Woke up in the middle of the night w/a charlie horse in my calf...

[purbeast0]

and it still actually hurts right now.

i woke up just in the middle of the night, and i KIND OF remember that I think in my dream I was flexxing my calf playing basketball or something, but i vaguely remmber before I woke up that i felt my calf flexxing or tensing up, then I woke up.

and I kind of sat up really quick and grabbed my calf because it was in so much pain and my muscle was like as hard as a rock. my wife woke up and was kinda like wtf and it lasted like 5 - 7 seconds then my calf muscle relaxed and i just went back to sleep.

when I woke up this morning it was still hurting, and is still hurting now.

now my question is, wtf could have caused this? i did legs at the gym yesterday and did not stretch afterwards, but I niever stretch afterwards. i do drive a stick shift car but it was my right calf that i got this in, not the one i'm constantly moving more to push in the clutch.

really odd and I don't wish it on anyone heh.

 

[rcpratt]

I dunno, but it happens to me every once in awhile, even before I started working out. Usually my calves, sometimes feet. Once my quad did it, that was the worst.

Fortunately being half asleep dulls the pain a bit. That sure is the best way to get me out of bed, though.

 

[KMc]

Could be many things...overworked muscle, poor hydration, mineral/electrolyte deficiency, or any combination of factors. I occasionally get a cramp in my calf or hamstring. Post-exercise stretching definitely helps me.

 

[kamper]

This happens to me every now and then (once or twice a year maybe?). I haven't noticed a correlation to anything in particular. It always seems to me that I'm moving it in some particular way in my sleep before it happens, but I'm frequently dreaming so that can't exactly be trusted.

It's happened to me just once while I'm awake. I was on my bike, using clipless pedals, which was a bit scary. It felt like I was going to rip my calf muscle off and crash at the same time.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

The majority of the time muscle cramps are caused by dehydration. Water is your friend. Drink up.

 

[HomerX]

I have also experienced this a while ago.

Personally it helps me to stand up on my feet. The cramp goes away much faster this way...

 

[purbeast0]

well when i got home i didn't drink anything out of the normal and was pretty normal for the liquid intake I have on any night.

i got home took my celltech with water, then protein shake w/milk. had probably 2 more glasses of milk then another shake before i went to sleep.

 

[HomerX]

A lack of magnesium and calcium is often the reason.

 

[PingSpike]

This happens to me about twice a year I'd say. I usually end up jumping out of bed and walking around which seems to stop it. But yeah, my leg is sore for maybe a whole day afterwards...maybe stiff is a better word.

 

[darkxshade]

Same for me at about twice a year... it's always happened near the morning for me when I'm half awake and I do sort of a yawning stretch and set it off.

So it is mostly due to hydration not having anything to drink since I went to sleep and I wake up stretching. The worse of it I woke up with a slight limp which went away the next day. God that hurts.

 

[Balt]

The majority of the time muscle cramps are caused by dehydration. Water is your friend. Drink up.

This usually causes mine. Also try to avoid stretching too much in bed if you wake up in the middle of the night, but if you do stretch keep your toes pointed downward toward the foot of the bed. Those suckers hurt.

 

[skace]

This used to happen to me constantly when I played soccer. I had myself conditioned to wake up and immediately start walking around because the pressure when you put your foot on the floor and your body weight on it, stretches the muscle and ends the cramp.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Sometimes, it just happens. Do you eat many fruits or veggies? Do you drink enough water (is your pee almost clear-yellow)? If not, eating better and drinking more water can alleviate this problem.

 

[Pantlegz]

happens to me about once every other month or so. No real rhyme or reason, just kinda happens. I started to add bananas to try to help with it, not sure if it has or not yet.

 

[kamper]

Personally it helps me to stand up on my feet.

I don't know about the op, but I personally can't stand up when I get it because I can't even get close to straightening my leg. All I can do is grab it and try to rub it until it stops (although I suspect this makes no actual difference).

 

[kamper]

Also just want to say that I love threads like this. I thought this was sort of a weird abnormality but hearing nearly identical descriptions from others (few times per year, while sleeping, etc) is interesting. The other thread I remember was tasting blood as a result of running in cold weather while out of shape.

 

[MJinZ]

Poor neural incapacitation of physical body during sleep. Your brain is defective.

 

[purbeast0]

I don't know about the op, but I personally can't stand up when I get it because I can't even get close to straightening my leg. All I can do is grab it and try to rub it until it stops (although I suspect this makes no actual difference).

yea i dunno just naturally i sat up with my knee bent and just grabbed my calf and it was hard as hell. i kinda just sat there like "OMG WTF AAAAHH" then a few seconds later it was gone.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Sometimes, it just happens. Do you eat many fruits or veggies? Do you drink enough water (is your pee almost clear-yellow)? If not, eating better and drinking more water can alleviate this problem.

Not really related to the OP, but my piss is bright orange when I'm taking NO-xplode and my multivitamin. Kinda worries a fellow a little. If i stop taking them it turns clear right away.

 

[purbeast0]

oh and on a side note, no i do not eat many veggies and fruits. but i've kind of always been like this.

i do eat some veggies but not many fruits in general. i take a multivitamin to get some missed vitamins from fruits.

but like i said my diet has pretty much been the same for a long time and i've never had this happen. was just odd it happened last night so i was wondering if something more specific could have caused it.

but it sounds like it was probably for a bunch of various reasons all mixed heh.

 

[MJinZ]

Not really related to the OP, but my piss is bright orange when I'm taking NO-xplode and my multivitamin. Kinda worries a fellow a little. If i stop taking them it turns clear right away.

Stop taking NO Explode?

 

[kamper]

yea i dunno just naturally i sat up with my knee bent and just grabbed my calf and it was hard as hell. i kinda just sat there like "OMG WTF AAAAHH" then a few seconds later it was gone.

Yup, exactly. Even though I'm somewhat used to it, the shock/panic still outlasts the spasm, which is pretty short even though it feels like forever while it's happening.

 

[Deeko]

Happens to me sometimes - when I'm sorta half waking up, as I'm shifting around, I kinda "over-flex" my calf or something and it cramps up really bad. Awful pain for 5-10 seconds I'd guess, then it passes. Is usually sore for a day or two afterwards.

 

[purbeast0]

Happens to me sometimes - when I'm sorta half waking up, as I'm shifting around, I kinda "over-flex" my calf or something and it cramps up really bad. Awful pain for 5-10 seconds I'd guess, then it passes. Is usually sore for a day or two afterwards.

i think that is exactly what happened, except i wasnt half awake and was flexing it in my dream, but was also doing it for real in my sleep, and the tensing/pain woke me up.

 

[katank]

That happened to me shortly after 1st run in VFFs. Possibly overworked calf muscle and/or hydration in my case.