Anyone else experiencing leg cramps at night?

[Robert]

Hi John.

Good question.

I was getting leg cramps often in the night.  I am now on carbidopa/levodopa every three hours during the day, along with one extended release pill added to every other dose,  and I take two extended carbidopa/levodopa at bedtime.  I sometimes have to take the regular carbidopa/levodopa during the night if the leg cramps keep me awake.   This helps me to get enough sleep at night.  I still am very stiff when I awake.

Don’t know if this helps, but it is what my Dr. recommended when I complained about nighttime leg cramps.

Best regards,

Robert C.

 

[Susan Watkins]

Good day John,
I had leg cramping and my Neurologist recommeneded a glass of tonic water about an hour or 2 before bed. Works most nights for me. I have degenerative changes in my sciatica and the beginning of stenosis in the l3-l4 area.

[George Sharp]

I have leg cramps every night I wake up and have a stretch and then it starts the thing I do is take MAGNESIUM it definitely helps and I take a Campese they are a type of supplement and most nights they do help so give it a try. I can vouch for them the main thing is remembering to take them, I am a bugger forgetting them, and by the time I remember I am usually in bed.

But give it a try, if you go to bed at 10 take them about around 7-30. all the best  George

[Thomas Rutschman]

I take magnesium for cramps.  It seems to help.

[Robert Li]

Magnesium helped me too.  Here are a few other things that you might could try, according to below: calcium, drinking more water during the day, vitamin C and E, CoQ10.  NAC can help boost glutathione production in some people. (People with Multiple Sclerosis often take NAC to slow progression of disease.)

Source: Muscle and oxidative stress

Multiple enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidant defense systems are present in cells to protect the membranes and other cell organelles from the damaging effects of free radical reactions. These include vitamins C and E, coenzyme Q₁₀, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase. Free radicals and other factors like dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, calcium and magnesium deficiency, and low carbohydrate stores may cause muscle cramps.

[Roy]

My husband has leg cramps at night also. He takes one Gabapentin at 6:15 and a second one at 9:00 which helps a bit. He also takes Magnesium and Potassium in an attempt to eliminate the cramps. His tend to start around 8:00 at night. Some nights, riding his exercise bike or taking a slow walk on his treadmill helps. Other nights, he stands for hours watching TV. He must have weight on his legs or they immediately cramp up. It is very frustrating.

[Robert]

Thomas and Robert Li.

You both make a very important point. We always have to be careful to not automatically attribute all of our ailments to our Parkinson’s.  And eventhough I consider the carbidopa/levodopa pills to be “magic pills” for my Parkinson’s,  that doesn’t mean they are the correct treatment for all of our ailments.  I have been taking these pills for about three years now and I still have grey hair!

Best regards,

Robert C.

 

 

[Cal Astrom]

Hi John,
I also had serious problems with cramps and RLS at night.
After testing a number of medications, including extra levodopa etc, including magnesium (which helped a bit) I finally got the remedy, a medication named Oprymea, which I take 0,35mg half an hour before going to bed.
Doing wonders for me, have taken it for more than a year. It failed once, when it turned out I forgotten to take it….
Hope this helps – Cal

[Cal Astrom]

Should also say that the active substance is Pramipexol, goes under various names, Sifrol etc.
Cal

[John]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and advice – much appreciated!  I have tried magnesium as well but it didn’t help me unfortunately – I think it’s for normal leg cramps rather that than the wearing off effect of levadopa overnight.  I looked up oprymea and seems to be the European name for pramipexiole – the Dopamine Agonist. Yes that would definitely help but unfortunately I can’t take those types of Parkinson’s drugs due to other unwanted side effects. I am just on Stalevo 4 times a day and a slow release Sinemet before bed.  I have also tried taking quick release madopar at night when the cramps occur – but that didn’t help as well unfortunately.

[Robert Li]

Hi Robert, I appreciate the sentiment.  Although I would trade it for a magic anti-gray hair pill…

Hi John, having survived two debilitating systemic diseases in my lifetime, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Cervical Dystonia / Parkinsonism, I have developed a philosophy that I hope might help you in some way:

I will never be able to prove a certain vitamin deficiency caused a symptom.  But if I do take a supplement and I feel better, then I was probably deficient.  Supplementing therefore will not only make me feel better. it will bring my body closer to normal healing processes.

