Need Advise!! Today Was The Worse Leg Cramps I Have Ever Had on HRT

[Traci Elizabeth]

I have been on HRT for two years now and have had on & off again minor bouts with leg cramps.

But TODAY both of my legs were having Spasms at the same time for several hours and the pain was so severe I could barely stand it.

Have any of you had such bad attacks?

Which of my HRT med are causing them (I am on mega doses of Spiro, Estrogen, & normal Finasteride)?

My wife says it is happening because I am not consuming enough water every day - could that be the cause?

[BreenaDion]

Take magnesium pills, works for craps. I have to because of the extreme exercise I do. Not suppose to take potasium becuase estrogen helps store it . Also take a woman multi vitamin good for your age group.

If you suffer right now eat some food high in potasium and hopefull have some magnesium, google mag for food.
Potastium, skin a potatoe and eat in raw, I do all the time, orange juice, even radises, oranges ,what ever you have to eat now that has potasium untile you go to the drug store.
Ims me if you need more help
Breena.

[RADER]

What Breena said is rite; Bananas are good Potassium also.
At night I wear large wool sox's to keep my feet warm, That does help to keep
the night time cramps down a little. Also their is a product for leg cramps on the market.
Not sure of the name right now, but check out Walgreen's in the pain reliever isle. They do work
for me when I get an attack; Mostly at night when I am asleep. Ouch!!!
Rader

[Brittany North]

Lack of potassium could cause cramping, but isn't spiro a potassium sparing diuretic? Ie: it might be a very bad idea to supplement with extra K.

[sandra-leigh]

Do not take extra potassium when you are on spiro!!! I know that generally speaking potassium is good for leg cramps, but spiro works by displacing sodium and replacing it with potassium, so you need to be on a low potassium diet when you are on spiro :(

I checked specifically with my doctor, who confirmed that one should even avoid those multivitamin pills if they happen to contain potassium.

I never was a big banana eater, but I haven't had a banana since I started spiro, and I miss them, sigh.

[RADER]

Lack of potassium could cause cramping, but isn't spiro a potassium sparing diuretic? Ie: it might be a very bad idea to supplement with extra K.

I might add that you should drink plenty of WATER, The potassium and other things you are taking drains
the fluid out of you and can lead to cramps. Check with your Doctor.
Rader

[kellycan27]

Try tonic water.. works for me and pretty quickly. Drink lots of water.

[dilane]

Cramping is almost always dehydration.

Dehydration can be caused by taking drugs that cause you to excrete salt. Spiro decreases the salt in your system.

Therefore, I advise taking sufficient salt so that your body holds enough water to prevent the cramps.

My experience in extreme sports has shown me that simply drinking 20 oz of salty water will cure cramps within 2-3 minutes.
the salt is important; it will let your body absorb the water almost immediately. This will restore the water/salt balance you need to keep your muscles working normally.

Having too much salt can cause you to retain too much water, but being too low on salt can kill you.

-- Diane

[CharleneT]

Definitely DO NOT EAT potassium rich foods !!!! NOT while on Spiro :doh: .... IF you have been on high doses of Spiro for 2 years, it is likely that there is no reason to continue that. Your T production is kaput and going to stay that way. Any help with breast growth is likely to have occurred too. I'd suggest talking to your doc about whether high doses are really needed now ?

[Kaitlyn Michele]

i hope you feel better...

Water... and check with your doctor about the spiro...

[gretchen2]

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Aprilrain]

Like Gretchen I take Cypro and have never taken Spiro but i did have regular but minor leg cramping a couple to maybe 4 months into HRT not sure what that was about. From everything I have read Potassium and Spiro are a NO NO. Have you tried Stretching? when I would get Leg cramps (going through puberty as well many millennia ago) I found that if I stretched out the muscle that was cramping (almost always my calf) it would instantly relieve the pain and make the cramping stop.

