Cramp, Jumpy Legs

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jlCramp, jumpy legs, restless leg syndrome

Description – there are a number of conditions which are all similar and have similar treatments, and in most cases the cause is unknown. Jumpy legs, cramps and restless legs suggest that the nerves and muscles are more sensitive or twitchy than normal, and the best treatment is to return them towards the normal situation.

What your doctor can do

Drugs are the usual answer – tranquilisers like valium, some more powerful anti parkinson type drugs, quinine, low potency opioids, gabapentin, carbergoline. These are powerful drugs with significant side effects and it is best to avoid them if at all possible.
Sometimes it can be due to iron deficiency, so iron replacement therapy if serum iron is low.

What you can do

See if there is an obvious cause – coffee, tea, alcohol can sometimes aggravate these conditions – if so it is logical to avoid them.
If it happens when the legs get warm at night, then keep the lower half of the body cool – in bed

Supplements

  • A good multi vitamin and mineral tablet to make sure that there is no nutritional deficiency that could be causing or worsening the symptoms.
  • Calcium and magnesium – these are essential for contraction/excitation and relaxation of nerves and muscles, so make sure there is plenty of these two minerals in the body by taking regular Mg and ca supplements 500-800mg of each daily. Magnesium is by far the most important treatment for cramp.
  • Fish oils may stabilise the muscles and nerves – 1 gram daily, but make sure it is a good product free of mercury.
  • CoEnzyme Q10 is essential for energy production and may help. take at least 100mg daily and see if that helps.
  • Other supplements which may help – ginkgo baloba, vitamin C (2 grams daily) and vitamin D (5,000iu daily).

The Nutritional supplements I use and recommend to my patients

For restless leg patients – USANA – Cellsentials *, Biomega, Active Calcium plus, Ginkgo, and coquinone –  

Other therapies

There are a number of other therapies which you might like to look at.  They have not been specifically included with this disease because some are a form of treatment which is applicable to most diseases and many focus on the mind, body, spirit, and the universe. These include - acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine, energy healing, homeopathy, naturopathy, prayer, visualisation and some people with this condition might like to look at these topics (I have described them more fully on another page on this website click here .) With my personal experience and reading, I do not think that I can comment of whether one or a number of these might help.    They fit well with most conventional and complementary treatments and I suspect some or even all of them can be extremely powerful - if performed by an experienced practitioner.    My only caveat is that if in the course of one of these therapies, you are given potions or herbs, do check with your health practitioner that they will not interfere with other treatments or drugs you are receiving.

Nutritional supplements

I believe in today's world that nutritional supplements are so necessary as to be an essential component of any form of both prevention and treatment. Not only is today's food lacking in nutrients because of the way it was grown and processed, but also most of us make the wrong choices in diet. It is virtually impossible to obtain optimal levels of most of the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients although many people try to do so, and even then fresh produce is not available all year round. *There are many quality supplements available on the market, including –Thorne, NFS, Douglas Labs, Xtend Life, True Star Health, USANA, and Metagenics. There are others, but do your due diligence before choosing one. USANA Health Sciences has added a new adjunct to its multivitamin and multi mineral called CellSentials. These are a patented blend of phyto-nutrients which they believe affects cell signaling and growth, and increases the production of preventative antioxidants within the cell. These should add to the value of the multi, so these are the multivitamin/mineral preparation I recommend.