So, for example, correcting vitamin D deficiency is known to help many people with Restless Legs Syndrome.  Will it help mine if mine if mine is caused by the “extremely rare” condition of high blood manganese levels?  Luckily, it did help a lot after two months.

Later I found from deep research that vitamin D spurs production of SLC30A10 proteins, which remove excess manganese.  Excess manganese near dopamine-producing cells short circuits the cell’s normal signalling mechanism and causes early dopamine release.  Then the manganese can oxidize the excess dopamine, turning it into toxic o-quinones, which damages the dopamine system, not to mention rendering that dopamine molecule unavailable for use.

I only know all this after hundreds of hours of research.   Luckily an ND told me a year before to supplement my deficient vitamin D levels without this complex explanation.  I only did the research to avoid a relapse and I’m totally drug free.

Good luck to you. I hope you find relief soon.

[Louis Skip Sander]

I have frequent toe and foot cramps that I do NOT attribute to PD or PD medication.

They are always quickly relieved by the non-prescription medicine Theraworx Relief. It is a wonder drug. The foam version works best for me.

[John]

Hi All,

Thanks again for all the great suggestions.

After some further investigation and trials by myself I found that it was the Entacapone in the Stalevo I was taking that was causing the cramps at night.  Moving over to Sinemet CR helped resolve the problem.

[JerrySmile]

Hi, everyone. I have PD for at least 9 years. Still playing tennis, and really improving some aspects of it (changed my forehand to closer to Federer’s, changed my backhand to closer to Wawrinka’s:-)) – in the last two years). Meds until 1 month ago (my Dr is trying something else now): Levocarb 100/25 mg 1.5 pills at 6 am, 10 am, 2 pm, 6 pm and midnight; Entacapol, 200 mg, 1 pill each time with Levocarb, 5 x a day; Azilect 1 mg 1 x day. Now, with all this, I am only getting cramps at night when I neglect to stretch after 1-2 hrs of tennis. I am assuming that _some_ of you may get _some_ of your cramps instances from lack of stretching. Try to stretch more, latest before going to bed, and esp the quads, calfs, glutes. Try Pilates or Yoga moves that do that, best after 10 min warmup.

[fakhiuddin ahmed]

So many people have had successes with so many types of treatments that it is tempting to deny any cause and effect. My wife has had leg cramps at various times of the day,but mostly at night for the last thirty years. She lost her sense of smell decades ago, was diagnosed with PD25 yrs ago, but became disabled 8 yrs ago. She has tried many medications but is helped most by warm compresses and hydration. Very hard to draw conclusions but then degenerative diseases that are slowly progressive are hard to comprehend.

[John Citron]

John,

These things are mean!

I take C/L 50/100 at night and that helps me get through the night most of the time, but still get hit with them around 4:00 am. What is it with that hour?

What’s interesting is this was one of my earliest symptoms of PD which I attributed to not drinking enough water while bicycle riding when they first started. They got so bad I was getting them all the time including when driving home from work. There were a few times I had to pull over and let the feet calm down.  Once I started on the Sinemet 25/100, these things all but disappeared during the day and only visit at that hour.

 

 

[Louis Skip Sander]

Theraworx Relief Foam provides 100% relief when applied and rubbed in. Just like they say  on TV.

[John Citron]

I tried that and it didn’t work for me, but the C/L did. It was worth the try though.

[KRIT SINGH CHAND]

I also experience leg cramping in the night.

 

K SCHAND

 

[Carmen Latimer]

One of my Parkie friends always keeps a bar of soap under her bed sheet to help with leg cramps. I don’t know how it works or if  it’s a placebo effect but I’ve heard other people talk about it also.

[Kirk]

You may want to look into compression stockings, either prescription or over the counter. Two members of my immediate family (neither with Parkinson’s) have reported major relief from nighttime leg cramps after wearing the stockings during the day.

 

[David Dorsey]

I have been diagnosed with Restless Leg Syndrome. The most effective remedy I have found is Ropinerole (Requip), a banana, and (2) 8oz glasses of water @ 1 hour before bed.
For muscle spasms I have had success with the over the counter spray foam Theraworks.
I wish you success
D.