Mike's Excellent DOM and Ocean Minerals Adventure

[VirginiaEdie]

You seem to be getting more cramps. Maybe your magnesium stores have run out and you need to start supplementing magnesium again?

[ctviggen]

That would be a good experiment.

For me, I think too much magnesium actually causes cramps. Or at least I’ve taken magnesium during the day and got cramps at night. Since I take all of my minerals intermittently, this means to me that I’m missing something else or maybe too much Mg causes an imbalance. But if you’re lacking in Mg, that also wouldn’t be good.

[Hallie]

It sounds truly awful! Cramps that force you out of bed and for more than a few minutes… I hope you find good answers!

I used to get the occasional killer foot or leg cramp in bed, more than 10 years ago I think. I remember that a year or 2 after taking up a particularly deeply relaxing regular yoga class, I noted to myself that I didn’t cramp any more. It was like my muscles knew better when to fire and when to turn off. If I ever felt the pre warning of a cramp about to start I could always tell it “No. just go soft” And it would! What a superpower eh?
But it’s an n=1. My diet probably began to improve around the same time, I’m not sure how these things lined up.

[amwassil]

Tue, May 18, 2021

Follow Up Note: Yesterday was a full shift at work. My right thigh was painful all day and in fact is still painful this morning. After getting home yesterday, it was pretty obvious that my right thigh was still tight and knotted, although not in full cramp. I could feel the lump! I used Absorbine Jr liberally to help relax it. I also tried some capsaicin rollon ointment, which didn’t seem to do anything. The ‘knot’ is gone this morning. I drank about 900 ml of my liter of salt water yesterday at work. I also drank a 330 ml can of Ocean Bomb at my meal and in addition 3 doses of ATM at home afterwards.

Note 2: I discovered some ‘elemental’ magnesium tablets in the medicine cabinet last night. They’re magnesium oxide. I took 2 x 250 mg before bed and took 2 x 250 mg just now with my coffee. I’m working a full shift again today commencing at 09:00 and while at Walmart I will see if there’s any magnesium supplements.

[amwassil]

Wed, May 19, 2021

Further Follow Up: I started work yesterday morning at 09:00 and by about 11:00 my right thigh was so painful it was causing me to limp. This in turn caused my left thigh to start to hurt as well, even though it had been pain free until then. So to avoid a cascade I bought a spray can of this stuff at the pharmacy:

It worked well enough to relieve the pain for about an hour, slowly tapering off during the second hour by the end of which I needed to reapply it. Seems to be somewhat more effective than Absorbine Jr.

Main ingredient is menthol, just like Absorbine Jr. I applied both last night before retiring. No cramps, but the insides of both thighs are still painful this morning.

PS: I’ll further note that yesterday was day 5 of 5 consecutive shift days and I am very tired even now after to good night’s sleep. We seem to have been short-staffed for the last few weeks. I don’t know whether folks are quitting or getting sick - or just sick and tired of working at Walmart.

[amwassil]

Sun, May 23, 2021

Further Follow Up: Compression.

I noted here that compression seemed to have little or no effect on frequency or severity of night cramps:

Night Cramps - Compression, Another Approach

First morning since sleeping with compression stockings I got a real cramp in my left calf. On a scale of 1-10 the pain was about 5-6, so not a ‘biggie’. I was not able just to ‘stretch it out’. It lasted a little less than 5 minutes, but I had to get out of bed and walk it off. That did not get rid of it completely either, but after lying down again and just relaxing it finally petered out. Best I can figure is that I haven’t consumed my full quota of electrolytes the past couple of days due m…

I’m having second thoughts about compression. After the May17 episode described above, my left thigh became pain free almost immediately. But my right thigh continues to generate lots of pain. Not as much as during the cramp, still enough to cause lots of discomfort. Much of this discomfort and pain seemed to result from my thigh ‘flopping’ around during daily activity.

