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Ive asked many people and they all say DRINK MORE WATER. Im looking for more than just that. Because I do drink water every day all day. Lots of it to. With a glass of juice here and there. I was never a fan of soda.There has to be something I can do to ease the pain. Even after the cramps are gone my leg muscles are so tight it hurts to walk and sometimes even just lay there. Im in my third trimester and Im having the hardest time. Sleeping and getting through the day because of this. Is there anything I do to help ease the pain. Maybe make them appear less. I KNOW I CANT PREVENT THEM. but Im at the point where I feel like ripping my own hair out. Not literally. Any suggestions?
My family told me that what seems to help is to eat bananas because of the Potassium, that is one way of "preventing" them, but I still had them eventhough I used to eat bananas all the time, so what help me was doing this exercise during my midnight leg cramp:
Pull your foot upwards, pointing your foot and big toe towards your knee as far as you can. Hold for 30 seconds. Relax for 10 seconds. If still cramping, pull foot upwards again. As soon as you are able to stand, do so. Lean forward with your knees bent in order to fully stretch the muscles.
Some athletes use salt pills. This would be something you might want to discuss with your doctor though as of course too much sodium isn't healthy. And of course potassium is a great too, as well as gentle excercise, etc. You might try doing a search on webmd or google on leg cramps too.
Chug Gatorade. Don't sip it - CHUG it. My husband has horrible leg cramps, and he talked to a trainer at the gym who told him this simple solution. It works great for him.
Drink Pickle Juice , Not to Much of Course cause to much sodium and stretch your legs everyday , have someone help you , pull your toes towards your body while your sitting on the floor in the split position , it helps me :)
Another thing that helps with leg cramps is magnesium. You can take oral supplements, but really, the best way to get it into your body is through an Epsom salt bath. Being pregnant, it would probably feel nice anyway. They sell large bags of Epsom salt at the grocery store or your local walgreens/cvs/etc. Read the instructions, but basically you put a cup or so into a warm tub and soak in it. It's relaxing at the same time, but will really help you later on with the cramping. Good luck mama!!
- New mommy to a beautiful little girl named Lyra, wife to an amazingly wonderful husband, & Director of Content for an incredible pregnancy & parenting website!
I suffer from the same thing! I am 24 weeks and i have had three really bad ones. My leg still hurts from the last one. I will have to try some of these ideas!!! The only thing I have heard of is bananas and drink more water. But if I drink more water I will turn into a fish!!!
I have horrible leg cramps as well and I drink at least one bottle of gatorade a day along with my water and juice, and my hubby rubs lotion on my lower legs very night before we go to bed and it has helped alot. If you are on your feet alot during the day, having the lotion massaged into them or just a massage in general will release any residual tension from being up and about all day.
I've had cramps a few times, but I've had more problems with restless leg syndrome type symptoms. I found when I was cramping that I usually had forgotten to take my supplements for a few days and that I hadn't had any gatorade to drink before bed.
I also relied on my husband to give me a foot and leg massage every night, which really helped as well
I suffered from this too! To be honest I wasn't completely sure why so I changed my diet some and ate more iron-rich foods. Taking warm baths (sometimes with Epsom Salt) also helped me. Usually while I was in the bath I would give my legs a slow massage and after the initial discomfort, the feeling in my legs improved.
I agree with the Epsom salt bath. I used to take baths with Epsom salts when I was a child to relieve the itching when I got hives all over my body. As an adult I have had fewer and not so all body consuming breakouts of hives. One time I broke out in hives on my legs because of a new body cream I had used so I decided to try the bath. At the same time it was relieving my itching, it soothed the leg muscle cramps I had been having that caused me to massage them with the new body cream. It was great. I have also found supplimenting extra vitamin E in my diet when I notice I am am having bouts of leg cramps has helped to reduce the cramping. It's not something you take during a cramping episode for relief, but more so taking daily as preventative. I have bad circulation and have trouble with cramping legs on more occasions than I wold like but have not yet been able to decipher what triggers the periodic bouts.
I have the SAME problems! My doctor told me I should look in to eating potassium rich foods, calcium rich foods, and magnesium rich foods. Also maybe see about getting a supplement at a health food store. They have ways to test your body to find out what you are lacking. I also was told by my doctor to take tylenol and drink plenty of water. I even used a hetaing pad and took warm baths and showers to help me relax. Although stretching is hard in the last trimester, due to a big belly, have someone help stretch your lower back and legs.
Bananas are the best way to help reduce them. In my 7th month they started really bad and now I'm in my 8th month and still am having problems with them. I have been told it's because their is not enough potassium. The thing with the bananas is that they give me heart burn pretty bad so its a no win situation for me. I usually eat a banana then drink some milk if I feel like my legs might cramp.
im 31 weeks ,i have bad leg cramps that start from my tights to my toes when that happens it feels like someone is pulling my heart, the pain goes straight to my heart and can last over 7mins.
can someone he;p me find a relief for this? thanks and good luck to you all,
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