Nightcramps
Posted , 13 users are following.
hello. i have been suffering from cramp at night for some years but they have got worse since i have had polymyalgia although i am now down to 6 mg of pred but i get cramp several times a night in my ankles, feet,legs sometimes in both ankles and legs, i have tried in the past calcium tablets, tonic water and a banana, exercises and bathing in epson salts can anyone please think of anything else that i can do. my doctor took bloods and that was normal so he has prescribed me with quinine tablets the thing is they make me feel poorly so have decided not to take them anymore. i have just read the leaflet that came with them and it says that quinine interacts with diamox tablets and i take diamox tablets so not sure what that means so looking for advice. thank you
0 likes, 14 replies
lynda62707 Royall
Posted
hi jennyrose...I've been told that magnesium tabs can help with cramps (which I get as well). when you're on prednisone, it depletes your body of magnesium and makes you susceptible to cramps!
EileenH Royall
Posted
Taking Diamox at the same time as quinine can increase the efficacy of the quinine (i.e. make it work more) - so can also increase the side effects.
You say you have tried Epsom salt baths - have you tried taking magnesium as a supplement? Maybe you aren't absorbing enough magnesium just from baths?
karenjaninaz Royall
Posted
jennyrose, diamox can interact with prednisone lowering your potassium level except for the banana, your other measures like epsom salts raise magnesium and calcium self explanatory. Why are you taking DIAMOX? HAS YOU DOCTOR CHECKED YOUR POTASSIUM LEVELS?
doni89057 Royall
Posted
Most people are deficient in Magnesium. I take Magnesium Potassium Aspartate (600mg of Magnesium and 198 mg of Potassium) daily, and it has helped quite a bit. I do still get some toe/foot cramps but not nearly as often and severe as before.
patricia43291 Royall
Posted
Hi Jennyrose,
I have been getting leg cramps too. A doctor friend asked me if I have been getting enough folic acid in my diet. I did stop drinking orange juice, since I read about the "fresh, not from concentrate" scam. But now I have been drinking it, in hopes it will help the leg cramps, and I think it has.
lynda62707 patricia43291
Posted
Patricia...what oj scam?? I drink oj all the time! Is there something I'm unaware of?
certainly hope not😕😖
patricia43291 lynda62707
Posted
Linda,
I heard this show on NPR, how the big oj companies, take fresh oj, and remove the essence out of it, (what ever that means), then freeze it in big tanks, for as much as a year or more. Then, when they are ready to sell it, they add the essence back to it, and it is essentially the same thing, as fresh. But that doesn't seem fresh to me, if it's been in a tank for a year. Also, I have noticed, recently, that the carton of oj, looks the same as it used to, and is the same price as it used to be, but, it is a smaller size, something most people wouldn't notice right off, until they got it home. I just feel like they are trying to trick us. Maybe where you live, it is different, as oranges must be growing everywhere.
lynda62707 patricia43291
Posted
hey Patricia....actually live in California, and why we certainly do have lots of citrus here, Florida's more widely known as the Orange capital of the country!
patricia43291 lynda62707
Posted
I knew you lived in CA.Been there once, and had the most delicious orange juice I had ever had, that my son made from the oranges growing in his yard. There should be another name for the stuff in the boxes.
ptolemy Royall
Posted
I find quinine sulfate brilliant, but I just take a tablet when a cramp happens and it sorts it out incredibly quickly. I don't think I could take them all the time.
janet_04795 Royall
Posted
I also have terrible leg cramps, mostly at night, but sometimes during the day as well. I find it happens more if I am dehydrated. Make sure you drink plenty of water, even it means you need to get up at night. i also take 400 mg magnesium every night.
janet_04795
Posted
I had leg cramps way before I was diagnosed with PMR and went on Pred. Shortly before being diagnosed, one AM, I leaned over my kitchen sink with my right leg up, to open the window, my leg cramped, when I went to put it back on the floor, it wouldn't support my weight, I lost my balance, and fell back into the fridge and slid to the floor. I broke L 1 in my back. I know I was dehydrated that day, I worked that AM and only had time for a little coffee. So I try to keep well hydrated with water, the magnesium helps, but I also keep a small bottle of tonic water at my bedside. I've also tried Theraworks during a cramp, that seems to help as well.
patricia43291 Royall
Posted
Do you think leg cramps are a side effect of pred? I don't think so, but maybe. I had to up my pred recently for a flare, and the leg cramps are gon......I hate to say the real word, if you know what I mean. I have also been consciously drinking more water, and orange juice, so maybe that's why the craps are better.
patricia43291
Posted
I mean cramps.