Salt to treat cramps ? ? ?

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Terri9630 said:
I used to take a salt pill every day in highschool to stop leg cramps like that. The kid takes them now to try to keep her blood pressure up. Salt can be useful.
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a factory i worked in had area where steam was used in certain processes. they kept salt pills at every water fountain in plant and folks working right at/on these machines took them by the had fulls.if they didnt they were toast.going on memory i think they were 500mg.


i blow through salt as well. i can tell when i take in to much and i taste salt on my lip from sweat running down my face.it never lasts long because i sweat it all out in short order.most people dont really sweat anymore.old military manual i seen once talked about being in humid areas and needed a minimum of 1 quart of water per hour and that was without activity.think about that a bit right there.doc says a blow through magnesium as well and prescribed 500mg tablets for that 3 times a day or more if needed.
 
havasu said:
I use to get daily leg cramps until I changed to eating one banana a day. Been doing this for 20 years and have not had leg cramps for years. It also coats my stomach from the pills needed from my dual knee replacements.
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I started eating Bananas more than one a week, because of cramps, it helped some, until I started with pickles.
I really like bananas so I eat one a day, or more if the got freckles. If they turn dark, DW freezes them to make banana bread with them.
When I worked in a machine shop, I was in the heat treat department they had yellow salt pills. I was young then & the older guys claimed that they had salt peter in them, could not prove it by me.
 
I get cramps all throughout my body. Rough night up with cramps several times. Elk mentioned tasting salt in sweat, been a lot of years since I've done that. Talking with others it would appear my idea of plenty of salt is far less than most people use who are not active and I am active. I measured the output of my grinder shaker I use for salt. With the amount of twist I put on my food is less than 1/2 tsp daily. According to some info I've heard people who work hard & sweat hard 2 tsp per day is not unheard of. I can do without more days and nights like yesterday. So I'll try and increase my intake to around 1 tsp per day and go from there.

Thanks to everyone for the replies..........
 
Biggkidd said:
I get cramps all throughout my body. Rough night up with cramps several times. Elk mentioned tasting salt in sweat, been a lot of years since I've done that. Talking with others it would appear my idea of plenty of salt is far less than most people use who are not active and I am active. I measured the output of my grinder shaker I use for salt. With the amount of twist I put on my food is less than 1/2 tsp daily. According to some info I've heard people who work hard & sweat hard 2 tsp per day is not unheard of. I can do without more days and nights like yesterday. So I'll try and increase my intake to around 1 tsp per day and go from there.

Thanks to everyone for the replies..........
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Drink one bottle of diet tonic water at bedtime .
Works for everybody that's tried it.
May take a couple nights.

Jim
 
phideaux said:
Drink one bottle of diet tonic water at bedtime .
Works for everybody that's tried it.
May take a couple nights.

Jim
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its the quinine in it.
 
Haertig said:
I wonder is electrical stimulation would help with your cramps? I get neck and back spasms occasionally (luckily, rarely) and I use a TENS/EMS device to help release the muscle. Not exactly like your cramps, but similar (I'm assuming you're talking about leg cramps). I do not use the TENS settings on the device ("Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation"), I use the EMS settings ("Electrical Muscle Stimulation"). TENS is more a pain control technology whereas EMS is for tight muscles.

Here's where I got my unit:

https://www.lgmedsupply.com/
Specifically, I got this model, the "LG TEC Elite" (they are always on sale, with extra discounts, and come to around $120 or so):

https://www.lgmedsupply.com/lgelteunandm.html
There are five bazillion different TENS/EMS units for sale everywhere. You would probably save money and just get an EMS unit without the TENS. ou can get replacement electrode pads for them on Amazon for really cheap (compared to the prices at a medical supply place). There are good and bad electrodes - related to how well they stick to you - so buy something with a lot of positive ratings if you do the Amazon thing.

The one I got is battery or plugin. It's maybe a bit on the large size - you could clip it on your belt but probably not keep it in your pocket unless you have larger cargo pockets.