I had on hand a pair of thigh length stockings I purchased years ago for cycling. These are stretch socks and exert a modest amount of compression. So I decided to put both socks on my right leg to see if that would help any. It did! For a couple of days now I’ve been wearing both socks on my right leg and it helps ease the pain considerably. This has prompted me to order from Amazon a pair of full length compression sleeves - I’ll report on them later.

Note: In the photo (mirror view) I’m also wearing a pair of Combivo Ankle Braces that along with compression socks and braces I use for my varicose veins.

[VirginiaEdie]

Have you checked your muscles for trigger points?

[amwassil]

@VirginiaEdie Thank you for the suggestion. From what I’ve just read in the below trigger points don’t seem applicable. Specifically, I don’t experience any of the 12 trigger point symptoms listed in the PainScience article on management of pain. Yes, right now a week after a MAJOR (caps and bold!) cramp the inside of my right thigh is still sore and very sensitive to touch. But less sore and sensitive as each day passes. A small ‘knot’ persisted for several days but is now gone. I can massage the thigh gently now and it feels good, whereas even a couple days ago it would have caused pain. So I think this was essentially a one-off trauma event - not a persistent ‘trigger’ waiting to be pulled.

As @ctviggen has suggested elsewhere about running, I could be suffering from some sort of micro damage caused by years of doing it. That would not surprise me.

Trigger Points: Diagnosis and Management

Complete Guide to Trigger Points & Myofascial Pain (2020)

[amwassil]

Tue, May 27, 2021

My right inside thigh still hurts severely enough to require daily treatments with both Arbsorine Jr. and X3 Freeze. It still hurts enough to interfere with my sleep. It also feels like the muscle still occasionally (several times daily, and more so when lying down) tightens into a knot for a few minutes at a time. I fear permanent damage occurred.

This morning upon awakening (05:15), I got a minor cramp in top of my left foot. I had to get up to walk it off and it took quite a while (10-15 minutes) before the foot felt fully normal again, although the majority of pain was gone within about 5 minutes. I lay down again after that. Within a few minutes a cramp started in my left inside thigh! Pain was moderate, way more than from the foot cramp. Up again to walk it off which took about 15 minutes.

When I’ve finally been up and about for about half an hour, I no longer feel like a cramp could hit any second. Legs start to feel fairly normal again. I also posted the following:

Night Cramps - Compression, Another Approach

This is of interest: I must stand on shifts at Walmart. This is generally 2 hours between breaks and sometimes more. As noted, wearing support compression socks has helped my lower leg cramps enormously. So I am in hopes that the full length compression leg sleeves I noted above will be helpful for my thighs. Amazon notified me that I can expect arrival Tuesday (Jun 10).

I’ve wondered why, if electrolyte imbalance or lack of magnesium and/or potassium are the prime culprits in night leg cramps, they only occur at night or upon first awakening. If mineral deficiency and/or imbalance is the actual cause, why don’t they occur all day long. My mineral comp doesn’t change all of sudden when I lie down for sleep.

[VirginiaEdie]

If mineral deficiency and/or imbalance is the actual cause, why don’t they occur all day long. My mineral comp doesn’t change all of sudden when I lie down for sleep

That’s a great question because I find I get muscle cramps at night if I don’t have enough salt during the day. I also don’t get them during the day, well, unless I’m REALLY depleted.

[Corals]

It’s an idea, but I couldn’t possibly eat sugar. Honey, perhaps.

At the moment, I’m still carnivore and very strict.

[amwassil]

Jun 23/21 I’m going to carry on my quasi-log of cramp episodes over here in my ‘Compression’ topic.

[amwassil]

I’m still supplementing deep ocean minerals, although no longer with Aussie Trace Minerals. ATM was essentially from surface water, so I’ve switched to Whole Earth and Sea, which comes from the same source off Taiwan as Ocean Bomb carbonated water. Ocean Bomb remains unavailable in Vancouver.