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eek - cramp!

(18 posts)
  • Started 12 years ago by sallyhinch
  • Latest reply from spytfyre
  • This topic is not resolved

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  1. sallyhinch
    Member

    Just as I was falling asleep last night I woke myself (and my husband) up with the worst cramp ever, all down the back of one thigh. It took what felt like a lifetime of sweating and whimpering in pain before I could straighten the leg and stop the cramp springing up again & the leg's still pretty tender now.

    In retrospect this may be due to a week of unaccustomed fine weather leading to too much digging in the garden, as well as my usual cycling (I'd done about 20 miles - which is a bit more than usual but nothing out of the ordinary) and probably a bit of dehydration. I tend to cycle for transport, in my normal clothes, averaging about 10mph so I've never thought of what I do as exercise requiring stretching, isotonic drinks and all that malarkey but I suppose my leg muscles don't know that...

    Assuming this is a (literal) wake up call from my body what would you say is the cut-off between just getting somewhere on a bike and the sort of exercise that requires taking it seriously enough to rehydrate, stretch, warm up and all of that stuff? And are there any good 'normal' drinks for rehydration? I don't want to spend huge amounts on some nasty-looking sports drink if it turns out lemon squash (or Guinness) will do as well.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  2. SRD
    Moderator

    I've always heard that cramps are caused by low potassium -- eat more bananas? I find I have months where I have lots of foot/leg cramps then none for ages. Never found a correlation with exercise or anything else.

    EDIT: just read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cramp interesting!

    Posted 12 years ago #

  3. sallyhinch
    Member

    unfortunately I loathe bananas, can't even stand the smell...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  4. SRD
    Moderator

    how on earth did you survive living in zambia? i'm not keen on corporate bananas but african bananas and the wee ones from the Caribbean are yummy.

    anyway, i think you have diagnosed your problem!

    Posted 12 years ago #

  5. sallyhinch
    Member

    I think it was a dodgy banana in Tanzania that put me off as a child. I was given an unripe one (they're all green there cos they haven't been shipped) and made to eat it all, now I can't stand the thought of them

    Other foods must have potassium in them, no? Off to ask Dr. Google

    Posted 12 years ago #

  6. wee folding bike
    Member

    Never ever had cramp and neither has my dad.

    We both eat bananas but we are also related so it's difficult to deconvulute. I ate meat for the first 20 years, he still does.

    Fruit and veg are generally good.

    Prune juice is a good source, it's tasty, keeps you regular but has some calories.

    Prune juice also has the advantage of being a Klingon warrior's drink.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  7. Tom
    Member

    @sallyhinch - to answer the other part of your question, about recovery, you could get advice from a personal trainer like Tracy Griffen in Leith. She could answer your questions. Or read a training manual like The Cyclists' Training Bible by Joe Friel.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  8. Claggy Cog
    Member

    Very painful Sally, my sympathies. We used to have salt tablets on hand in Africa and when I have been awoken in the night with cramp, which has happened of occasion, a glass of warm water with a teaspoon of salt added has helped. Tonic water is probably good because it contains quinine which is good for cramps and Quinine Sulphate tablets are given to patients with "restless" legs. For post-cramp pain Paracetamol is good. I found when I had cramp over the instep of my foot, which was excruciating, and woke me up, a good rub over with some Ibuprofen gel helped and I was soon back in the land of nod. Alternative sources of potassium to bananas are papaya, strawberries, white beans, raisins, sultanas, apricots, dates, here is a web link which gives you values

    http://www.algaecal.com/potassium-rich-foods.html

    As a quicker fix try some fresh orange with a little salt added, that should sort out both the potassium and sodium. Hope this is of help.

    I forgot to mention, Arnica is wonderful as severe cramp causes muscle damage like severe bruising.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  9. sallyhinch
    Member

    cheers guys - so rehydrate with a gin & tonic & make sure I get plenty of sticky toffee pudding (for the dates)?

    I guess I've never thought of what I do as 'training' but I suppose it's all exercise...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  10. Uberuce
    Member

    Need to make it a relatively tame G&T or else the diuretic effect of the booze will defeat the point, but yarp.

    Watch out for the homeopathic remedies. If you forget to take one, you might overdose.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  11. SRD
    Moderator

    yes, that reminds me, I definitely always used to get leg cramps after a night out...

    Posted 12 years ago #

  12. custard
    Member

    I hardly ever get cramp
    I dont know what causes it but maybe once a year I get it in bed
    always the same. I move my leg and can feel the cramp is coming. them boom right up the bock of my leg around the knee
    can be sore/tight for the next day.
    other times Im fine. yesterday I was doing a lot of moves with my PT,which he said often causes cramp a lot but i was fine

    Posted 12 years ago #

  13. wee folding bike
    Member

    Ahhh, stopped drinking alcohol in '84.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  14. spytfyre
    Member

    Not sure if this has already been covered but you may need to eat salt to help the muscles, potassium my sister says - always eat a banana before swimming a kilometre or more. Eat a banana before gardening :)

    Posted 12 years ago #

  15. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Argh! Cramp! Ouch!

    I only seem to get it when sitting down (as in my leg is bent) and it requires a painful effort to straighten it out. And a lot of suffer face. I don't get it often, but when it does it seems to be in the evening and I'm often sitting at a dinner table and suddenly I pull a face, let out a yelp and them my knee flies up and thumps the table, spilling glasses and making crockery rattle. Most amusing in a nice restaurant.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  16. PS
    Member

    I quite often get cramp. Usually due to dehyrdration, I think (more common when I go for a post-work ride and on hot days). It happens a lot less often since I started eating nuts more often a couple of years ago though.

    Worst cramp I ever got was the first time it happened to me. I was 17 or so, had played rugby during the day, then went to the cinema. My hamstring went into cramp about 20 mins into the film. Felt like the muscle had popped off the bone. I was sitting in the middle of a full row so couldn't get out. I could barely straighten my leg and spent the next hour just trying to push my foot under the seat in front. No fun.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  17. gembo
    Member

    I swim with a guy who gets cramp which can be alarming. Also in meeting about two weeks ago parent staggered out with cramp - quite dramatic.

    Was at filmhouse last night - really is quite a narrow demographic in there. One member of audience had to get up and lean against the wall, very long film, another fell asleep and was snoring, very long and perhaps not such an engrossing film for some despite winning at Cannes last year

    Posted 12 years ago #

  18. spytfyre
    Member

    Once got cramp in pool - pushing too hard from the side - one leg went solid - tried to put the other on the floor and it went too, ended up half drowning with a yelpgurgle, was managing slowly to swim with hands only legs floating in a setaed position, someone had to rescue me to get me out of their way... most embarrassing swim moment ever.
    @PS yes the nuts have potassium and salt in them I think, my sister is the doctor not me :)

    Posted 12 years ago #

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