Leg Cramps ALL NIGHT LONG

[GeorgiaInOhio]

Just to update, my leg cramps have gone away for nearly a week now. I started taking a B12 sublingual, and after 2 weeks, it eased up tremindously. I also noticed that SALT was a huge problem. I have eliminated as much salt as possible, cut WAY back on any processed sugar, and done my best to rid all White Flower. My swelling has went away almost completely, i mean from having a clown shoe sized foot and ankle, to almost normal again, and the pain and cramps are gone. Im still healing some wounds from the big vasculitus flare up, my toes took a beating on that one, and i got some bad soars from it- but other than that, the cramps are gone. i still get stiffness here and there, and if i walk alot, i get cramps in my feet, but the all night long thing, gone. now that im posting about it, theyll probly come back to prove me wrong, but hey. lol. i actually slept thru the night for the first time since ive been out of the hospital for the last 3 nights in a row. i didnt wake up at all. that is miraculous to me. i dont know if its because im getting used to the meds, or if its because of the cramps, because even days i didnt have cramps, id still wake up all night from the prednisone. so i dont know. i think i just got so worn out being up with crampy legs. lol. but i think the reducing salt and everything, on top of the b12 has done wonders.

my doc said my blood work was fine and my b12 was normal, but i started taking the supplement before the tests, so who knows. im not going to stop. lol. so i thought id just let everyone know. salt is a bad, bad thing for me. very bad. i gunea pig myself on these things, and trust me, its bad. so just a bit of advice maybe someone else could try.

[Jack]

Interesting how we are all different isn't it?
I used to have muscle cramps - caused by shortage of salt!
I suppose it is all a matter of getting the balance right.

[Sangye]

Glad your muscle cramps have stopped! At different points of adrenal exhaustion, salt is actually needed to rescusitate (sp?) them. It's usually after a long period of using pred or after you're off it. So it makes sense that Georgia's cramps are eased by reducing salt, and Jack's were eased by increasing it!

If the B12 is helping you, then take it. The bloodwork concerning B12 wouldn't show an abnormality if you have a subclinical deficiency versus an outright clinical deficiency. That's the level of nutrient deficiency most people have, and this is the sticking point between MDs and holistic docs. You can certainly need more B12 long before your blood shows B12-related anemia. Vitamin C is a good example. If we lack it completely we get scurvy. But the road to scurvy is very long, with many signs of deficiency along the way.

Holistic docs who are trained in clinical nutrition read bloodwork differently. We have a narrower range of "normal" values. So by the time you're medically out of range, you're WAY out of holistic range. When MDs roll their eyes at the mention of "subclinical" deficiencies, I ask them "So you believe someone can have a perfect, 100% optimally functioning thyroid (for example) one day and the next day have hypothyroidism?" They get my point after that.

[GeorgiaInOhio]

Wow thats interesting, maybe i can just give you all my salt jack because id be perfectly happy with all of it gone out of my body!

and sangye, im taking you with me to the doctor next time, ok?

[Sangye]

Great idea for the next Weggie meeting : a salt exchange!

I wish I could go with a lot of people to their doc appts. Sometimes I hear stories that make me just cringe.