I'm looking for recipe for a vinegar, garlic, and ginger concoction for leg cramps, any ideas? Thanks for any help.
By janet from AR
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I don't have a recipe for that, but I have read in several places that regular yellow mustard helps with leg cramps a lot, so I guess I'd try that on a sandwich.
Leg cramps can also be caused by lack of potassium; do you get enough tomatoes, bananas, baked potatoes, grapefruit, I think grapes and raisins also high in K.
I keep magnesium around and take it now and then for leg cramps; just one.
Do you get enough water?
You could make a great salad dressing or veggie marinade with 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 cloves really squashed garlic, a slice or two of ginger slices, really chopped and mashed, add it to a bit of oil or mayo.
I've had leg cramps since I was a kid ( half a century ago) and find them worse in the summer. A doctor once told me that not keeping hydrated enough can cause a potassium imbalance.
What works for me if I'm getting a run on those charley horses is to increase my water intake; eating a banana and drinking a little OJ also helps.
I had leg cramps so bad I became sleep deprived which ended up being almost as bad as the leg cramps. I said almost, but not quite.
After taking some of everything including calcium, potassium, magnesium, more vitamins and minerals, placing a bar of soap under the sheet at the foot of the bed, I went to the internet to find out what really worked. I found so many entries about the use of Tonic Water with Quinine, and how many people it helped. I asked my doctor who had never heard of it, but honestly, I was willing to try anything if I could only stop those "charley horses" that would hold me in their grips so often through every night that I was about ready to jump off the bridge. I would have eaten a toad frog, head and all.
I'd wake my husband up just to help me rub out those painful knots of bound-up muscles. My feet would draw first one way, then the other. I couldn't lie down, better to just keep walking.
Hubby in desperation brought me a 2 liter bottle of Canada Dry's Tonic Water with Quinine. I drank about 8 ounces that first night. No leg or feet cramps.
The following day, I drank about 8 ounces and that night, no leg or foot cramps.
Now, I keep Tonic Water with Quinine all the time right beside my bed. I no longer take it at all unless I start to feel that drawing which signals a leg-cramp attack. How simple.
That was about 6 years ago, and as far as I know, that wonderful doctor is still prescribing the same old vitamins and minerals, but he laughs at me every time I repeat what fixed them for me. I don't know if he believes me or thinks I'm just trying to confuse him. He is wonderful, but I guess Tonic Water with Quinine is just too simple for his educated brain to accept.
Luckily, I'm not the only person who has been helped with that simple remedy, and I'm not sure that it works for everyone. But if you have leg and/or foot cramps the way I did, it's sure a cheap way to find out if it'll help you. I think we are paying
79 cents for 2 liters when it's on sale at Winn Dixie these days.
I hope it helps you. Only a person who has been there can understand how miserable it is to lie awake in the dark almost afraid to go to sleep because you might move the wrong way and cause leg or foot cramps to start.
I've heard a few arguments against using Tonic Water with Quinine, but so far, I've had absolutely no ill effects from it at all. Not even my good doctor can find a reason not to use it since it works. He does just shake his head when I kid him about it though.
Saying a prayer for something that will help you,
Julia in Boca Raton, FL
Ask your doctor if he ever heard of Quinine Sulfate for leg cramps - it was over the counter till the government in its wisdom banned it since some people wrongly assumed it was still effective against malaria. I used to take 1 pill which worked inside of 10 minutes. Since I can't buy it at the drugstore any more, the tonic water is the best substitute! Also, Mineral Ice will eventually stop the cramps.
Since I know your pain, I hope you will not Laugh and be willing to try this remedy that is strange, BUT WORKS for me, DH and daughter. It is from Dr. Gotts newspaper column. Place an unwrapped bar of soap under the bottom sheet near your legs. I use Ivory and cut the bar in thirds. One for each leg and one for my bad shoulder. No one has figured out why this works for many people, I'm just grateful it works for us. Hope you will at least try it. Any kind of soap seems to work, I just buy the 3 bars for 99 cents at the 99 cent store. Also I read where some people use liquid soap for fast relief for leg cramps. I just change the bar soap about every three months. Good Luck, GG Vi
I also used to have severe leg cramps and muscle spasms. Nothing worked until I put a bar of soap (Dial) between my mattress and bottom sheet. I change it every couple of months. I've been told that it's just a placebo effect. Well, if it is I don't care...it works. But it's just like everything else; what works for some may not work for others. Worth a try.
Margaret from Denton, Texas
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