Shoulder cramp ???

[cjacks]

Hi,

Right after being in the sun for an hour mid week , my leg muscles have been aching and feet cramping. I got a massage yesterday.It felt great but didnt help. Today I've had pains in both thighs and right now I'm having sharp pains in back and shoulder., , with a stiff neck .  Stiff left forearm , achy .

I know no one can tell me what I can take for it but..  ...  I have some flexeril ,  does it really work??   I  took an Aleve but its not working .

I feel like a whiner  ( I mean winner)   :))     Any suggestions           Has any one heard of magnesium for cramping .??  ( I don't have any , just wondering )

I also don't know the difference between cramps and spasms ....    yes I read Quix's thing that was bumped this afternoon, x2 .  I'm either really dense or brain fog   but I can't tell what I'm experiencing , why the pain.   Its about an 8 1/2.

Thanks       Jo        

[biowham]

Spasm here!

I'm going to try one of those mags you suggest. This is just distracting.

[Quixotic1]

On taking magnesium.  The common magnesium in 99% of the OTC supplements is

magnesium oxide

this is VERY cheap, but poorly bioavailable meaning you don't get much use from it.  I find that people don't get much relief from it.

I take and recommend one of the better (and alas, more expensive magnesium salts like

mag orotate (my personal favorite - I get it online - but try a health food store)
mag aspartate
mag taurate
mag glycinate
mag arginate

Caution, if you overdo the magnesium be prepared for muscle weakness until it wears off.  (a day or so)

When my back is spasming I take one at night, and if the spasm are really bad, for one or two days I take one twice a day.  They tend to all have about the same amount of magnesium.

Cramps and spasms are the same thing in the muscle, but I consider them to be from different causes.  This is NOT gospel.  

A cramp is more from conditions inside the muscle like fatigue, low potassium, cold, low magnesium, etc.

A spasm is caused by the nerve signal to the muscle delivering a non-stop signal to contract.

Quix

[biowham]

Sure. Tell me how the mag works.

Also, I forgot to mention: This most recent pain is about an 8 for me, and I've given birth at home with no meds at all (that would be my personal 10). And had my thyroid removed (night after surgery, about an 8). Neither immobilized me with pain the way this has, and the hospital had morphine for me for the post-thyroid surgery pain. :(

I almost never take pain medications that are prescribed me; I just don't need them.

So...I'm with you...OUCH.

E

[cjacks]

E and Rena ,

Sorry to have uttered the S. word . I'm in Florida , and sometimes its hard to avoid s. . I didn't do it intentionally,

I was getting tires replaced (  finally , I was having a good day ) . The guy says come back in an hour . So I went to the book store , Bought Montel Williams' book and went back . They hadn't even brought it in the shop yet .  Oh ya ,  I get really irritable with lame excuses also. Anyway , I had to stand in the fun , blazing  s. for at least an hour . Have felt rather poorly since .

I did call my doc , the one that I like so much , asked for something for pain in muscles , he left a message to take magnesium ..  I'm not a happy camper.   I'll try the flexeril and  moist heat, I don't know about the stretches right now . The pain has gone around and into ribs and hand .  E , it does sound a lot like what you have .  

Thanks for the info on the massages .

Some days I wouldn't mind a little snow!!!!   I"m from VERMONT..  I miss slush!!!  :)

Thanks guys        Jo

[biowham]

Yes, potassium and magnesium for cramping, or so I've heard. When I was have leg cramps during pregnancy, I found that bananas helped a lot, presumably because of the potassium.

[biowham]

Oh, forgot to add: My experience also has been that manual massage makes these hurt considerably worse.

[biowham]

I'm curious about this, too...I posted about it a few days ago. I've had a major muscle spasm in my back along the scapula. This one has lasted four days so far, started while I was asleep and had rolled from my side to flat on my back--inhaled, and BAM, a spasm that was so painful, I couldn't move for quite awhile and then was up all night for it. I get this about every couple of months (?). It's about in the center of the upper left quadrant of my back. It radiates down my arm and sets off paresthesia in my left hand.

OK...so what I do for it is...800 mg IB 2x-3x day (with lots of fluids so I don't end up needing a kidney or liver transplant) and with caffeine (like a whole Coke). Specific postures that are supposed to release this muscle and others back there, like the one shown here, sort of: http://www.necksolutions.com/neck-and-shoulder-pain.html . That URL might be useful in helping you identify the muscle group you're dealing with--sounds like it might be your trapezius.

Also, heat to the area with those hot-patches, although they don't seem like they get all that hot to me. And one of those back massagers vibrating over that area, although that makes me dizzy and nauseated after a few minutes, but even a few minutes seemed to help. All of that together seems finally to have done something for it today, but this was easily my most intense episode.

My youngest goes to an OT, and she suggested a posture that involves hanging your head over one of those large-ish exercise balls (those big red ones that physical therapists use), kind of draping your body over it on your back. That seemed to help some.

I'm annoyed because I called my doc for some Rx muscle relaxants, and they promised they'd call something in yesterday but never did. So those above are the home remedies I tried.

Things like Darvocet did nothing (I tried one of those the first night). I took some Tylenol with codeine just to sleep last night.

Don't know if ANY of this is any help, but as a shoulder spasm veteran, these are things I've tried.

E

[Rena705]

Ok. wait a minute...What do you mean by being in the sun, for an HOUR?

Where are you that you are in the sun???

We just got over -42 with a wind chill of - 58 celcius!!!

Sorry but I wish I had a pain in my muscles...somehow this just make me sad :(!

Just kidding hon but please don't tell us about the sun anymore for a while ok?  tee hee