Armchair MD's I need help with cramping in the hand!

MGM

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Aloha..I went to Nico's yesterday to play our normal gig during lunch and my fingers, hands and front forearm kept locking up in major cramps. Never so bad that I had to stop completely playing......good thing Kekani was there to fill in the rest of the gig...Heres my question...I get my blood levels checked almost weekly and take potassium and magnesium as well as drinking lots of H2O but the cramping these past two weeks (which also affects my legs at night) is becoming so severe I am forced to bedrest as I cannot seem to be rid of the cramps...I heard of lots of home remedies but am open to try anything...acupuncture....medicinal herbs etc to get rid of thess cramps or I may have to give up playing for awhile...
 
Aloha..I went to Nico's yesterday to play our normal gig during lunch and my fingers, hands and front forearm kept locking up in major cramps. Never so bad that I had to stop completely playing......good thing Kekani was there to fill in the rest of the gig...Heres my question...I get my blood levels checked almost weekly and take potassium and magnesium as well as drinking lots of H2O but the cramping these past two weeks (which also affects my legs at night) is becoming so severe I am forced to bedrest as I cannot seem to be rid of the cramps...I heard of lots of home remedies but am open to try anything...acupuncture....medicinal herbs etc to get rid of thess cramps or I may have to give up playing for awhile...

It a dangerous road to go down asking people for advice about medical conditions. While most people would like to help you, sometimes the advice is questionable or not right for you. I would say, if you are on any medications, especially the Statins like Lipitor, check the side affects list before you do anything else. If you don't have the list for your drugs, you can get that information on line from a reputable MD source, then, consult your doctor. Good luck Mike.
 
Yes you are going to have to look this up yet, Magnesium and Potassium should be doing the trick. You may need more. I find that too much Calcium causes me to cramp. If you are on statins then you really should also be taking co-enzyme Q10. Long term statin use is known to be harmful to your muscles. Check the quality of the Magnesium supplements you are taking.

Increasing your levels of magnesium is VERY difficult. The more you need it the less your body absorbs and blood tests don't tell you anything. The magnesium should be in your muscles and bones and your body buffers the blood levels to keep them more or less constant no matter how deficient your are. You have to be VERY deficient before it shows up in your blood levels.

Try taking an epsom salt (magnesium sulphate) bath. Next up start nebulizing magnesium sulphate if you have a nebulizer. The gold standard in treating magnesium deficiency is injections. I use them all.

Anthony
 
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It a dangerous road to go down asking people for advice about medical conditions. While most people would like to help you, sometimes the advice is questionable or not right for you. I would say, if you are on any medications, especially the Statins like Lipitor, check the side affects list before you do anything else. If you don't have the list for your drugs, you can get that information on line from a reputable MD source, then, consult your doctor. Good luck Mike.

That is good advice. See an MD, PA or Nurse Practitioner.
 
A guy who is getting his blood levels checked almost weekly MUST be seeing doctors regularly. He's probably asked lots of questions yet still he's having serious cramps.

Strong possibility a doctor has put him on statins without putting him on COQ10 as well.

Anthony
 
Bula MGM,

I think you have some good advice above. A friend and I have been sharing tips for mututally overcoming muscle cramps (night leg cramps mostly). I found magnesium citrate was a helpful form of supplement to take. There are also topical oil forms besides the Epsom salts (soaking). Definitely be wary if you are on statins.

I haven't tried this yet, but my friend insists that sipping vinegar when the cramps happen can help alleviate them in about a minute. ???? Dunno if it will help but it probably won't do any harm.

To your improved health!

Christie
 
Hey Mike, with your known medical condition you really need to talk to your doctors about this. (I know, I'm in the same boat for a different medical condition.) It could even be that your meds that are contributing to the cramps, but that doesn't mean you stop taking them without consulting a Dr because the alternatives can be worse.

In my case my body is basically falling apart - I've got the muscle tone of an 80-year old man and it's mostly due to the muscle damage from the meds I'm on - but the cardiologist says I'd be dead by now if I wasn't taking them so...whataya gonna do? :)

Anyway, talk to your doc for sure!

John
 
If you're on meds, then talk to your doctor before changing anything - adding, subtracting, or modifying anything.

I've been on statins for more than 10 years, and I've never heard of this COQ10 stuff.

Increasing calcium, or potassium (and, conversely decreasing them!) without careful monitoring can cause cardiac arrhythmias, including ventricular tachycardia or asystole. You don't want to experience either of them.

I used to have major calf cramps 3-4 times a night. I asked my physician about acupuncture, and he said to try it -" it may not work, but it can't cause any harm." (my italics)

I go to acupuncture every 3-4 weeks now - I have perhaps 2-3 calf cramps a month now. Remember that your mileage may vary, and ALWAYS consult with a physician before changing meds, exercise regimen, or diet.


-Kurt​

(Retired Paramedic)
 
I've been on statins for more than 10 years, and I've never heard of this COQ10 stuff.



-Kurt​

(Retired Paramedic)

That's half the problem. There are known issues with long term use of statins that no one is denying, yet, the mainstream healthcare system doesn't do anything to address them. The alternative view is that COQ10 does a lot to address the harmful effects of statins but as usual the mainstream ignores everything so they aren't seen to be admitting to any fault with statins.

There seems to be some evidence that those taking statins can suffer from memory loss and cognitive disfunction. Cholesterol is important for brain function. Some are arguing that these reports are making a mountain out of a molehill because the effects are reversible if you stop taking the statins, yet, they go ahead and argue that you shouldn't stop taking the statins!

Do you want to lose your memory at the end of your life? If the doctor tells you that you will live a few extra years longer with statins (which I'm not agreeing with by the way) would a longer life with dementia be better than a shorter life without dementia?

