Does anyone else experience cramp several times every day?
Mine is mainly in my feet but I also get it frequently in my ankles, hip and occasionally in my jaw.
It can last a long time and has me screaming in pain at times (I didn’t scream during the births of either of my children!) and has left bruises on my ankles.
It’s worse in the evening and through the night, if I’ve been standing still on my feet too long (though it’s not so bad if I’ve been walking so presumably to do with how I stand?!)
When I’ve brought it up at appointments I never seem to get it across that this isn’t just a muscle cramp. Various doctors have recommended quinine but this worsens psoriasis so I’m not going near it!
I’m hoping that I can try Nortriptyline as recommended in a separate post but wanted to know if it’s a PsA thing or just a me thing!
Plus it would be nice to know if anyone can recommend anything they have tried that has helped?
Bed socks and a lek blanket help mine a bit as does making sure I’m drinking enough water. Microwave slippers are also pretty awesome
Hi there MommaBear, grrr… cramp… I got really bad cramp in my calves (during the night) when I was pregnant, and have been woken by it occasionally, since… so I do understand the “screaming” with it thing.
Other than that I also occasionally get cramp get in my toes too… usually when they are cold and wet, but sometimes just when I stretch my toes out in bed. I must say I’d never attributed it to PsA, but maybe it is connected… I’ll be interested to see what other responses you get from your post.
As for a maybe helpful idea, I hear that magnesium is very good for reducing cramp (I suppose that will depend on the cause of the cramp in the first place). If you are not keen on getting some magnesium supplements to try you might find soaking in some Epsom Salts useful (either in your bath or soak your feet with them in the water). Epsom Salts are an inexpensive way to get magnesium (they are magnesium sulphate), and soaking your feet/body in them is a good way to absorb it into your body.
Just an idea you might like to try
All the best with finding a solution… cramp is just downright miserable!!
How funny! Just yesterday I was thinking it was time to post here with some follow-up about cramps!
Some months back I posted about just this issue. I have had severe cramps on & off (mostly on) for about … I dunno, 15 years perhaps, usually at night. They were often of the hopping about in the dark, falling over, waking the neighbours with blood curdling screams variety. And I so agree with you, along with the curses I’d sometimes scream ‘I’d rather be giving birth!!!’
So anyway, in reply to my discussion, tntlamb told me to eat a banana every day. My first thought was ‘but I eat loads of bananas’. Second thought was ‘but not every day’.
I proceeded to eat a banana every single morning, whether I wanted one or not. Guess what? Almost no cramp. It’s a miracle!
I think I was already doing most of the right things such as drinking plenty of water and getting regular exercise, they’re important too for cramp prevention & for lots of reasons.
I cannot recommend the banana regime strongly enough. Thanks tnt!!!
One thought, if I drink too much alcohol (which for me is still a pathetically small amount) I will get cramp no matter how many bananas I eat.
Doesn’t seem to work Cynthia. I think perhaps the dehydration from alcohol, however slight, messes with the concentration of salts in the bloodstream(?) & maybe it’s more complex than simple dehydration then. (I have no idea what I’m talking about!)
Seriously, MommaBear, I had excruciating middle-of-the-night cramps as well. I can’t help but think it’s connected with the PsA. My own theory is that tendons get inflamed and the muscle really isn’t happy about it, so it kicks up a fuss. Those cramps were hell.
I used a magnesium supplement, and it did help. What helped more, though, was going on the biologic: can’t remember having one since. And I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
I do constantly get that feeling you get the second before a bad cramp… when you feel like you can still “save” yourself by moving in a different position… not sure if that’s all it is or if I actually safe (I have no idea if it’s save or safe here so I’m using both) myself from the cramp…
@Seenie you will need 200 grams of apple, 150 grams of blueberries and 100 grams of raspberry in a bowl of 300ml of biologic yogurt, twice a day for 3 weeks. Be careful not to overdose though! Those blueberries are dangerous!
Maybe I need to write a book and I’ll get really rich!
Cynthia - I get that just-before-cramp feeling a lot, unfortunately 80% of the time I can’t save it! You must have a special knack! I pretty much have that recipe for breakfast , tho I’m interested in your biologic yoghurt, is it embrel or humira flavour?!
