Well, I have written about my problems with this in the past and since I am training for a long swim and suffer from both foot and leg/thigh cramping, I have been experimenting with vitamins. I did the Gatorade (too much sugar), I did the private product things, and I stumbled across many websites that mentioned taking Calcium with Magnesium may be of benefit.
I started taking a Calcium pill and a Magnesium pill along with a separate vitamin that promotes good blood health (the B's), and all foot/leg cramping has completely stopped. Finally. It was preventing my being able to get past the 6 or 7 mile mark regularly. I started taking these supplements about 4 weeks ago. Since I returned to Roatan, I have not swam for 12 days due to ocean storms. Today was my first day back. I did a 6 miler and had no cramping at the 3 mile mark like I usually do.
So, it may be worth a try for people suffering greatly from this debilitating problem. I'm taking 384 mg of Magnesium, and the Calcium tablets have other ingredients, but the calcium is and of itself 334 mg. And of course I do know that we are all different and it may not work, but this, so far, has worked for me. I was about ready to do this: :whiteflag:
Donna
Parents
Former Member
I just wanted to mention since someone may have misread what I wrote, you must take both Calcium and Magnesium. I never took anything prior to this, and I am taking minimum amounts to start with. So far, so good. And I do hydrate, I do stretch my legs/calves, etc. But this is the first time I am having great success with eliminating this kind of cramping which has stopped me from swimmer further distances. And I used to swim with Zoomer fins and I would cramp up at about 3 miles. I otta try using them again to see if this Calcium/Magnesium thing is helping.
donna
I just wanted to mention since someone may have misread what I wrote, you must take both Calcium and Magnesium. I never took anything prior to this, and I am taking minimum amounts to start with. So far, so good. And I do hydrate, I do stretch my legs/calves, etc. But this is the first time I am having great success with eliminating this kind of cramping which has stopped me from swimmer further distances. And I used to swim with Zoomer fins and I would cramp up at about 3 miles. I otta try using them again to see if this Calcium/Magnesium thing is helping.
donna
