Do they?
My cat never meows in her sleep and extends her leg whilst massaging her calf muscle with her paws. Do cats and dogs not get cramp?
How about people in comas? I imagine it would hurt a lot if they weren't really unconscious.
clop
Established Member
Do they?
My cat never meows in her sleep and extends her leg whilst massaging her calf muscle with her paws. Do cats and dogs not get cramp?
How about people in comas? I imagine it would hurt a lot if they weren't really unconscious.
clop
Order of Kilopi
Do you ever deal with cramp while still asleep?Originally Posted by clop
Cats and dogs seem to wake up, stand up and stretch the affected muscle group. (Which is what I do: you need stretch, not massage; massage is just a way of deferring getting out of bed to deal with the problem properly.) I've certainly seen my cat jump awake, stretch, walk in an unsteady circle, stretch, and then settle down to sleep again.
Comatose people aren't sending out the same signals to their muscles as the rest of us. They can have flaccid muscles, or muscle spasms in response to stimulation. It varies.
Grant Hutchison
Established Member
I sometimes wonder if cats and dogs (or, indeed, any other animals) get migraines.
CJSF
"In the nightgown of the sullen moon, How the windows lean into the room, In the nightgown of the sullen moon."
-They Might Be Giants
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I've been woken up by cramp on several occasions. I've leapt out of bed to deal with it.
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Yes, that's what I do, and what my cat seemed to do.
Clop seems to be asking about a cat whimpering and massaging a cramped muscle in its sleep. I'm not aware of humans doing that.
Grant Hutchison
Order of Kilopi
Anybody want a banana?
I understand water, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and possibly potasium are important to reducing cramps. Vitamin D, apparently, is important in helping with the absorption of calcium.
So what is the best thing to eat in a pinch (or cramp)? Potatoes, bananas, or what?
Established Member
Drink at least 6 ounces of orange juice a day to keep the cramps away. Bananas are great too, but I have a hard time eating them everyday, their consistency is blah.
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Nocturnal cramps are odd, and frequently occur without any predisposing electrolyte problems. So consuming specific electrolytes usually doesn't work, unless you've got some reason to believe a particular electrolyte is out of kilter.
Grant Hutchison
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If I may?
My doctor told me (and it seems to be true) that the cramps you sometimes get in your calves is caused by sleeping on your stomach with your toes pointed "downward". After a prolonged period this cuts off the circulation to the affected muscle, causing the cramp.
You can get almost instant relief by forcing the foot into the normal "toes forward" position. I have to get out of bed and stand on the ball of my foot and apply my weight until the foot flattens to its normal position. I can feel the blood flow return.
Boo sometimes got those cramps and I would put a left hand to her heel and push the ball of her foot gently until her foot was in the "normal" position and the pain stopped. I was always worried about tearing her calf muscle but the relief was always immediate.
Bad Post-Doc
I have to correct your doctor, Don, albeit with anecdotal evidence--I never sleep on my stomach (it's very uncomfortable), but I have been awakened with cramps in my calves so severe that I wake up Graham with the vocal reaction to them.
_____________________________________________
Gillian
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I do make an effort to remember to drink water before turning in and I haven't had very many cramps.
Established Member
See 'night cramps' : http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Cramps-in-the-Leg.htm
Quinine tablets at night is one treatment for cramps. You could try a glass of tonic water before bed, but would need about three litres to achieve the same dose, so maybe add gin - alcohol is a muscle relaxant.
Maybe not - cirrhosis is listed as a cause of cramps.
John
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Having the muscle in a shortened position, as Don's doctor described, is on the list of possible causes.
I think the point is that this is something that just happens to people, but various aggravating problems (posture, electrolytes, diseases) have also been identified.
I only get nocturnal cramps if I forget to take some salt in the evening after a day's hiking: it seems to be a combination of calf exercise and salt loss, for me. My unaffected friends find this hilarious, especially the night I fell out of the top bunk of the hostel, trying to get down to floor level with both calves cramped.
Grant Hutchison
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Well, as a fellow sufferer allow me to say, "That must have sucked."
Banned
Uh... They eat better?
I haven't had a cramp in more than 10 years. Then again, 10 years ago I began taking a daily multivitamin and eating healthier.
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If they got the same symptoms as people do, you may be able to tell: avoiding light and noise, vomiting, etc, but they can't tell you about the visual field distortions or the rather severe pain.
Order of Kilopi
Okay here's an odd one, happened night before last.
I was sleeping fetal on my left side when a rather annoyingly painful cramp hit the inside of my left thigh. But when I touched it the muscle wasn't cramped. Thigh was sore all day yesterday and today. But nothing is swollen or the wrong color but it feels like I've been punched hard in the inside thigh. I used to fight in the ring, I know what that feels like.
If it's a "leg attack" what should I watch out for?
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