Foot cramps HELP!!

I know this sounds rediculous, but my Mother swore by putting either a cork placemat, or some wine bottle corks at the bottom of her bed.  She used to suffer from terrible cramps, but after doing this she swore they reduced to almost nothing.

* bananas

* tonic water (with or without the gin)

*  a bar of soap under the sheet (sounds crazy like Ariom's cork, but people swear by the soap too)

* trace the 'ABCs' with your foot in the air

Increase your intake of magnesium.

I have the same thing from the Feraston (anti hormonal) I am taking. I eat a banana a day and take magnesium.

I am going to try the bar of soap!!! Anything to help.

I've been cursed with leg & feet cramps since I was a teenager. Became worse on Tamoxifen. I was leaping out of bed several times a night because standing & walking them out is the only thing that help. Recently I started taking Turmeric, hoping it would reduce some other aches & pains of mine. Well....it made my arthritic hand stop throbbing & my leg cramps have mysteriously disappearred. I can go a week or more without one. Just thowing this out there. Really not much of a supplement taker or believer.

http://www.herbalencounter.com/2011/12/01/are-you-magnesium-deficient-leg-cramps-foot-pain-or-muscle-%E2%80%98twitches%E2%80%99-are-usually-the-first-signs/

Magnesium supplement helped me. 

http://www.ehow.com/facts_6322463_magnesium-foot-cramps.html

I have to sleep in socks at night. That helps my leg cramps

Cyborg, sorry the bar of soap trick didn't work completely for you.  Sometimes it fails me too and I end up getting out of bed to walk it off.  But that only happens every once in a great while.  Pls let us know how the cork works.

Thick warm bed socks help me immediately.  I always wear them in the winter and sometimes in the summer if the air con is on and my feet are cold. I was told that the circulation to feet and toes is compromised hence the muscle cramps. I have terrible cramps in the ankles and toes and sometimes the calf as well. 

If it is really bad then quinnine tablets help within 10 minutes. I have suffered from cramps since pregnant with my first child.  The doc at the time told me to take Valium to relax the muscles.....of course I did not and found other ways not involving medication.

In the winter I use an electric blanket and what a joy to get into a warm bed, joints and muscles are soothed immediately.  I never suffer from cramps whilst using the electric blanket......and I still wear my bed socks.

Oh thanks Julianna I had not heard of that SE. Have not taken many over the years but for sure will not take anymore. I think they used to treat Malaria with quinine. 

Gma-What's in those leg cramp pills?

Another thing that's helped me in the past is wearing compression socks(the kind made for runners). I'd wear them around the house but take them off to sleep,

Don't know why, but I have found that eating a dill pickle (or taking a few swallows of the brine) almost immediately eases my foot cramps. I typically get them late at night and they wake me up...so off I go to the fridge! It doesn't take much and is usually immediate relief. Hope you get relief soon as foot cramps are awful!

Tried socks, magnesium and put a bar of soap in the bed and last night was the first night in months I did not have severe calf cramps.  One little bit on getting out of bed and that was it!  Relief!!!