Mymadworld
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I been suffering from severe leg cramps at night any thoughts on what I can do to help ease them. Could it be caused by nerve damage. Cheers Richard
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Leg Cramps
- Thread starter Mymadworld
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Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I have found magnesium gel helps, it is what sports folk rub on when they get cramp. Also staying well hydrated will help. Make sure your electrolytes are in balance.
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
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Sorry to hear about hour cramps @Mymadworld 
How are the sensations in your legs and feet generally? Do you get your pulses checked annually? How long have you been living with diabetes?
This NHS Scotland page suggests some stretches and offers some other tips…
www.nhsinform.scot
How are the sensations in your legs and feet generally? Do you get your pulses checked annually? How long have you been living with diabetes?
This NHS Scotland page suggests some stretches and offers some other tips…
Leg cramps
Leg cramps are common and usually harmless. Find out what causes leg cramps, how to treat them and when to see your GP. Exercises and painkillers can also help stop leg cramp, find out what exercises to do during cramps to stop them fast
www.nhsinform.scot
Mymadworld
Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Sensation not to bad some pins and needles in right thigh. Diabetic type 2 since 2001. Insulin Lantus. Getting seen by expert nurse had one appointment second soon as levels up to 88
Inka
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Dehydration can cause cramps (or excessive urination). Keep hydrated. The magnesium gel should help too.
Eddy Edson
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
I get woken up by cramps in one leg or both legs about one night in two. I have found magnesium, fiddling with hydration & stretching to be useless (which fits perfectly with the evidence or lack of it - see eg the Cochrane review on magnesium and the included comments on the other common strategies).
The only thing which seems to have helped is one of the tactics mentioned in the NHS Scotland piece linked by @everydayupsanddowns - trying to make sure that my feet will remain pointed upright while I'm sleeping on my back. If they don't, calf muscles will often spasm and cramp when I point my feet flat while I'm asleep. Getting up and standing on them quickly fixes things, but I'm a bad sleeper at the best of times and getting woken up like this doesn't help things. Particularly as it can happen again when I go back to sleep, and sometimes the spasm is severe enough to give me calf pain and tightness for the following day.
I suspect that one cause is probably the fact that I walk just about as far and as fast as I can most days, and I have peripheral artery disease meaning that I'm doing that with very compromised circulation and microvascular perfusion in places. The feet-upright tactic might not work for people whose cramps are due to something else.
Cochrane review of evidence for magnesium for leg cramps: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD009402.pub3/full
The only thing which seems to have helped is one of the tactics mentioned in the NHS Scotland piece linked by @everydayupsanddowns - trying to make sure that my feet will remain pointed upright while I'm sleeping on my back. If they don't, calf muscles will often spasm and cramp when I point my feet flat while I'm asleep. Getting up and standing on them quickly fixes things, but I'm a bad sleeper at the best of times and getting woken up like this doesn't help things. Particularly as it can happen again when I go back to sleep, and sometimes the spasm is severe enough to give me calf pain and tightness for the following day.
I suspect that one cause is probably the fact that I walk just about as far and as fast as I can most days, and I have peripheral artery disease meaning that I'm doing that with very compromised circulation and microvascular perfusion in places. The feet-upright tactic might not work for people whose cramps are due to something else.
Cochrane review of evidence for magnesium for leg cramps: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD009402.pub3/full
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