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Spasm in leg

Do you suffer from

  • Leg spasms

    Votes: 3 75.0%

  • pins n needles

    Votes: 2 50.0%

  • Other

    Votes: 2 50.0%
  • Total voters
    4
Kayla55

Kayla55

Well-Known Member
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/991494?form=fpf
The above link to the article is background on why I ask this question and my experience over years.

I had pins and needles quite a few times as a child, had some zinc supplements but not always. When I became a vegan I hadn't researched diet properly....I didn't always eat 'real' dairy as it upset me. So now I really do allow myself glass of fresh milk and it takes heavy feeling away from swallowing calcium or magnesium supplements.
As young adult I sometimes had spam in my foot that cramp up my leg, mostly from sitting on floor. So whilst exercise is good, there was certain stretches that I found beneficial (I've encouraged my son to do these anyway, maybe this helps you too)
Stretching that helped me wasn't difficult, and can take less 5 minutes

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/muscle-cramp/multimedia/calf-stretch/img-20007902
I did a lot of long distance driving in my life, but last trip rendered my legs in pain for few weeks. I tried stretching but if felt as if muscle wasn't elastic anymore....may just be general symptom of ageing but with my alteimers I was soon supset, it felt like I was becoming cripple. It has healed and I have pains from arms so I know what it is and trying various treatments.

It would give me clarity if anyone else had this problem, and it ties to autism as well.
 
So, right as I'm waking up, i.e. not completely awake yet, my natural tendency is to tense all over to stretch my muscles, and the calves are among those muscles. Well, sometime around my mid thirties, I found that my calves, when contracted tightly first thing in the morning, they will lock up rock-hard and hurt something unbelievable. There is writhing, there is spinning, there is flopping around when it's bad enough. If you look at the muscle, you can see it all bunched up, and sometimes it's twitching and shifting around under the skin all by itself, and in a way that doesn't make much sense since it doesn't even seem to be the entire muscle that's responding coherently; it's seized in spots, and the seized spots are shifting around in it.

There's some sort of contraction juice or agent that's stuck in the tissue and it's not being cycled out, so the muscle just stays seized for what feels like an eternity. You rub it and try to get stuff to circulate in and out of it, and it eventually relaxes and goes back to normal, but it feels like you strained it for the next two days. I had to recondition myself not to stretch when I'm partially awake. When I catch myself starting to do it, I jerk awake very intentionally, and still, sometimes I'm too late and the muscle just keeps tightening on its own, and you have to wait it out until it stops.
 
Usually these things are more associated with electrolyte imbalances and dehydration. In other words, water, potassium, magnesium, and calcium are commonly associated with muscle cramping.
 
Neonatal RRT said:
Usually these things are more associated with electrolyte imbalances and dehydration. In other words, water, potassium, magnesium, and calcium are commonly associated with muscle cramping.
Click to expand...

So I've read. I'm not sure why it started mid thirties, though. I guess it's where age meets nutritional or hydration imbalance. Plus I had a bunch of terrible stuff happen at that time.
 
I get severe cramps in my calves if I do not take a magnesium supplement regularly. I also use lite salt, which has potassium.
 
During my sleep study, I was diagnosed with having restless legs syndrome. The sleep doctor thought it would be better to have gabapentin than taking sleep meds.
 
Kayla55 said:
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/991494?form=fpf
The above link to the article is background on why I ask this question and my experience over years.

I had pins and needles quite a few times as a child, had some zinc supplements but not always. When I became a vegan I hadn't researched diet properly....I didn't always eat 'real' dairy as it upset me. So now I really do allow myself glass of fresh milk and it takes heavy feeling away from swallowing calcium or magnesium supplements.
As young adult I sometimes had spam in my foot that cramp up my leg, mostly from sitting on floor. So whilst exercise is good, there was certain stretches that I found beneficial (I've encouraged my son to do these anyway, maybe this helps you too)
Stretching that helped me wasn't difficult, and can take less 5 minutes

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/muscle-cramp/multimedia/calf-stretch/img-20007902
I did a lot of long distance driving in my life, but last trip rendered my legs in pain for few weeks. I tried stretching but if felt as if muscle wasn't elastic anymore....may just be general symptom of ageing but with my alteimers I was soon supset, it felt like I was becoming cripple. It has healed and I have pains from arms so I know what it is and trying various treatments.

It would give me clarity if anyone else had this problem, and it ties to autism as well.
Click to expand...
I don't know how old you are but all those random aches and pains, particularly extremities, are a part of getting old. Things will start to hurt that never hurt before and I'll have no idea where it came from. This is especially true in the morning until I'm warmed up for the day. That's been taking a couple of hours lately.

Pins and needles usually mean blood flow to whatever was cut off. It could be a nerve pinch as well. When I ride a bike and put my weight on the handlebars for a long time, I get pins and needles in my hand. Driving can cause cramps in my legs, and too much time on the steering wheel also makes my hands tingle.

You may have gotten a blood clot in your leg. Sitting for an extended period elevates your risk. Stop every hour for ten minutes and walk around and keep your seat back as far as your arms will safely allow. Flying is notorious for this because of the cramped seating position. It even has a name - "airplane thrombosis." My auto mechanic got a clot in his leg flying from NY to Ireland and spent his vacation in a hospital.

Your tendons and muscles are not as stretchy as they used to be. It starts declining in your 20s and accelerates as you get older. You need more warmup for the same amount of activity. You'll still never get it as good as it was ten years ago, so substitute caution for flexibility.

Try lactose-free milk or take a lactase pill with it. Or one of the milk substitutes like almond milk.