I bought an EMS only unit once. In a shopping mall. At one of those temporary kiosks out in the middle of the mall walkway. And you know what, that little Chinese made unit works just fine for relaxing a spasming muscle. It certainly doesn't have the flexibility, variety of settings, and TENS function of the higher end one I bought later. And it is rechargeable internal battery only. It's much smaller and the battery goes for many hours of use between charges. Yes, it feels like a cheap Chinese trinket but it's lasted for over a decade now and is still going strong. I think it was $89 in the mall. Which I though was quite high priced for as cheap as it felt, but the wife bought it anyway. And really, bottom line, the silly thing works. If I could only have one unit, it would be the higher end TENS/EMS unit though.

The cheap Chinese unit has maybe eight different settings, of which I might use two. They are described as "bouncing pall", "rolling fist", etc. What the heck? Just find one that feels good (some can tickle of be painful). The better TENS/EMS unit can be configured every which way, but in the end I just pick something that feels good. You have your ramp time, your pulse width, your repeat rate, your decay time, your waveform, your amplitude, blah, blah, blah. You can hook up two pairs of electrodes and configure their placement as parallel or X-cross or whatever. A physical therapist might understand it, but I don't. I just stick the pads on where ever, randomly punch a few buttons until it feels good, and away I go. Always start off with the amplitude setting at low and move up from there. They probably all default to low on powerup. When you crank these things up - even the cheap Chinese one - you will fly out of your chair if you turn it up too high. Some settings hurt. Some setting tickle you to death. Don't put the electrodes on your chest across your heart. That would be worse than eating three handfuls of salt. It's not a defibrillator ... I think it would be more of a fibrillator, not a good thing.

I have no idea if one of these things would be good for your cramps or not. But I got a neck cramp typing in this post. So I suppose I should go get mine and fire it up.
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I second the TENS recommendation. At least give it a try. I've got 2 bad disk in my back, been bad since 1989. Causes severe muscle spasams. Most times I manage, but when they flare up I can't even put my shoes on. I've spent plenty of time in PT over the years and the one thing that always helps is the Industrial strength TENS units they use. Wasnt sure what to think first time and it was kind of a pleasure/pain kinda thing to start, but in just a minute or so I could feel a difference. PT told me to say when to stop increasing it. I never did and when my leg started jerking they backed it down just a touch and said that all you can have. They do that for 20 minutes with a big ice pack draped over my back. The theory is that TENS fatuges thspasms. And forces it to relax. It works for different periods of time. The X pattern mentioned is simply putting the pads as a box around the affected muscles. As the unit works the energy runs across the affected muscle from pad to pad. I've wore out a couple of these cheaper non industrial units and have one now. Gonna look up the one recommended.
These units aren't as effective, but if found if I stay on it more often the longer term results are about the same.
Muscle relaxers and pain pills might take the edge off, but TENS is much more effective over a longer period of time

Prayers going up to you in finding relief
 
Bananas for cramps. Any source of potassium should do the trick. Lite Salt contains potassium chloride so that might work.

We were cruising in the Caribbean when my crew became nauseous. I gave them each about a teaspoon of salt and cleared up the problem.
 
Caribou said:
Bananas for cramps. Any source of potassium should do the trick. Lite Salt contains potassium chloride so that might work.

We were cruising in the Caribbean when my crew became nauseous. I gave them each about a teaspoon of salt and cleared up the problem.
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Grab some salt substitute, it is all potassium chloride.
81B0yhOUGyL._SL1500_.jpg

It is also slightly radioactive :thumbs:. (Just measurable with sensitive meters, not hazardous.)
 
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Most of the potassium on the planet is slightly radioactive. It's in the isotopes and we haven't learned an economical way to separate and recombine isotopes without using a big explosion and a nuclear reactor. Until we do, fear not, your body is made to handle this amount of radiation and much more. It actually keeps your immune system healthy.
 
Haertig said:
Oh the bright side, if you gobble down enough salt substitute to fix your cramps, you'll soon be glowing and will no longer need flashlights to get around at night.
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Now, now, don't freak out people that are limiting their sodium intake and using it instead of salt.
It is far safer to keep your BP readings out of the stratosphere than having a few isotopes.
 
You could try looking up 'powdered electrolyte mix' online and find many options that are sugar free and keto friendly. I like the powdered mixes b/c I can put as much or as little water in the drink as I want. If I take it before bed, I take it with only about 4 oz of water or less.