Anthony
 
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Another good resource people overlook is their Pharmacist. Often, they can educate you on how your meds may cause some of your symptoms and guide you towards what to ask your doctor. They can sometimes give you more info on your meds/side effects than your Doctor may be telling you. Also, I have used a small rubber ball, kind of looks like a kiwi fruit. It's silicone rubber, filled with silicone plastic beads. It's a new and improved version of a putty ball. It's very gentle, easy to squeeze, yet very effective. I have used it when my hand was sore, and it helped relieve the pain by gently working those muscles that stiffen up. Got mine at Walgreens a while back. Good luck.
 
Given the complexity of your situation, I agree with Kurt: see your doctor, Michael.
 
That's half the problem. There are known issues with long term use of statins that no one is denying, yet, the mainstream healthcare system doesn't do anything to address them. The alternative view is that COQ10 does a lot to address the harmful effects of statins but as usual the mainstream ignores everything so they aren't seen to be admitting to any fault with statins.

There seems to be some evidence that those taking statins can suffer from memory loss and cognitive disfunction. Cholesterol is important for brain function. Some are arguing that these reports are making a mountain out of a molehill because the effects are reversible if you stop taking the statins, yet, they go ahead and argue that you shouldn't stop taking the statins!

Do you want to lose your memory at the end of your life? If the doctor tells you that you will live a few extra years longer with statins (which I'm not agreeing with by the way) would a longer life with dementia be better than a shorter life without dementia?

Anthony

You can believe anything you want to when it comes to your body, but please don't try to convince anyone here that there is any fact in your statements. If you want to support that kind of belief, you have to provide absolute proof, which you don't, not just hearsay from the internet.

This kind of dialogue doesn't belong on this forum.
 
...There seems to be some evidence that those taking statins can suffer from memory loss and cognitive disfunction...
This much at least is finally certain - the medical community finally accepted a scientific study that proved it (this has been within the last 18 months). I had been telling my cardiologist for over ten years that the medications he had me on were affecting my short-term memory and my ability to focus. I'm a software engineer - and used to be a darned good one - I could conceive and design a large complicated software system with multiple interfaces in my mind without making note one and implement it in less time than most people would spend talking about it. (Not bragging...in other ways I'm a complete dolt...I guess it's a form of autism or something... LOL)

Anyway, after my first heart attack and the start of medications I noticed that I was basically just an above average developer; still worth my paycheck but suddenly finding that a lot of people could "keep up with me" whereas before I'd worked with precisely two engineers that I considered my equal out of dozens that I'd worked with over the years.

The cardiologist and my regular doc kept saying there was no evidence that the medications I was taking have any adverse mental effects. I knew they were full of carp because a few years ago I went off my meds for about three weeks (scheduling issues trying to get in for a checkup so they would renew my prescriptions) and by the third week I was performing nearly as well as in the "old days." In fact, in the evenings of that third week I wrote an application to analyze an audio waveform and produce a spectrum display as well as pull out the strong notes and determine what chords were being played. There were a couple of minor conditions that needed improvement but for the most part the engine worked better than any of the similar programs you see (!Transcribe and the like) although the interface was still rough. I went back on the meds and within a couple of days I couldn't focus well enough to really understand the code I'd written the week before.

I told my cardiologist about that and he sounded skeptical but did change a couple of my meds - it made some slight improvement but I'm still at nothing like normal. Then within the last year or so I saw where a major study had concluded that, guess what, both the statins and beta blockers, as classes of drugs, definitely cause short term memory loss and cognitive dysfunction. Exactly what I'd been telling them for over ten years - but they had to spend a few million in tax dollars and get university backing before anybody in the medical community would accept it.
 
You can believe anything you want to when it comes to your body, but please don't try to convince anyone here that there is any fact in your statements. If you want to support that kind of belief, you have to provide absolute proof, which you don't, not just hearsay from the internet.

This kind of dialogue doesn't belong on this forum.

I think Anthony was just arguing that there are alternatives outside of mainstream medicine which might be worth looking into. Medicine is far from an exact science, particularly in regard to pharmaceuticals, so I think even the most renowned pharmacologists would have trouble presenting "absolute proof". Mike asked for advice, and Anthony seems to be trying to provide it. Many people have said that Mike should consult his doctor, and so I think if Mike went to his doctor with the information all the people have provided, together they could try to work out a way forward. As someone else suggested, there are going to be things which are certainly not going to be harmful, but if there are risks, they're for the conversation between Mike and his doctor.

I might be missing something here, but the temperature seemed to rise kind of suddenly. Don't know. If I have missed something, I apologise.
 
I had some trouble with cramping and my Doc suggested Calcium. Take like 3-6 big fat pills (don't remember the dosage just the standard big stuff they sell). I thought he was FOS but it worked for me. It helped rather quickly. I'd drink tea or coffee and get cramped, especially in the heat.

I second this, calcium.
 
Your situation is not the norm, MGM. I wouldn't take calcium, magnesium, potassium, stop a cholesterol med or make any other changes until you have a fresh set of labs (two weeks ago is not fresh enough) and a thorough review from your primary care provider if it persists.
 
Based on the original post I have assumed from the start that MGM was consulting his GP regularly. I once also had complete faith in the system and my GP (general practitioner) yet you slowly grow weary of having everything you say completely ignored as they fall back heavily on the "rules". The rules having being written by a committee. None of which have even met you let alone diagnosed you yet they lay down the law on how you will be treated. Its a numbers game. As an individual your nothing.

New scientific evidence is routinely ignored by the system until the din is so loud it cant be ignored any more.

Anthony
 
My dad used to take quianine....that does not mean you should look into it....I'm no Doctor man...consult your Physician bruddah....
 
I'm a Veterinarian, so I guess I can't contribute.
 
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