The past few weeks, I've been waking up in the middle of the night with leg cramps. These cramps are along the top of my lower leg, in the shin area and cause my foot to contract so that my toes curl UP toward my shin bone. It's very painful. It literally can last for a half hour and walking, massaging, stretching does NOTHING to alleviate the pain. This happened last night and my shins are throbbing today as a result.

I have made no changes to my exercise program. I walk 1-3 miles daily, my shoes are fine, I haven't altered intensity or anything like that.. I have a feeling this may be diet related as I have not been taking my Vitamins as instructed (which I know is bad and I'm correcting as of TODAY).

If anyone has any suggestions as to why these cramps are happening OR how I can relieve the pain OR prevent them from continuing, I'd really appreciate the help.

Thank you!!

The past few weeks' date=' I've been waking up in the middle of the night with leg cramps. These cramps are along the top of my lower leg, in the shin area and cause my foot to contract so that my toes curl UP toward my shin bone. It's very painful. It literally can last for a half hour and walking, massaging, stretching does NOTHING to alleviate the pain. This happened last night and my shins are throbbing today as a result.

I have made no changes to my exercise program. I walk 1-3 miles daily, my shoes are fine, I haven't altered intensity or anything like that.. I have a feeling this may be diet related as I have not been taking my Vitamins as instructed (which I know is bad and I'm correcting as of TODAY).

If anyone has any suggestions as to why these cramps are happening OR how I can relieve the pain OR prevent them from continuing, I'd really appreciate the help.

Thank you!![/quote']

Three things cause those for me.

1. Lack of potassium

2. Dehydration

3. Wearing heels for too long during the day

While each has it's own obvious fix, the one thing that always helps is wearing socks to bed. Very sexy, I know. But it keeps my feet warm and that seems to help.

Dehydration and potassium deficiencies can definitely do that

Leg cramps are from too little calcium, magnesium or potassium, too little fluid, overuse of the muscle, some medications, some medical conditions. Hopefully the electolyte levels will be part of your bloodwork. I have tried so many remedies over the years: tonic water (for the quinine), calcium supplements, warm milk, heating pad, wearing socks, a homeopathic remedy, sleeping with a bar of soap near my legs, rubbing the cramps with soap, drinking extra fluids, medications, stretching, magnets. Right now I am using "magnesium oil", a spray from the health food store, which works fairly well. (A bath with Epsom salts would probably work as well.) I well know that getting up several times a night to "walk it off" is really distressing, Starting with your vitamins and bloodwork results sounds like a good idea, then you would have to see what works. Good luck!

We are all so individual; it could be one of a hundred things. But if you are just curious about other peoples' experience, here is mine. Toe curling leg cramps became a big problem for me last year and robbed me of a good sleep every night. Blood work showed a D3 deficiency, and a neurological workup showed Babinski's Reflex, which was corrected by repairing four herniated discs. I am just saying that it could be something as simple as a vitamin issue or something that needs extra attention. Also, anytime I take OTC sleeping pills, I get restless leg syndrome - every time. So, don't get "Google-itis", just call your doctor and see how he wants to manage it for you. Good luck.

Drink some Gatorade and eat a banana! Rule out dehydration and potassium first. I do martial arts and I get the same exact cramps when I am lacking. I take a potassium supplement now and make sure I am drink drink drinking!

I've been getting cramps in my lower legs for several months, well before I started this journey. No toe curling, though. It's always one leg or the other, never both at the same time. I've discovered it happens if I'm laying on a wrinkle in my nightgown which must be causing some impairment of blood circulation.