6 replies to this topic

[mysteria2000]

I was wondering if anyone knows if these cramps i get at night are related to celiac and why i get them. I find i only get them at night when i know that i have been contaminated by flour. It happens in my calves or heel of my foot usually. Does this happen to anyone else?

[luvs2eat]

YES!! I don't know that it has to do with a glutening (for me) because I'm so seldom glutened, but occasionally I'll get a cramp near my toes on the TOP of my foot! It baffles me because there seems to be so little muscle there! I get cramps in my calves too, but way less often.

[mushroom]

I get cramps in the my calves if I stretch in bed when my magnesium levels are low. I take 800mg magnesium every day.

[jeanne-]

So glad to read your post. I recently went to a restaurant and ordered what I thought was a safe meal, soup and salad bar. I too had leg cramps and foot cramps that night (as well as digestive issues)! Couldn't think of why it happened, I rarely get leg cramps. Thank you for answering that question for me.

[sunshinehs]

This was actually one of the symptoms that lead me to celiac disease. I would wake up with such terrible cramps in my calves and thighs that I would have to wrestle with my leg to straighten it out, and it would be sore for days afterward.

Researching the cramps brought up possible digestion and absorption problems, which made me want to get answers for why I had had terrible stomach and bowel issues since giving birth (I had been told it was adhesions (scar tissue) from the cesarean, but that wouldn't explain the absorption problems that caused the cramps).

Still, it wasn't until I had a DNA test (random unrelated thing offered through my work) that I came up as 80% more likely than the average person to have celiac disease. At first, I ignored it because I had no idea what it was. A year after the test, I had some time on my hands and was going through it, and that's when the light bulb went off.

Anyway, several months after going gluten-free the cramps went away, and they only return when I'm weak or careless about what I eat (which is happening less and less).

[Emma-Lee]

I was just diagnosed 3 days ago. This night cramping that you are speaking of is extremely familiar. I never understood why this was happening to me. I get it periodically during the day as well, but 90% of the time it happens when I sleep.

My husband says I often wake up screaming in pain and all while complaining of cramps in my legs. When they are really bad my calves are sore the next day. It comes on so suddenly at night. I wonder if this is because we are so still. From what I have read this is a possible symptom of celiac. It definitely makes sense to me and my resent diagnosis.

Before I was diagnosed I used to ask my Doctor about my leg cramping. She suggested drinking enough water throughout the day, and light stretching before bed-time. This has actually really helped my cramps. I am sure in the next year with my new gluten free diet I will feel so much better. Wish you luck and hope this has helped

[bunche73]

I to suffer from really painful calf / leg cramps and have to wake my husband to push my foot forward and rub my leg where it is hardening, its so painful. It is one of the sign that I have unknowingly eaten gluten. The Dr said drink Indian tonic water and that certainly helps keep away the slight pain that I used to have the next day after the bad cramp. It contains Quinine which you can also get in tablet form.