[Sarah Welch]

Do not take Potassium with Spiro, if your levels get high enough it can be life threatening, this is one of the many reasons people should NOT self medicate......talk to a doctor and drink lots of water.

[Traci Elizabeth]

I have been warmed by my doctor to NOT have Potassium in my diet and if I do, it needs to be in very low quantities.

After reviewing my activities and fluid consumption, I really do think I had reduced my water consumption way too much over the last several days and yesterday during the mid-day I walked up and down a hill that was two acres long 8 times in a short period of time. And the combination did me in.

My wife kept pushing me to drink glass after glass of water last night. So far today, no cramps thank goodness as every muscle in both my legs, feet, and arms were tightening up so hard I though I was going to die with the pain.

I took pain pills and muscle relaxers to help but from the time I took them until they killed in was hell.

[CharleneT]

Glad to hear you are better !! I have to admit, cramps from Spironolactone are not only the worst, but quite distinctive !! I am not at all sorry to leave them behind ;)

[SusanLCD]

Bike racers and marathoners often have leg cramps during a race. One racer I know used to get leg cramps at around 3/4 of the way through a race. Eating the contents of a yellow mustard packet would aleviate the cramping within a minute or two and he would continue and finish the race.

I just looked at the mustard jar in my refrigerator to see if it lists potassium on the %DA requirements label or the ingredients. Nope, not there. So, maybe this will help you for those emergencies when you need to relieve the pain/cramps immediately.

Longer term, of course, see your physician.

[Traci Elizabeth]

Glad to hear you are better !! I have to admit, cramps from Spironolactone are not only the worst, but quite distinctive !! I am not at all sorry to leave them behind ;)

You LUCKY Gal! It must be nice for sure.

[sandra-leigh]

Among the higher potassium containing foods (http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/food/potassium-foods.htm) are spinach, soya, lentils, and most beans. All of which are important components of a vegetarian diet. :sad:

Really high: beet greens, white beans, potatoes. Oh, and blackstrap molasses is amazingly high by volume, and would be a very very serious danger if the average "serving" wasn't so small.

[Genifer Teal]

Cramping is almost always dehydration.

Dehydration can be caused by taking drugs that cause you to excrete salt. Spiro decreases the salt in your system.

Therefore, I advise taking sufficient salt so that your body holds enough water to prevent the cramps.


Having too much salt can cause you to retain too much water, but being too low on salt can kill you.

-- Diane

It is my understanding that our bodies remove excess salt by peeing it out. This is why too much salt dehydrates you. Not sure if taking more salt will help. I agree with drinking more water (and maybe less caffeine) to counteract any dehydration you may already be experiencing.

[Sarah Welch]

It just really bugs me how people can so nonchalantly dispense expert medical advise to others that could have profound adverse affects to ones health. Most people spend 6+ years of their lives getting a degree to earn the right to do this..... Just sayin.
We would look awfully stupid laying on a table in the emergecy room explaining to the attending that a person I dont hardly know from the internet said it was ok to do this.

[Sarah V]

All: Very interesting comments and thanks! I am not on any HRT meds nor any anti-testosterone meds. I too have had off-and on leg cramps for the past few years, but recently Ihave been suffering with a uptick in bouts with them just like some of you have described. I am thinking it is the dehydration factor also, as it has been so ungodly hot here in south TX this summer and the sweat just poors off me whenever I am outside. Also, my MD this past May changed my hypertension med to one that now contains some diuretic properties with it, and it must be working......as I go to the b.r. much more often and my B.P. is great every time it gets checked. I am going to look more into the salt balance part of my diet, sounds like I might be getting rid if too much salts now.

[EnglishRose]

Strangely enough, I was googling spiro and water consumption and came across a thread of yours, Traci, from a year ago.


Drink, drink! :) I've also increased my water intake to try and stave off the cramps o' doom. Nice to have a wife that bugs us to do it, too!

[Traci Elizabeth]

Nice to have a wife that bugs us to do it, too!

You got that straight!!!!