Good morning- I will now stab your leg

I was awakened in the middle of the night by what I can only describe as the most painful leg cramp/ charlie horse ever. In my calf. Horrible. Terrible pain.
I am no stranger to pain- I am actually pretty tough. It hurt so bad, I had no choice but to scream- completely involuntarily. LIke, scream. DH didn't even wake up, though, which is weird.
Anyway- it was this completely seizing tightening of my calf muscle- felt like it was about to snap. It passed, but all night I kept waking up to stretch, the muscle is still tight.
Is this a symptom, or am I just an unlucky freak of nature?
I am terrified of this happening again- more afraid than I am of birth.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

Ah yes, leg cramps. Symptom #231 of being pregnant.

Try eating a banana before bed and flexing your foot when your leg cramps up. It helps a little.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

No, I think lots of preggos get these. I did too, and I think they started around 5 months or so.

They are horrible. Basically, I learned to stop stretching my legs in the morning or at night--if I don't stretch I'm fine.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

Oh my God I will not make it through anothe rone.
OK- so thus far this week I have learned bananas for leg cramps, oranges for nose bleeds.
Healthy remidies.
Is this possibly related to my waking up on my back?
Will this be avoided by side sleeping?

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

charlie horse!!! i had gotten when prego too---eat bannana

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

Message edited 8/14/2009 12:51:20 PM.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

flex your foot ... in fact excercise it by doing that a lot during the day.

Also, stand on it. Sounds wierd but the pain stops almost immediately when you stand on it.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

Unforunately i suffer from the same thing. Almost every night, in one leg or the other. I asked my doctor about it and her suggestions were definately drink more water...and then if I want I could add a calcium supplement in addition to my prenatal.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

You can try the bananas and oranges, but I eat a lot of them and they didn't help. I read some doctors think the cramps are related to calcium deficiencies.

Flexing does help though, as painful as it is initially, if you point and flex your foot a few times the cramps go away.

Drinking more water couldn't hurt either.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

I wake up with a charlie horse every fricken morning.

Today's was the worst though - usually I can get rid of them without even getting out of bed, so long as I can flex my foot (or push it into a flex with my other leg). Today I thought I was flexing until I got out of bed and stood on it, and realized that just my toes were flexed, but the rest of the foot was pointed.

There's nothing you can do - I eat bananas daily (didn't even know that was a remedy) and I sleep on my side.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

that's a potassium deficiency. You might want to talk to your doc about that. there are a few home remedies but you could go on potassium supps if it gets really bad.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

That was a leg cramp. I got them in the second trimester.

Eat a banana a day and drink more water. I also started doing calf exercises and that has helped. I do 60 up-on-my-tip-toes calf raises every day. Not only did it stop the cramps, but my calfs are now more defined.

When you do get them, try to flex your foot. If you point it it makes it worse.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

You ladies are the best- I will look into potassium and calcium supplemets. It's definitely not a water issue- I drink over 1 gallon a day.
I couldn't even get out of bed to stand on it- ugh. I hope it never happens again.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

I actually got this only once and it was after a night at a wedding, 30 weeks pregnant where i wore heals. I woke up and thought my leg was curing up to my head....i was never in so much pain. I started screaming oh f*ck so loudly that DH got up and started massaing it but OH MY GOD.

No more high heels for me the rest of pregnancy.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

I had one for 1/2 hour one night and it was agony....

Eat bananas
drink water
stand on it and stretch your calf, it helps....

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

Oh no! Sorry to hear that - I am NOT looking forward to this and hope it completely passes me by. This all sounds like good/accurate advice though.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

yep, leg cramps are another glorious symptom of pregnancy. dont' know why though.

i got a few and they hurt like a b itch.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

leg cramps

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

I woke up in the middle of the night to one a couple of weeks ago. I was screaming - thankfully DH woke up and rubbed it until the pain stopped. It hurt like H ELL!!

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

I found that I can feel one coming on. I lotion everynight before bed and when I do my calves I check for knots. If I find a knot Dh or I rub it until it goes away. So far this has worked.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg

yup, very common pregnancy symptom. It's wonderful isn't it So sorry you are feeling this. I didn't start feeling them until my 3rd tri with my first daughter. Drink more water, rest more (legs up) and eat more potassium.

Re: Good morning- I will now stab your leg