A small study in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (Dec., 1998) found that a B vitamin complex alleviated nighttime cramps for more than three quarters of the elderly volunteers:
“After 3 months, 86 percent of the patients taking vitamin B had prominent remission of leg cramps, whereas those taking placebo had no significant difference from baseline.”
Other readers have found magnesium supplements to be helpful. Drinking water (including tonic water, which contains quinine) during the day, might be helpful as Donna A. reports:
“My sleep-deprived nights are a thing of the past (due to severe leg cramps, whether in my feet, toes, calfs, and inner thigh). My cramps were so bad, I cried. I have tried: tart cherry juice, mustard, vinegar, bar of soap, etc. What helps me the most is a really large glass of water (1-2 cups) to start and then another. It seems that I do not drink enough fluid throughout the day and have found myself going for that small bowl of cereal several hours before I go to bed. The cereal, though half-covered with milk, still acts as a sponge on my system, trying to absorb what little, if any moisture that might be lying around. I don’t use salt.
“After much research, I have changed my eating habits; seafood twice a week, only cereal in the morning (instead of a choice of oatmeal or toast), two servings of fruit before lunch, a regular lunch (no bread) with two vegetables and a light dinner with two vegetables. I have not had leg cramps in 5 months… Oops, I forgot the green tea that I have just substituted for my coffee for the last three of the four weeks thinking I might have some kind of food allergy and have gotten the best sleep I can ever remember.”
