I have been banded for 2 1/2 years and have no complications at all. Here recently I have been getting major cramps in both of my legs and feet. It is almost every night. Has anyone else had this? Is it a lack of potassium?

It could difinately be a lack of potassium. When I started exercising I would get leg & feet cramps everynight and I started taking a prescribed potassium pill every night and it helped greatly.

Check with your doctor, they can run a blood test to confirm that it truly is low potassium.

It could also be a lack of calcium. A lack of calcium is usually responsible for charlie horse type cramps. We just learned about this in my anatomy class last week. Talk to your doctor. Feel Better.

Talk to your doctor....get some basic labs....but usually leg cramps are caused by not enough Water....you can also consider drinking Tonic Water which has some quinine in it....this helps leg cramps...but if you have stepped up your activity this can also cause leg cramps....

Hope this helps!

God Bless,

MElody

Banded 3/20/06 -61lbs

for quick relief try using a bar of Ivory soap. When you are in pain, just get the soap and rub it on the cramped area, and the pain is usually gone in 2 minutes or less. It really has helped me. :heh:

for quick relief try using a bar of Ivory soap. When you are in pain, just get the soap and rub it on the cramped area, and the pain is usually gone in 2 minutes or less. It really has helped me. :heh:

My DH tried an old-wives tale, and put a bar of soap under the sheets by his feet, and danged if his leg camps didn't stop. :notagree

We wrote it off as a placebo, until one night he had them again, only to discover the next morning the soap had fallen out of place...

Seems like Snopes.com had something about this, I'll have to go look.

My DH tried an old-wives tale, and put a bar of soap under the sheets by his feet, and danged if his leg camps didn't stop. :notagree

We wrote it off as a placebo, until one night he had them again, only to discover the next morning the soap had fallen out of place...

Seems like Snopes.com had something about this, I'll have to go look.

When someone first told me about the soap, they told me to but it under my sheet too, but I know that I'm a bit of a wild sleeper, so I didn't even try that. I just rub the soap on my leg and the pain goes away.

When someone first told me about the soap, they told me to but it under my sheet too, but I know that I'm a bit of a wild sleeper, so I didn't even try that. I just rub the soap on my leg and the pain goes away.

I'll have DH try that if they come back. Funny how some of those tales are true!

I used to have pretty bad leg cramps when I was a kid, the fastest way to get rid of it is to lay perfectly straight and bend your toes so they point towards your head.

The faster it goes away, the less your legs are impacted the next couple of days.

A hot pad helps relieve the pain afterwards as well.

Ive been getting bad shin, foot and calf cramps in the night. I believe mine has been due to dehydration. I get up and put a bit of salt on my tongue (hubby's advice) and sure enough, within minutes its gone. Be sure you're drinking anough water (recommended is 64oz PLUS 8oz per every 25 lbs of excess weight).

Yes, I've had the leg cramps. I started putting a banana into my protein shake (still like that for a quick breakfast) and my cramps went away. Good luck....I hope your able to identify the problem and solve it quickly.

When I was on Atkins I would get them. The first day I took a magnesium / calcium pill it went away.

HI - after 2 mos of being banded, I got leg cramps. My Band Doc said for me to drink a small V-8 very day or at least every other day. Wow, the leg cramps went away. IF I miss drinking my V-8, within 3 to 4 days the cramps will come back. Good Luck!

Donna in Sacramento

The soap didn't work for me. I was told to take iron supplements, and that seem to stop the cramping and the restless leg syndrome.

I too have had bouts with leg cramps. I was already on a potassium pill along with my lasix. So I added calcium and the doc recommended drinking the Tonic water. I wouldn't say they immediately stopped, but the severity and number of bouts did subside.

Interestingly, as preparation for my band surgery, the surgeon had me quite most of my meds (and do the pre-op diet). Now, post-band, I have not had any leg cramps and I also have not had the ankle swelling that I was taking the lasix for either. I hope it lasts. I realize too that being a school teacher, I'm off my feet for the summer. We'll see what happens when school starts up again.

Seem the leg cramps can be an imbalance of several minerals/components. Hope you find relief. They can be extremly painful.

Terry

I've had bad leg cramps for some time and I've discovered they usually are from dehydration.. if really bad, I down a dose of gatorade which I keep in the fridge for emergencies and the cramps subside right away.

I also keep a bottle of "Leg crampS With Quinine" (available at Walgreen) in my cabinet for those occasions when I know I've over exercised during the day and take them before bed which helps ward them off. The "inner thigh" ones are the worse, and seem to happen most when I've done some new exercise or sat in an awkward position for too long that day. Truly, though I don't like the sugar content, Gatoride does wonders!!!!

Good luck, they sure can be painful!