foot cramping weirdness

January 19, 2006 7:35 PM

Recurring foot muscle cramps. My fiancee has this weird *foot thing* that happens about 3 or 4 days per week. In the evenings, she gets painful cramps in her foot, usually her left foot but sometimes the right one does the same. It usually takes 10 or 20 minutes to work itself out. It's helped by massage, but it hurts like the dickens while it's going on. What gives? Her diet and exercise habits inside...

She's a vegetarian. She eats right, including bananas for potassium. She is on her feet a bit during the day, but she wears good shoes. And it's been going on for quite a while (on the order of years). She exercises regularly by doing yoga. She's in otherwise good health and good shape.

The cramp is usually flexion (the "up" position) if it helps.

Any ideas? Could this be stress? Some weird medical issue?

posted by zpousman to health & fitness (13 comments total)

I used to get horribly painful foot cramps all the time, but they stopped when I increased the level of calcium in my diet. People are sharing a lot of good answers here, including one recommendation to "supplement your diet with calcium, magnesium, potassium, or zinc, or eat foods rich in those nutrients" because "tight muscles cannot release
without these substances in your body."

Hope this helps.
posted by ducksauce at 7:58 PM on January 19, 2006

Definitely agree with ducksauce. Perhaps starting her on a strong multi-vitamin (Centrum, One-A-Day, etc.) would be a great way to supplement any possible deficiencies.

There is a lot of potassium in bananas, but there's not as much as you think. It's also possible that her body may not be properly absorbing said potassium, or some other mineral, in which case, eating a bunch of bananas may just barely offset it.

A simple blood test can show if she's anemic or has a potassium deficiency or any other low mineral amounts and that's your most likely answer. Consider having her ask her doctor and get some basic blood work done.
posted by disillusioned at 8:19 PM on January 19, 2006

Oy, I get this, too. For me, it happens when my calcium/potassium balance is off. I've read that magnesium can also play a part. She might try experimenting with her electolyte intake and see if she finds a food that sets her off or helps her out (milk is a guaranteed trigger for me; bananas are my remedy). Also, she should be careful to stay hydrated and stretched.

There are other causes for cramping as well. Here's a page by the Mayo Clinic for a bit more info; check out the other related headings.
posted by moira at 8:19 PM on January 19, 2006

This may sound dumb, but if I'm in bed on a really cold night, and I stick my foot out from under the blanket, my foot cramps up like a mother#$%er. Maybe she just needs slippers?
posted by michaelkuznet at 9:08 PM on January 19, 2006

Ouch- cramps are the worst. I get cramps under the arch if I wear shoes with tight laces that press on the top of my foot or certain places on my ankle. I've always assumed it was a blood flow/ nerve thing.

The best way I know to get rid of them fast is to bend over and pull your toes straight out away from your foot as hard as you can, then step flat on your foot and push down into the floor. It works pretty much instantly.
posted by fshgrl at 9:19 PM on January 19, 2006

I too, as with disillusioned second ducksauce.

My mother (low red-meat diet) used to have that kind of cramp, especially when it was colder/overcasted-er out.

Multi-mineral should help.

I had similar problems when I was active and too poor to afford to have lots of animal flesh in my diet. Gatorade (or other sports drinks) seemed to help, but only acutely.

The three main ions that nerves use are potassium, sodium, and chlorine. Calcium is also another very important ion that is important (not only for nerves and action-potential propagation; and not only for bones) and is often neglected, diet wise.

Many vegetarian diets don't necessarily include enough calcium (or the vitamin D that helps the human body efficiently absorb calcium and other cationic elements - the lack of sunlight during the winter months doesn't help, either).
posted by PurplePorpoise at 10:57 PM on January 19, 2006

incidentally, my dad told me that calcium cures the hiccups - calcium regulating the sodium/potassium pump thingy imbalance that can cause muscle spasms and cramps.

works like a charm for me, even when i'm drunk; a lump of cheese and the hiccups are gone within minutes.

when i've had a calf cramp wake me in the middle of the night i have found it to be true that flexing against it, pulling the foot up, will suppress the calf cramping. doesn't happen often for me though, i think my salts are well adjusted.
posted by Tixylix at 3:37 AM on January 20, 2006

Is this different than a charlie horse? When I get those I stand on the ground - preferably cold floor, preferably barefoot - and it goes away immediately. Only thing I've found that really works.
posted by Amizu at 5:10 AM on January 20, 2006

What is her shoe situation? Does she spend a lot of time on her feet during the day and does she have enough foot support?

I used to get terrible foot cramps when I had a job that required a lot of standing/walking - they eventually went away when I invested in a pair of Dansko shoes.
posted by peppermint22 at 7:40 AM on January 20, 2006

I have gotten cramping in both my feet and calves on and off for years. Very painful. (I'm also vegetarian.)

During my first pregnancy when they started recurring again, I tried eating bananas every day, but they didn't help. Then I read somewhere online to try dried fruit, specifically dried apricots. They worked beautifully. I just ate a few a day until the container was gone, but I didn't have any more cramping once I started eating them. The couple times they've started up since then, as soon as I start eating the apricots again, they're gone.

My grandmother gets the same cramps, and I forwarded this Snopes article (about putting soap in your sheets!) on to her some months ago. She tried it and reported that it works for her - she used to get those cramps quite often and now it's a pretty rare occurance. Sounds weird, but if it works...
posted by Melinika at 7:47 AM on January 20, 2006

I'd like to second the Gatorade suggestion; that was my doc's first suggestion to me when I started getting debilitating leg cramps.

Flexeril helps too but I don't know how much it would help in the short-term
posted by jtron at 10:34 AM on January 20, 2006

Try the vitamins as suggested above. In the meantime here's what I learned for stopping cramps in their tracks: If you can determine the direction of the muscle flex causing the cramp (sounds like you can) then contract the opposite muscle group.

I get cramps in my calves so if I put my opposite foot on top of the cramping leg's foot and press into it the cramp immediately stops. Maybe in your girlfriend's case pushing something firm away with her foot could cause the cramp to stop?
posted by tinamonster at 5:01 PM on January 21, 2006

My sister spotted this thread and asked me to pass along that your fiancee may be suffering from plantar fascitis. My sister recognized the symptoms as she too suffers from such cramps.
posted by WCityMike at 12:43 PM on January 23, 2006