To ask for help re horrendous night leg cramps and long haul overnight flight?

[Nicenicenight]

I suffer from awful night time leg and feet cramps, both lower and upper leg.

I've upped my magnesium, taje a vitamin k2 supplement. On trigger days (alcohol or post exercise) I have tonic water in the evening and an electrolyte drink before bed. I also use an electric blanket on warm for my feet zone most nights.

These have all helped but it's not perfect.

The ONLY solution I've found that works when the pain hits is basically drag my constricted body to my shower and run hot water over it until the agonising stops.

How on earth am I going to be able to cope on a flight if it happens?

Please, if anyone has any tips, send them this way.

Could you take an empty hot water bottle and ask the flight attendants to fill it up with hot water?

Do you know the cause of these cramps? Doesn’t sound like something you’ll be able to live with long term?

I have found prescription muscle relaxers helpful.

I had leg cramps while pregnant, and a friend of mine told me to stand up and put weight in the offending leg/foot. Worked for me. Maybe it might help you? Hope you find a way through it x

How much magnesium and what type?

I take more than the recommended dose of mag glycinate at night. I take 450mg of elemental magnesium (which is 2100g of actual magnesium) I use vitabright off amazon. I also take magnesium malate every morning.

Can you take a battery powered heated blanket?

I have had the same for years. Agonising, crippling and I have them in unusual muscle groups too.

I have three things which help which you can do on a long haul flight:

1. tonic water, with quinine, drink at least a mini can on feeling cramps.
2. stretch the calf muscles, for at least two mins. If I'm at home I drop my heels off the back of a stair, but on a plane I do a calf / Achilles stretch up against a wall
3. 30mg amitriptyline. This has sorted it out far more than anything else.

HTH. Good luck!

My mother used to have this when she was on a flight. It sound strange but she though it was due to low sodium as she found a couple of times that the crap went when she put salt on a sandwich on the flight. No idea if it is real or a placbo.

I had these. Went to my GP and she gave me a prescription for quinine tablets. Stopped instantly.

That works for me too.

You mention supplements - do you also take supplements with vitamin B6 in?

Excess vit B6 can cause severe cramps, and it would take ~3 weeks plus for the levels to reduce one you stopped taking it, depending on how high they'd gotten. It's common as a "helper" in many supposedly single-ingredient supplements, so if you take multiple supplements, check the labels.

If that's not likely for you, then increasing sodium or potassium can be helpful.
Also staying well hydrated.

Have you tried the magnesium spray that goes directly onto your skin? I found it really effective at dealing with muscle cramps.

Have you had your VitD, B12 and iron levels checked?