Cramp.

p.s. I ran out of vit D a couple of weeks ago but as the weather was ok I sat out for a bit but it has turned again and I have not been out or had supplements.

I think cramp can be caused by lack of potassium?
Try eating a banana, it works for me, I get dread cramp in my toes.

Agree looplou. I had the same, I thought it was because I had came down a steep slope and put too much pressure on my legs/feet. That night my feet ached like mad. A friend suffested a banana ( for pottassium) and also zinc supplements. Not had any troublle since.

I have had a few cramps lately - not as bad as you describeruby and mainly during the night in my legs but sometimes in my toes. Last week I had a blood test and the doctor rang me the same evening to say my sodium level was now too low and he said ' put salt on your chips!' Didn't like to say I had never completely done that. My potassium is a bit high and he expressly said not to eat bananas when I saw him this week - as I am getting cramps I don't think it is a lack of that which causes cramps. If it continues I think you should go to see the doctor and hopefully have a blood test. When I was pregnant if you had cramp you were given huge salt tablets.

I was trying to correct a sentence when it posted - I never completely stopped having a little salt on my chips or eggs!

I think I remember Galen saying it was to do with magnesium deficit (?) so I started taking magnesium tablets, and whether placebo effect or not - no more cramps!
I also think mine reflect my footwear, I suspect/know my feet have "spread" with age and normal width shoes, while they may not pinch, do cause foot cramps.

I was woken 7.30 with horrible leg cramp, my calf still hurts.
Trying Lo-salt.

Someone somewhere suggested a magnesium spray ( holland and Barrett £12 ish) I've just bought one. Hope it works

I find that if I get cramp it helps to do the opposite of stretching it. I tighten the cramping muscle as hard as I can, using my hands to help pull. After a few minutes I slowly release it and it usually eases off. I try not to move that leg/foot for a while, as it very easily cramps again when it has gone once.

When DD was a child 4/5 years old, she used to take terrible cramp. The doctor told us to give her more salt, something I used little of as I have a heart condition and my Mother had been told not to give me too much salt, so i do not really have a taste for it.
Even now her Sodium levels are very low and she takes salt tablets.

You might need to drink more water.

I had terrible cramps in my feet for years until it occurred to me to wear warm bed socks. Since that day I have suffered no night cramps. However, I did have some cramp in my feet last summer when I was swimming and wearing socks wouldn't work well in the pool. Perhaps in my case it was something to do with circulation. The doctor suggested tonic water but I can't get it on prescription.

Quinine in Indian tonic water will help (make sure it's listed as some have quinine flavour). My dad used to have prescribed quinine tablets as his leg cramps were severe enough to make him pass out with the pain.

I was prescribed quinine tablets when I got night cramps in my legs/feet after hip replacement. It seemed to work. I think you can buy them over the counter.

Try wearing the socks mentioned in an earlier post. It works for me and cost nothing.

I have hot feet and sleep with them outside the duvet so socks wouldn't work, sadly.

I find bananas work but I may ask the pharmacist about quinine tablets or start drinking G&T every night

Thanks for all the suggestions. I do wear socks in bed already and it still happens and my hands still hurt too even though I don't wear gloves in bed. Before taking extra salt of quinine, I am probably best going to see the doc as I have heart conditions too so I wouldn't want to do more harm than good. My foot feels like it has been trampled on tonight, all bruised and sore. Pain killers, time to kick in and then bed.

I suffer from high blood tension so avoid using table salt and salt in cooking at home, so as a result, have been suffering from Night Cramps. You should ask your Doctor to prescribe Quinine Sulphate tablets to counter this, and also wear bedsocks in the colder weather. Good luck!

Putting corks in the bed is supposed to stop cramps, or maybe drinking the first helps!

My husband is another who is prescribed Quinine Sulphate tablets for cramp.

I'm backing 'shysal'. No idea why it works but a few corks near the foot of the bed seem to work.