Charlie horse?

I used to get them a lot when I was pregnant with my daughters. The doctor told me that it was because I was low on calcium. Now, please know that my girls were born over 30 years ago and I am sure theat they have found other things, but I know that when I don't drink much milk, I will get a charlie horse during the early morning and I will have to get out of bed abd walk it off. Hope this helps!!

I hate them. For some reason they always strike in the early hours when I am in bed. If I can feel one coming on then I usually move my leg or get out of bed and walk around. But sometimes they sneak up on me unawares and BANG I am awake and in agony. Fortunately they don't come to often - the last one was about 6 months ago. But when they do - Oh Mamma!

hi kitty42 dear friend,oh ouch is right if I goof up and do not get my 8 to 10 glasses of water in my day,I will wake up with'those cramps in my calves and its pure torture. I have to get up and walk it off which is no fun at all. also if I have ate junk food that was too salty the cramps also come. so this keeps me striving to be well hydrated and free from nibbling on the love of my life,potato chips. the memory of those painful cramps does keep me on the straight and narrow. lol.

Hi kitty :) Charlie Horse .. hmm he sure does come galloping down with lots of pain and strikes real bad i know, it happens to me mostly in the early hours and sometimes also when i am still asleep... ohh it just wakes me up bad, it happens to a lot of people i see hmm . . . the worst part is where you know you it has caught hold of your leg and it steadily increases and uff the pain! and then fades out slowly, such a relief after it goes but still i guess we need to stretch a little bit to be actually relaxed, some walking also helps at times i guess . . . hmm but it has actually been quite a while i didn't have it, i don't want to have another either . . . i don't know what causes it but i hope you never have to undergo something like that again... have a nice day kitty!

Charlie horse means cramps...?? i didn't reply immediately to this because i didn't know exactly what it is i play active sports which includes running and our coach say to us to eat banana as to what the others say above that it's rich in potassium. another one to relieve the pain is to get an empty bottle of soda and roll your foot sole over it...i mean the bottle is lying on the floor then you step on it then roll. there's a certain massager for foot cramps but u can use the bottle if u don't have one. avoid eating beans and the like too...

Hey kitty, my mother suffered from cramps, and I must have her cramp genes, but they are not just restricted to calf cramps, I get them in my thighs, and my feet as well. The pain is devestating, but you're right, if you can detect a cramp coming on, and change your position, you can often beat it. I'ne not heard of 'Charlie Horse' though. Mike.

I agree with hatly on this one, maybe up your water consumptions and have a banana or two each day, the potassium in them help with leg cramps. Don't like bananas or have an allergy to them? There are potassium supplements you can get, you'll find them in the store with the vitamins. That might help some.

Just like you kitty, I used to get those charlie horses a lot when I was younger and never knew why but good heavens did they ever hurt!!!! My leg would be so sore for a few days afterwards then it would be time to have another one. I hated them things and they'd wake me up in the middle of the night! I'm so glad I don't get them very often now a days.

Hi Kitty,..Ouch! Actually I don't get Charlie Horses, haha sounds funny, in my calf, but I get the spasms in my feet, like right in the arch if I stretch. Those also are the type you have to get up and walk on it, and it kills me, but it works. Ugh, no fun! It use to be because I was on my feet so much all day, but now that I'm out of work (which I'd rather get the foot spasms, trust me), they don't happen anymore and I don't miss them! But I never really had one in my calf but from the sounds of it, don't want that either, lol!

for years i had none after my initial first ones that i used to get when i was pregnant in my teens. then had none till i was in my 50's. how strange is that? i've had many people tell me different things about what causes it. i did try one trick to keep it from happening at night that a friend told me as i used to get them in bed at times. they said put a bar of soap under your bottom sheet near your feet. no one knows why it works but it did. i no longer woke up with any leg cramps

These are muscle cramps and as you get older they can get worse. Our blood doesn't flow as well as it once did and we don't use our muscles as much. I get these everyday with my Yoga exercise and i have tried many things to make them stop but changing position and putting pressure seems to work the fastest. Sometimes your diet maybe lacking in certain minerals and supplements can help.