I understand from my wife, the RN, that cramps could be a sign of low potassium. Eat a banana every day and see if it helps.

Low bone density (osteopenia) has a higher incidence in autistic children but is still not particularly common. The condition is associated with autism but not necessarily caused by it. It is caused by behaviors and medications that autistic children are prone to.

Many of Ann's patients with ASD had unusual or restricted diets, low levels of physical activity, and were on multiple medications. We have since learned that some factors that contribute to low bone density in ASD include lower levels of weight-bearing physical activity; lower muscle mass; low muscle tone; suboptimal dietary calcium and vitamin D intake; lower vitamin D levels; higher levels of the hormone cortisol, which has deleterious effects on bone; and use of medications that can lower bone density.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Levitator said:
So, right as I'm waking up, i.e. not completely awake yet, my natural tendency is to tense all over to stretch my muscles, and the calves are among those muscles. Well, sometime around my mid thirties, I found that my calves, when contracted tightly first thing in the morning, they will lock up rock-hard and hurt something unbelievable. There is writhing, there is spinning, there is flopping around when it's bad enough. If you look at the muscle, you can see it all bunched up, and sometimes it's twitching and shifting around under the skin all by itself, and in a way that doesn't make much sense since it doesn't even seem to be the entire muscle that's responding coherently; it's seized in spots, and the seized spots are shifting around in it.

There's some sort of contraction juice or agent that's stuck in the tissue and it's not being cycled out, so the muscle just stays seized for what feels like an eternity. You rub it and try to get stuff to circulate in and out of it, and it eventually relaxes and goes back to normal, but it feels like you strained it for the next two days. I had to recondition myself not to stretch when I'm partially awake. When I catch myself starting to do it, I jerk awake very intentionally, and still, sometimes I'm too late and the muscle just keeps tightening on its own, and you have to wait it out until it stops.
Click to expand...
If you intentionally point your toes up toward your chin while stretching it really helps keep the calves from cramping. I have to take magnesium oxide twice a day to avoid cramps all over, not just legs
 
Jumpinbare said:
If you intentionally point your toes up toward your chin while stretching it really helps keep the calves from cramping. I have to take magnesium oxide twice a day to avoid cramps all over, not just legs
Click to expand...
It always happens before I'm fully awake.
 
My RN wife told me about pointing the toes up. Natural tendency is to point them down
 
Yeshuasdaughter said:
Magnesium oil is easy to make, or cheap to buy. It comes in a spray bottle, and relaxes the muscles externally.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll think about it if it remains a problem. It hasn't happened in... some months, but it was a lousy thing to discover initially, and come to think of it, the gout started a few years later. They might share causes in common. Hydration level might affect how that stuff crystallizes in your joints, maybe.
 
If I get leg spasm I eat some bananas, that usually helps. Not right away of course, but after a day or two.

The worst is waking up in the middle of the night with those weird foot spasms that make your toes curl, so annoying. Half asleep and not sure what is going on and you have to hurry out of bed and stand on the foot to make it stop.
 
Forest Cat said:
If I get leg spasm I eat some bananas, that usually helps. Not right away of course, but after a day or two.

The worst is waking up in the middle of the night with those weird foot spasms that make your toes curl, so annoying. Half asleep and not sure what is going on and you have to hurry out of bed and stand on the foot to make it stop.
Click to expand...
Ew. Sorry you deal with that. Mine, I have to provoke by stretching, and then whatever it is that constricts the muscle doesn't cycle out. It jitters around there pulling the calf taught like a rock and making it twitch, and it hurts something ridiculous.
 
Forest Cat said:
If I get leg spasm I eat some bananas, that usually helps. Not right away of course, but after a day or two.

The worst is waking up in the middle of the night with those weird foot spasms that make your toes curl, so annoying. Half asleep and not sure what is going on and you have to hurry out of bed and stand on the foot to make it stop.
Click to expand...

It helps if you can put hot water on the spasming muscles. I've sometimes hobbled to the shower in the middle of the night and run water as hot as I can stand over my leg. It seems to help relax the muscles faster than just waiting for it to pass.
 
Mary Terry said:
It helps if you can put hot water on the spasming muscles. I've sometimes hobbled to the shower in the middle of the night and run water as hot as I can stand over my leg. It seems to help relax the muscles faster than just waiting for it to pass.
Click to expand...

I have found that if I stand on my foot and lift my heel up, so I bend the toes, it helps. Sometimes I just put my foot against the wall next to the bed and push and swear a little. :) That works. If I try to get to the shower half asleep in the middle of the night I'll just fall down the stairs and make a huge mess.
 
Thank you everyone, Yip this helps me see it's asd related, it's tricky as Alzheimer's is similar in that there's no full proof test.
I realise years had gone by and not PTSD but had burn out and was floating through years....stopped in look in mirror only 2 years ago to count first grey hairs.

So may be
A substantial loss of muscle mass and strength (sarcopenia), a decreased regenerative capacity, and a compromised physical performance are hallmarks of aging skeletal muscle. These changes are typically accompanied by impaired muscle metabolism, including mitochondrial dysfunction and insulin resistance

Recently showed symptoms of new COVID strand...could be why I'm using even more deep heat.
 
Thanks everyone,
I've increased my potassium and magnesium dose, I realised importance as if you skip vitamins for time and half get spasms.
Definately noticed my digestion is slacking with age, too!
I'm going to see if I can laser the varicose vein, it was activated during pregnancy for wrestless leg syndone.

See how it goes!!
 
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