JB Sawman, that is great news for you and is another interesting post! Because *I* have poor leg circulation. I often complain about it. My feet used to freeze when duck hunting as a young man, or snow skiing. I am into low-carb, as well. I have lost 19 lbs from my top weight. I've been getting more exercise for months, but this lumberjacking is on another level of intensity. I have looked into beet powder before, I will do so again!
Since i haven't been in your shoes yet, i can throw in my experience from cycling. Paleo "diet" cuts out a lotta crap harmful to our bodies. Once i got to drinking water, say a few mouthfulls a few times hourly, I wanted more as time went on. On a quiet day I can drink a quart easily. I made my own electrolyte drink: Juice from one lemon 1/4t. Sea salt Honey to taste. (100+% electrolyte no nasty addatives....dyes, sugars, ets) If the stomach has pain or ulcers, the acid from the lemon might aggravate those. Yawner, may healing be yours. Sca
Dealt with them for years - especially during my weightlifting and athletic days. Tried being super hydrated (just got up more to pee during the night), tried milk (electrolytes), eat a daily banana. Nothing works. Never tried pickle juice. There is a topical that can be used - called Theraworx. I believe it is just epsom salts. The foam worked better than the spray. There was a drug called Legatrim that worked great (it might have been the quinine Backwoods was talking about) but is no longer available.
That may be your answer. Alcohol and caffeine are both diuretics. And can leave you dehydrated. So can BP and sugar meds. potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium (electrolytes) will help. Especially magnesium. Stretching and massaging the muscles before you start could help.
A lot of good advice here. One thing that often gets overlooked as a contributing factor is statins for high cholesterol. Muscle and joint aches can be a side effect. For me, the aches built over the course of about a year so it was hard to connect the dots that it was caused by my statin. I had to change which statin I took and lower the dosage to get any relief.
I can't imagine drinking pickle juice. Good info in here anyway. Not really looking forward to the "golden"' years but I do turn 50 next year. I don't get bad cramping unless I'm severely dehydrated. So far its mainly just muscle soreness. Hope you can find relief Yawner.
I forgot to add, that I added light yoga type stretching a week before the spring cutting rush. There are loads of videos on YT, i just sketched out the various poses, & followed the video till I had the knack. Then i did a relaxed 30 minutes of stretching 2x or 3x/week. Worked out well....I could focus on a troublesome muscle group if needed. Im as inflexible as a 2x12, but this took the edge off. Sca
Dill pickle juice really works trust me, i've had cramps in my legs so bad it would almost make you cry. Got to the refrigerator, grabbed the dill juice, took a couple of sips you can honestly, feel the cramps subsiding!! It works!! And, yes i drink a lot of water when cutting wood, doing things that make/cause cramps, but dill pickle juice is the real deal. I'm 74, and have been doing this for cramps for years. I've seen small bottles of you guessed it, dill pickle juice for, wait for it, CRAMPS!
This, below! TurboDiesel “potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium (electrolytes) will help. Especially magnesium. Stretching and massaging the muscles before you start could help.” I would also say - skip the low sugar sports drinks. Drink the ones with sugar. You will burn it off. Drink twice to three times the hydrating liquids that you think you need. Most Americans live in a constantly dehydrated state. Part of the problem with any strenuous activity, is we all tend to go 0-60 way too fast. Firewood processing is hard work. That’s part of why I workout every morning. It keeps my body in fighting shape. And like Sirchopsalot says. Just stretching and simple yoga will help. Anyone can do it. My wife teaches yoga, and she has more balance, endurance and core strength than anyone I know (pound for pound). As for the pre-existing stuff like restless legs, sleep apnea and alcohol use. All of that stuff can definitely affect you negatively. Everything in your body is connected, after all. I can’t give you a hard time though. I am a bit of a beer snob myself. Good luck, buddy! Keep at it!
I know that alcohol is a diuretic, that is why I mentioned it. And caffeine, I am off all caffeine except when I drink alcohol, lol, cuz it's rum and coke! Whomever said statin... yep... I cannot take them... hurt so bad all over. Tried several. Told the doc no more, I am not taking them. So, it's not that because I am off them. BTW and FWIW... the entire cholesterol connection to heart disease... I can make a very solid case that it's all bogus. In fact, many docs and researchers already have. Several good books on that. Docs prescribe statins like they gonna save you but it's all b.s. Don't get me started, lol! Somebody also said b.p. meds... yep... the doc added a diuretic to my b.p. med a few years back because I became allergic to the med I was on. So, I am likely chronically dehydrated! Oh well, just had a great morning running my 362 and 346 in the woods on more big trees. I huffed and puffed and got with it but it was only half a day, so, I should be good. Plus, I drank water three times during. Then went to the store and bought two jars of pickles and downed some juice, lol! I agree that the stretching would do wonders and I have meant to get into that but haven't. Much good info in this thread. Magnesium... forgot that one... I have some in my cupboard! Sheesh, what else! Oh yeah, potassium, I have that, too! I'll end with whomever said make you wanna cry... yep... it is that bad. It is just horrendous, my dog thinks I am about to die because I stumble and stagger around and moan, lol. My gf doesn't even roll over. Wait till she gets one. (She sometimes does.) I will pretend I am asleep!
I get bad leg cramps. Tried all sorts of remedies, but the thing that works best for me is magnesium pills.
When I get to choppin and splittin I sweat so much it looks like I wet myself.I finish shower up eat and go to bed.Around three in the morning I get leg cramps so bad that it causes me to sweat.Old timer said take some salt.The next time I cramped I had salt by my bed.Sprinkled some on the back of my hand and licked it.I did three or four times and the cramping stopped.Wash it down with some water.Now I take the salt after I eat before I go to bed.Being shocked awake at three in the morning got old fast.
I have been a life long cramper. Didn't want to pay for sports drinks and drink all the chemical stuff in them. 3 years or so I read and started using Himalayan Pink Salt, just a few crystals in my water a couple times a day. It is an unrefined salt which is why it is pink because of the trace minerals in it, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, copper, calcium, ect. These trace elements all are needed by the body. Since using this I have not had a cramp in 3+ years. It is cheap and I got a salt mill and think it tastes better on food now than white table salt.
. Good deal. Taking care of yourself paid off. I stopped eating sugar & white flour a couple years ago. My weight went down 25 lb without even trying. I know too many people with type2 diabetes. My FIL reversed his a few years back. Just changed what he ate.
All of the above advise is solid. Your muscles need all that stuff to work properly. One thing that will make the cramp instantly fall out is a spoon of mustard or even a pack like you get from the fast food place. It will not keep the cramp from happening but it will make it relax quickly. Gotten me out of pain quickly several times.
