Leg cramps

Leg Cramps (Muscle Cramps)
What are muscle cramps?
What are the types and causes of muscle cramps?
Do all muscle cramps fit into the above categories?
Can medications cause muscle cramps?
Can vitamin deficiencies cause muscle cramps?

Leg Cramps At Night: Overview
Nocturnal leg cramps are sudden, involuntary contractions of the calf muscles that occur during the night or while at rest.

Leg cramps are a common, annoying but usually harmless condition that cause sudden muscle pain in the leg. Leg cramps usually occur in the calf muscles below the knee, although they can affect any part of the leg.

Nocturnal leg cramps are sudden contractions of the lower leg and foot muscles. They often awaken you from sleep. The calf muscles are most often involved. The cramps are harmless. They do not mean that you have a serious disease.
The Calf Muscles ...

What are Leg Cramps?
A leg cramp is a sudden, painful involuntary contraction of a muscle in the lower limbs. These painful knots, often referred to as 'charley horses', are caused by muscle spasms.

Nocturnal Leg Cramps
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Nocturnal Leg Cramps
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I have severe leg cramps. I'm on muscle relaxers..don't help..I drink two quarts of water per day..I apply heat, ice..I was diagnosed with polyneuropathy. I also have charcot marie tooth disease. I don't know if that's why they are so bad.

Leg Cramps
Leg Cramps refers to a painful, involuntary contraction of a single muscle or a muscle group.

Leg Cramps
At different times during your pregnancy, you might have cramps in your legs or feet. They usually happen at night. This is due to a change in the way your body processes, or metabolizes, calcium.

Leg cramps at night a classic sign: The symptom of having leg muscle cramps, particularly at night, is a classic sign of undiagnosed diabetes. However, there are also various other causes. See causes of leg cramps or misdiagnosis of diabetes.

Leg cramps are common. The cause is not known in most cases. However, some drugs and diseases sometimes cause leg cramps. Regular calf stretching exercises may prevent leg cramps.

Leg cramps and occasional, sudden jerking of legs or arms are not symptoms of restless legs syndrome. A day of heavy exercise can lead to or tight cramp in your calf (sometimes called a charley horse).

Leg cramps in older people may be caused by arteriosclerotic changes in the circulatory system. Turn to the articles on heart and blood vessels, and see your physician. Vitamin E (600-800 IU daily) is very helpful.
IMMEDIATE TREATMENT" ...

Leg cramps may become more frequent.
Braxton-Hicks contractions (false labor) may begin to occur at irregular intervals in preparation for childbirth.
Stretch marks may appear on the abdomen, breast, thighs, and buttocks.

Night leg cramps: What causes them?
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Nighttime leg cramps are common in the elderly.
Causes
Cramps or spasms in the muscles often have no clear cause.

Nocturnal leg cramps occur at all ages but peak at different times. They are particularly common in adolescence, during pregnancy, and in older age, affecting up to 70% of adults over age 50 at some point.

Health Tip: How to Ease Leg Cramps During Pregnancy
Health Tip: If You're Diabetic and Pregnant
Health Tip: Partners Have a Role in Pregnancy
Health Tip: Pregnancy Requires More Iron
Health Tip: Risk Factors for Ectopic Pregnancy ...

Leg Cramps, Nocturnal
Leg Injuries
Leg Problems, Noninjury
Leg X-Ray - Medical Test
Legatrin PM - Medication
Legg Calve Perthes Disease
Legionellosis
Legionnaires' Disease
Legislation Helpline - Support Group ...

Leg Cramps at Night
Leg Cramps During Pregnancy
Leg Injuries
Leg Problems, Noninjury
Legg Calve Perthes Disease
Legionellosis
Legionnaires' Disease
Legionnaires' Disease and Pontiac Fever
Leigh Necrotizing Encephalopathy
Leigh's Disease ...

Leg Cramps: A painful tightening of the muscles of the leg or foot awakens a person from sleep. Flexing or massaging the leg or foot relieves the sensation. Nighttime leg cramps are common.

The following may occur and should be reported at your next visit: hand trembling or shakiness; headache; nausea or vomiting; leg cramps. 2.

Chronic muscle pain, muscle spasms or tightness, weakness in the limbs, and leg cramps
Moderate or severe fatigue and decreased energy
Insomnia or waking up feeling just as tired as when you went to sleep ...

Leg cramps
Respiratory problems
Increased risk of blood clots
Slight increased risk of cancer of the lining of the uterus.
Breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy ...

OP 4 (OC), TGA, Acid, trans fatty, Diagnosis, Prenatal, Diol Dehydratase, Encephalopathy, Myoclonic, Eye Abnormality, Fibers, Purkinje, Gene, Insect, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Miller Fisher Variant, Hemianopsia, Binasal, HLA B7 Antigen, Leg Cramps, ...

In athletes, common causes of leg cramps are overuse, stress and dehydration during sports played in warm weather. Overuse, injury, muscle strain or staying in the same position also may cause cramps.

Symptoms can include pain when walking that subsides at rest, leg cramps, pain at rest, numbness and skin discoloration, sores or other symptoms of skin breakdown.