I also take magnesium tabs but your results may vary. I notice less cramps and heart palpatations when I take magnesium on a regular basis. They do have a magnesium spray if you have cramps mostly in one area like the calves. There are also magnesium salves or lotions that you could apply right on the muscles.

If you are drinking LOTS of water, just be aware that you could be dehydrating yourself. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but I had a friend who was drinking 1-2 gallons of water per day for weight loss and was admitted to the hospital for dehydration. I don't remember what her symptoms were b/c it happened many years ago, but she was shocked about the diagnosis. All those fluids flushed out her electrolytes, causing all her problems.

I hope you find a solution that works for you since that must be agonizing to deal with.:( I wish you the best of luck!
 
angie_nrs said:
All those fluids flushed out her electrolytes, causing all her problems.
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I had a healthy athletic friend. 40-ish. He was training to run another marathon. He started having significant heart problems. So much so that they had scheduled him to go in for insertion of a pacemaker. Yikes! At 40 years old, and at the peak of health.

Luckily he was a N.P., and worked with my wife, also an N.P. They got together, along with several other medical providers in their department, and talked through what possibly could be going on. They invited some of their friend docs in internal medicine and cardiology.

His problem? He was drinking too much water during his training. That was it. He stopped drinking all that water, rapidly improved, skipped the unneeded pacemaker, and went on to run the marathon.

Moral to this story? Think about what you're doing, and don't go messing with your electrolytes!
 
The best anti cramp we have been using is magnesium, when we've told doctors we use it they say it's a good thing, not only does it stop leg and foot cramps, it's good for keeping your heart from cramping--- also called a heart attack.
 
All I know is when I change my shirts 3-4-5 times a day and they drip when I take them off I gotta drink plenty of something. I use to drink lots of gatorade For some reason I can't drink it this year, it way to sweet and it started burning my stomach. Right now I'm going to try upping my salt intake. Hey if it kills me y'all wont have to put up with me anymore. lol

Besides it could be worse this chunk of metal would have landed on top of my head today if I didn't have a fiberglass canopy on my tractor.

20210725_205431.jpg

Thanks everyone for your replies and well wishes.
 
elkhound said:
a factory i worked in had area where steam was used in certain processes. they kept salt pills at every water fountain in plant and folks working right at/on these machines took them by the had fulls.if they didnt they were toast.going on memory i think they were 500mg.


i blow through salt as well. i can tell when i take in to much and i taste salt on my lip from sweat running down my face.it never lasts long because i sweat it all out in short order.most people dont really sweat anymore.old military manual i seen once talked about being in humid areas and needed a minimum of 1 quart of water per hour and that was without activity.think about that a bit right there.doc says a blow through magnesium as well and prescribed 500mg tablets for that 3 times a day or more if needed.
Click to expand...

The kid takes magnesium too. She's always low.
 
I wish I could take something for them. My issue is genetic. No matter what I eat, take or drink, I get Muscle cramps. Milk makes it much worse. The more concentrated the dairy product like hard cheese, ice cream it will be much worse. Didn't figure it out till my late 30's. I caught hell as a teen-ager. My legs were very strong. (1500 lbs on a leg press) And when I would cramp up at night I would wake the whole house with my screaming. They would try everything to get them out. No one was strong enough though. My mom finally had to resort to giving me Valium to put me out.
 
joel said:
Does it work for you?
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Works for me , and my daughter .
I stopped drinking it every night once I got Theraworx.

You want real relief , buy Theraworx and put it on to prevent cramps if you had a hard day. If you do get a cramp it works like a miracle to stop it ...for me and my family.
It instantly penetrates muscles and stops the cramp.

Jim
 
Haertig said:
I had a healthy athletic friend. 40-ish. He was training to run another marathon. He started having significant heart problems. So much so that they had scheduled him to go in for insertion of a pacemaker. Yikes! At 40 years old, and at the peak of health.

Luckily he was a N.P., and worked with my wife, also an N.P. They got together, along with several other medical providers in their department, and talked through what possibly could be going on. They invited some of their friend docs in internal medicine and cardiology.

His problem? He was drinking too much water during his training. That was it. He stopped drinking all that water, rapidly improved, skipped the unneeded pacemaker, and went on to run the marathon.

Moral to this story? Think about what you're doing, and don't go messing with your electrolytes!
Click to expand...
There are people who have died from drinking too much water.
 
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