Calf cramps in third trimester

[thingymaboob]

I am being woken in the middle of the night with awful cramps in calf of left leg. It's agonising. I don't have any signs of a DVT so not too worried about that. Has this happened to anyone else and has anyone got any tips on how to prevent or treat it?

Eat a banana before bed!!

Add more salt into your diet and I've heard soda water or tonic water can help. I just made sure I added a bit of salt when cooking veg etc during the day, if I still ended up with cramp I kept a 2 litre bottle of water (can be anything) next to bed put my foot on it and rolled it back and forward to stretch out the cramp gently.

Yes it's quite common- awful though as you can barely reach your legs!

Drink plenty of water ( sorry, as you didn't need more help peeing every 5 mins) and run them vigourously when they cramp xx

I got this so bad last time, I would wake up screaming in pain. I found they got less frequent if I drank plenty through the evening. Sometimes I'd wake up and I could feel it coming up, stretching my toes upwards would stop it (pointing them would bring it on twice as fast!).

A friend of mine swore by the lucozade energy tablet things right before bed too but I don't know if there's any scientific basis for them. I think they do contain minerals and salts though so might help!.

It's very common. Try drinking sports drinks with electrolytes before bed.

Yes I had them! Really sucks!

Yes, I had them , they were excruciating. I ate a banana before bed, it does help a bit.

Pointing my toes brought them on... so I didn't point my toes :).

I would put my foot flat on the floor to stop them. It's agonising but this stops it in its tracks.