Family exp severe cramping in shins & top of feet - Open to All Other Health Topics Message Board

SheriBriley · 08-31-2006, 05:48 AM

We called everyone we could think of & we're still at a loss.
Tuesday afternoon, my 59yo mother (live-in, obese, several established meds) began having muscle cramps in her legs so bad they left her in tears. She took a flexeril & began taking potassium tabs. 2 hours later they had abated, but her legs were still twiching.
Tuesday night, around midnight, I (36yo, overweight, no meds) began having them too. Odd that we would both have cramps on the same day, but puzzling that they weren't charlie horses, or the normal foot cramps that pull our toes down...instead these hit the front/outside muscle of our shins, and went straight between our little & 2nd toes, pulling them up.
Being that we're both overweight & have some fluid retention problems, we thought that might have been the problem.
BUT...
Yesterday afternoon, my 39yo husband (slightly overweight, only 1 established med) told me he was having leg cramps...I barely touched his shin to ask if that's where they were, & he jumped through the roof. Exact same location...no other symptoms, no swelling.
What pushed us over the edge was my 12yo son (not overweight, 2 established meds) that has never had so much as a charlie horse woke up about 11 with the exact same cramping!
we've all eated a few bananas since, upped our fliud intakes, but we're still having minor spasms in our shins and feet.
There are no other symptoms in common - mom & son have slight congestion from seasonal allergies, husband had a headache. No fevers, no redness, no unusual swelling (mom & I still have swollen ankles) No Dizziness, nausea, vomitting. No current injuries, no recent strenuous exercize. No diet changes, no bug bites, no pest control
We've talked to our PCPs, Nurse Answer lines at Children's Hospital & our insurance, and Poison Control...no one seems to have a clue.
Does ANYONE have any similar experience or suggestions?

feelbad · 08-31-2006, 07:27 AM

wow,now thats kind of freaky.i was going to suggest calling the poison control people too,but it does appear you have really covered all bases here.the best advice i can give would be for all of you to go see one doc and all have some same blood work done to check for any similarities.even just doing the basic type of metabolic labs may indicate some sort of a trend between you all.other than that,i really don't know of anything else you could actually do here.i am sure you have already thought of possible environmental issues?has there been anything brought into the house recently that could contain some sort of a chemical or were you all in a place where you could have all possibly been exposed to something,or ate something?just grasping at straws here.i am pretty sure this has already been running thru all of your minds.

but realistically,getting the blood work done is really about the only thing i can think of that you haven't already done.just by doing this,something may pop up that would at least lead you in some sort of a direction and more definitive type testing.and like i mentioned before,if possible have this all done at one place by one doc,as going to a bunch of different docs will only cause delays and other problems.if your docs cannot agree on one doc,just go to the local ER where they can do this.it may cost more,but you really need continuity here.the same lab needs to process all of your bloodwork since there are varting factors depending on how a particular lab does things.i only know this part as my son has a liver transplant and believe me,we KNOW labs.i sure hope you all recover from this nasty crap soon.please let me know just what if anything you find out,now you have me all curious here too,lol.i wish you all luck.FB

SheriBriley · 08-31-2006, 07:33 AM

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers...I will post if/when it resolves & when we get it figured out.

brook65 · 08-31-2006, 09:01 AM

Sheri

Hi, I don't wish to worry you here, it is just a thought! You say that you and most of your family are obese, well obesity can be a major cause of type 2 diabetes, and severe leg muscle cramps can be a symptom! due to excess sugar build up in the muscles over a period of time.

But having said that, the fact that many of you are experiencing the same symptom at the same time, could mean something elses, but coincidence can happen, so it is best get all of your sugar levels checked at the same time.

Best of luck

gardenandcats · 09-03-2006, 03:46 PM

probably some type of viral thing.