Leg Cramps

This is not caused by a drug deficiency. It is most likely being caused by a mineral deficiency. You see, one thing that usually accompanies ageing is less ability to produce stomach acid. This in turn leads to malabsorption of many nutrients. Another cause is diuretic drugs that cause you to lose minerals along with the fluid. The ones most likely to be causing your cramps: magnesium, potassium, zinc and maybe calcium.

MAGNESIUM: this one is involved in more chemical reactions in our bodies than any other mineral and there isn’t enough of it in our diets. This is also the one I suggest you start with as it is the most likely to be causing your cramps. our daily multi-vitamin, multi-4, has 400m.g. of magnesium per day in it. This would gradually replete your stores. But for a more rapid approach I would suggest taking magnesium to bowel tolerance. This may be 800 to 1,200m.g.s per day.

POTASSIUM: we mainly get this in fruits and vegetables. Supplements over the counter don’t have very much in them as an over dose can be deadly. We should get about 3,000m.g. per day in our diet but that assumes you actually eat fruits and vegetables. If you mainly eat garbage, this could be the cause of your cramps.

CALCIUM: I don’t recommend directly taking calcium. But you can increase your calcium a better way by taking 5,000 to 10,000 units of D 3 per day. This way you can kill two birds with one stone as you need the D for many other reasons anyway.

ZINC: Zinc to make you think, zinc for colds and flu, zinc for the skin….it goes on and on…the vitamins, minerals and hormones are the magic molecules of life. A severe lack of zinc can also cause muscle cramps. We use as much as 200m.g. of zinc per day for some purposes. Doses above 100m.g. should be accompanied by copper for long term use or a copper deficiency will eventually develop.

VITAMIN E: Taking larger doses of this over a few months may work. I wouldn’t take the cheap crap, E alpha tocopherol, alone. It is just one of the tocopherols. Taking it alone in larger doses can cause a deficiency of one of its siblings: beta, gamma, delta….you are better off taking the mixed tocopherols at an adequate dose, e.g.400i.u./day. Our formulas at innovative medicine contain the vitamin E complex but I doubt their doses would be enough to treat this problem.

Besides the above treatments, often replacing testosterone in men and progesterone in women gets rid of the cramps. I’m also not afraid to Rx muscle relaxants or pain killers for this. Even though this is just covering up symptoms with a drug; it’s better than continuing to suffer until a better solution is found.