Seenie - I also think its the tendons getting inflammed. I think the way I stand probably affects it too now I’m thinking about it. Think my rheum said something about enthethsis (sp?) And I’m going to ask about that next month at my appointment.
I’m on humira long term and I take a good multivitamin. I get my 5 a day mostly (it is a shame that white wine doesn’t count) and eat a lot of fibre, nuts and seeds. I’ll see if having a banana a day does anything to help.
MommaBear, I am a dyed-in-the-wool cynic. I only tried bananas because tntlamb has a pretty amazing track record when it comes to ‘being right!’. I’m glad you’re going to give them a try.
Cramps have been a problem for me for a very long time. I was once giving a talk to a group of parents & trustees at school when it happened big time. I had to stand up, lift my leg and rub it ferociously while still talking. Other people on the platform nervously edged away from me.
I have been on Humira since 2014 and it does an incredible job. But it did nothing for cramp. My PsA improved considerably but the cramp got worse if anything. I also eat a pretty good diet. I do get enthesitis however so I imagine there may well be a connection.
I would say that daily bananas sound as if they belong to the ‘oh yeah, right!’ category. But I’m a convert (as you’ve probably gathered by now!). I suspect that what they do, for me anyway, is provide just the right amount of magnesium that is all the better digested and absorbed for being in food form.
Sybil, I think you and tnt are onto something. Certainly there seems to be a proportion of people for whom cramps are exacerbated or caused by conditions that have associated electrolyte imbalances (drinking too much alcohol can be one of those ). Hence why the bananas work so well! (They’ve got a great potassium value - which is not in many foods, or even in many electrolyte supplements - and some believe out-of-whack potassium can be a trigger).
There are also supposed to be neuromuscular contributions - which is why stretching works once you do get them.
A banana a day for prevention, stretching for treatment . Perhaps together we could all start an arthritis wellness and lifestyle blog called Betcher (Banana, stretch, stretcher ).
It’s funny that when you say take magnesium and potassium pills people will trust you but then when you say eat a banana they look at you like you’re crazy…
Wait you don’t say biologic yogurt? Biological yogurt? In Dutch it’s biologische yoghurt (although we say it with proper gggg) lol I was going to explain but I’m not quite sure what they do differently? I think less chemicals and nicer to the animals/environment? It’s expensive though and the advertisements make you feel guilty if you don’t buy it
Ooh we’ll all be millionaires soon! We need to pick a random weird food that we can call… wait what’s it called in English? Power foods? Like quinoa and certain fancy grains…
Well we are very well stocked for bananas in our house now! Had a long walk to the shops specially and I’m worn out now! In England we have Super foods and natural or bio yoghurt. We probably don’t call it biologic yoghurt cos we have biologic and non biologic washing powder - and antiTNFs are biologics too
Everything bio (now that you said that I obviously know that! Haha) here is called biologisch… we call humira etc biologics (yes the English word) so very confusing… Lol
I get crazy cramps in my feet and calves. I’m on Otezla, I only have PsA, no psoriasis. I’m allergic to bananas and corn, an odd combination. I try to drink more water…it’s not doing much.
Ah, now you’re talking! Another discussion we’ve had, might be worth doing a search for ‘chocolate’ on here. The conclusion we came to (only partly driven by wishful thinking) was that good quality chocolate can indeed be kind of good for us! Not so sure that chocolate oranges fit the bill! How about good quality dark chocolate plus an orange?? I know, not quite the same …
I used to get night time leg cramps, but magnesium supplements help. I take two pills during the day and one at bedtime. I have not had any cramps in some months now
). Hence why the bananas work so well! (They’ve got a great potassium value - which is not in many foods, or even in many electrolyte supplements - and some believe out-of-whack potassium can be a trigger).
. Perhaps together we could all start an arthritis wellness and lifestyle blog called Betcher (Banana, stretch, stretcher 
Had a long walk to the shops specially and I’m worn out now! In England we have Super foods 
and natural or bio yoghurt. We probably don’t call it biologic yoghurt cos we have biologic and non biologic washing powder - and antiTNFs are biologics too