Nighttime Leg Cramps

[fran641]

Before diagnosis I had terrible leg or foot cramps all the time. Since being gluten-free for going on my 3rd week I've been free of the cramps. I just chalked it up to one more symptom of celiacs. But last night I was up most of the night with those bad cramps coming and going all night. Does anyone else have this problem and it not related to celiacs at all?

[cat3883]

You are still very new to the healing process. It took me about 8 weeks for my symptoms to go away totally. They would come and go. I do not have leg cramps but Celiac affects people in different ways. Give yourself a few more weeks and you will see a difference.

[flourgirl]

As far as I know muscle cramps could be a sign of not enough B vitamins. I used to have a really bad problem with this. My husband did, too. He is not Celiac (I am), and his problem went away when I started giving him more B supplements. I've been gluten free about 13 months now. I think that because I'm finally healing enough to be absorbing the nutrients I need has been what is giving me relief from some of these things. Give yourself time.....everybody is different as far as time needed to heal. Good luck and stick with it

[fran641]

Thanks for all your answers, I appreciate the encouragement. I know it's only been 2 1/2 weeks so I'm still confused but the picture is getting clearer. I will try the vitamin B and see if that helps my cramping.

[caek-is-a-lie]

I used to get bad foot cramps my entire life. My toes would cross each other it was so bad. Sometimes it went all the way up my calves and hurt the tendon in the back of my knee joint. I'd have to wake up in the middle of the night and stand on the cramps to make them go away.

Taking calcium supplements helped a lot. Since going gluten-free, I haven't had a single one, so I guess maybe I was not absorbing food properly. I'm only 5 weeks gluten free, but so far so good.

(the bloating in my fingers has also gone down. I put on a ring today that I haven't worn since 2002! woo hoo!)

[schmenge]

Thanks for all your answers, I appreciate the encouragement. I know it's only been 2 1/2 weeks so I'm still confused but the picture is getting clearer. I will try the vitamin B and see if that helps my cramping.

I used to get very painful leg cramps (calf), usually just after falling asleep. I tried EVERYTHING to get rid of them. It was never real frequent, maybe once or twice per month, but enough that I could not go to bed without thinking "Will this be the night?" Since being gluten-free I have been (knock wood!) cramp free! I would have gone gluten-free just for that.

[nasalady]

Before diagnosis I had terrible leg or foot cramps all the time. Since being gluten-free for going on my 3rd week I've been free of the cramps. I just chalked it up to one more symptom of celiacs. But last night I was up most of the night with those bad cramps coming and going all night. Does anyone else have this problem and it not related to celiacs at all?

I was having horrible leg and foot cramps; sometimes they would occur when I was walking and I thought that I might fall! I thought they were due to my fibromyalgia, but I have 6 diagnosed autoimmune diseases as well, including celiac disease. I think that the symptoms from a lot of these ailments tend to overlap, so I'm not certain which of my illnesses really causes the cramping.

But I was told that prednisone can leach potassium from your body, and that cramps can be caused by a lack of potassium. I started eating foods rich in potassium, such as dried apricots, and that did seem to help a lot. I've been gluten free for one month now and that seems to have helped too. I haven't been having leg/foot cramps for at least 3 weeks!

Good luck!

JoAnn

[fran641]

Since joining this forum it has amazed me how many different things can go wrong with our bodies from this disease. I never dreamed that so many things were attributed to celiacs. And I do feel so blessed that it only takes a dietary change to control all these things. At 60 years old it's like getting a new lease on life. I know as I get more accurate with my gluten free lifestyle my health will return to normal, whatever the heck that is! I haven't felt normal since I was a kid.

[AliB]

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and cramps are symptoms of digestive distress and inflammation in the colon.

The sciatic nerve runs down the back of the pelvis , through the buttocks and down each leg to the foot. Nerve pains very often occur not necessarily at the site of the inflammation but at the nerve endings.

I twigged it was my digestion some weeks before my digestion finally collapsed in January after suffering with RLS and cramps for years. My whole stomach and colon was very sore and the pains and discomfort in my feet equated, when I checked the Reflexology chart, with the colon.

When I had had the RLS before I would thrash around in bed for hours - my legs often having a life of their own. I then realised that what I needed to be doing was moving my pelvis and back, not my legs!

When I went gluten-free and dairy-free at the end of Jan within a week the RLS had gone. Now I only get it if I have eaten something that my digestion cannot cope with.

I laugh when I see sites like the RLS Society posting the hope of new drugs etc. I did email them about diet and digestion, but they never acknowledged it. Are they interested in helping people recover from it I ask myself???

All it takes is a change of diet, but that is way too simple and would wipe out their reason for existence overnight!!! People would rather pop a 'magic' pill than change their diet. How sad is that? The even sadder thing is that there is no 'magic' pill. Every pill comes with its own set of problems, some of which can be worse than having RLS!

[Amyleigh0007]

I agree with AliB. People would much rather pop a pill then change their lifestyle. Give up beer and bagels?! That would be way too hard!! I had RLS, especially bad when I was pregnant. My son had terrible leg cramps at night. He would cry and couldn't sleep. Going gluten free made them go away for both of us. When I eat gluten by accident my legs start to ache, it's one of the first indications that I've been glutenated.

[fran641]

Good golly miss molly..I had not even noticed my RLS has not acted up the last couple weeks. Like the headache that went away when you weren't aware of it. Thanks AliB for the explanation of the nerves, make sense now. And yes a doc would hand out pills for all of my symptoms.

Sweet relief on gluten-free.

[celiacsoyfree]

It is a potassium deficiency that is causing the leg cramps and can also cause nosebleeds. I eat bananas, gluten free multivitamin, and EmercgenC to replace the potassium. Sometimes I'll have 2-3 bananas a day. I have been gluten free for 2 months and now my leg cramps are better, not completely gone, but better.

[Jestgar]

My muscle cramps are related to dehydration/electrolyte imbalance. The got much better after I went gluten-free, but still come back if I eat something that disrupts my digestive systm

[AliB]

Muscle twitches and cramps can also be a sign of low magnesium. I used to pop 3 or 4 of the Homeopathic Mag. Phos when I had that and it would abate, but a magnesium supplement would probably work just as well.

Since I have been on the SCD and my body has started re-absorbing from the good food I am now eating I rarely, if ever have any more problems with either RLS or cramps.

[MarySt]

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and cramps are symptoms of digestive distress and inflammation in the colon.

The sciatic nerve runs down the back of the pelvis , through the buttocks and down each leg to the foot. Nerve pains very often occur not necessarily at the site of the inflammation but at the nerve endings.

I twigged it was my digestion some weeks before my digestion finally collapsed in January after suffering with RLS and cramps for years. My whole stomach and colon was very sore and the pains and discomfort in my feet equated, when I checked the Reflexology chart, with the colon.

When I had had the RLS before I would thrash around in bed for hours - my legs often having a life of their own. I then realised that what I needed to be doing was moving my pelvis and back, not my legs!

When I went gluten-free and dairy-free at the end of Jan within a week the RLS had gone. Now I only get it if I have eaten something that my digestion cannot cope with.

I laugh when I see sites like the RLS Society posting the hope of new drugs etc. I did email them about diet and digestion, but they never acknowledged it. Are they interested in helping people recover from it I ask myself???

All it takes is a change of diet, but that is way too simple and would wipe out their reason for existence overnight!!! People would rather pop a 'magic' pill than change their diet. How sad is that? The even sadder thing is that there is no 'magic' pill. Every pill comes with its own set of problems, some of which can be worse than having RLS!