How Do I Stop Night-Time Leg Cramps?
leg muscles, or riding a stationary bicycle , for... cramped muscle with your hands or with ice...
Do You Know If Voltaren Topical Gel Works For Osteoarthritis Pain?
hands , wrists, elbows, knees, ankles, or...

Leg cramps may occur during pregnancy because of reduced circulation of blood in the legs. Massaging the muscles that cramp and warming them with a heating pad or hot-water bottle may be of some help.

Nighttime leg cramps are a sudden tightening (contraction) of the leg muscles in the calf, thigh, or foot. They often occur just as you are falling asleep or waking up. They can be painful and can last from a few seconds to a few minutes.

Nocturnal leg cramps
Nocturnal muscle cramps
Nominal aphasia
Non-cardiogenic pulmonary edema
Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in adults
Non-insulin dependent diabetes
Non-mechanical bowel obstruction
Non-small cell bronchogenic carcinoma ...

The unpleasant feelings from RLS aren't the same as the leg cramps many people get at night. Leg cramps often are limited to certain muscle groups in the leg, which you can feel tightening.

The most common side effects are dizziness and leg cramps. Elevations in blood calcium and urine calcium can also occur. Side effects such as nausea, joint and muscle pains and general weakness are rare.

You may think you have leg cramps -- a sign of advancing age. But you may well be suffering from intermittent claudication, a cardiovascular disease. (The word "claudication" comes from the name of the Roman Emperor Claudius, who walked with a limp.) ...

Ankle and leg swelling, leg cramps
Going to the bathroom more often at night
High levels of BUN and creatinine in blood
Less need for insulin or antidiabetic medications
Morning sickness, nausea and vomiting
Weakness, paleness and anemia ...

Mild reactions may include, but are not limited to, local irritation at the infusion site, skin reactions, nausea, headache, dizziness, hypoglycemia, fever, leg cramps, or loose bowel movements.

Dysesthesias, dyskinesia, insomnia, leg cramps, neurological disorder, paresthesias, periodic limb movement of sleep, PLMS, polysomnography, radiculopathy, restless legs, RLS, shaky leg syndrome, sonography.

abnormal EEG, abnormal gait, apathy, ataxia, coma, convulsions, delirium, delusion, dyskinesia, dysphonia, encephalopathy, euphoria, extrapyramidal disorder, hallucinations, hostility, hyperkinesia, hypnagogic hallucinations, hypokinesia, leg cramps, ...

Beriberi - muscular weakness, swelling of the heart, and leg cramps.
Vitamin B2
Riboflavin
liver, milk, meat, dark green vegetables, whole grain and enriched cereals, pasta, bread, and mushrooms ...

This medicine is mainly indicated for reducing the occurrence of nocturnal leg cramps. It is also used to treat falciparum malaria.
Cautions:
- atrial fibrillation
- heart block/conduction defects
- pregnancy
- G6P deficiency ...

The most common symptom is leg cramps or pain that becomes worse with walking or other activity, and better with rest (intermittent claudication). Other symptoms may include leg numbness, tingling, or weakness.

watery diarrhea
vomiting
leg cramps
The infection is often mild or without symptoms.

Cosmetic annoyance
Pain, soreness, burning, aching, throbbing
Leg cramps, "restless legs"
Discoloration, cellulitis, chronic non-healing ulcers ...

People who run with too much rolling in of the foot or too much rolling out of the foot, are more likely to get leg cramps.
Wearing high heel shoes can also cause cramping.

In addition to anemia, iron deficiency may cause pica (a craving for nonfoods such as ice, dirt, or pure starch), spoon nails (thin, concave fingernails), and leg cramps at night.

Joint pain or leg cramps
Mood changes or emotional changes
Mental changes (anxiety, nervousness, hyperactivity, or irritability)
Muscle weakness
Seizures or tremors
Frequent headaches or fatigue
Stomach cramps
Difficulty sleeping (insomnia) ...

This surgery is done to remove the build-up of deposits and improve blood flow. After the surgery, the symptoms of reduced blood flow (eg, stroke , digestive problems, leg cramps) should end.
*
Possible Complications ...

Heat cramps are painful, involuntary muscle spasms that usually occur during heavy exercise in hot environments. The spasms may be more intense and more prolonged than are typical nighttime leg cramps.

Common symptoms of imbalance are leg cramps, heart palpitations, high or low blood pressure and swelling in the legs and feet. An electrolyte imbalance can lead to kidney failure, heart attack and death.

Read more about sleep disorders such as sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea, snoring, insomnia, narcolepsy, jet lag, sleepwalking, night terrors, nightmares, restless legs syndrome, bruxism and night leg cramps at MayoClinic.com.

Diabetes carries an increased risk for stroke (twice as common), heart attacks (3 - 5 times more common) and disease of the peripheral circulation (i.e. the legs). Reduced circulation in the legs and feet causes claudication (leg cramps on walking) ...

They are characterised by tinnitus and mild hearing loss. Large doses of quinine, however, have been known to cause permanent hearing loss, particularly in elderly patients taking long-term medication for leg cramps.

See also: Cramp, Cramps, Symptom, Diabetes, Pregnancy