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Muscle cramps and alcohol

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Muscle cramps and alcohol

Old 01-14-20, 07:57 AM
  #26  
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Did a hard spin class last night for an hour, that included a cooldown. Sweated buckets and I knew the night would be a challenge. Felt muscles tightening up well before bedtime. So I took several precautions:
- No alcohol if course-
- hot tub 1/2 hour
- drank lot of water with electrolyte mix
- magnesium suppliment
- 20 min stretching
-2x ibuprofen with dinner

This mildly helped but as I layed down to go asleep I could feel the cramping still irritating me and I could not doze off... Next steps
- pickles and pickle juice
-Hy-Lyte liquid recovery drops in water

In a half hour I was relaxed again, slept all night great and woke up feeling fine. No cramping this morning!

Although everything I tried helped some, I always get the feeling the pickle juice works the best!
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Old 01-19-20, 12:32 PM
  #27  
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Participated in the annual Triple D winter bike Race in Dubuque, IA yesterday. Truth be told I did the much tamer Poker run and put in about 16 miles between bars and taverns . So I had a few drinks after hitting 7 establishments, typically had 1-beer each place except for my Irish coffee at the fist morning stop. Had snacks along the way. Separate story, but anyone who finished the 35 or 70 mile race are pretty amazing. Weather, temp, winds and conditions were brutal!

Anyway, didn’t feel bad this AM, light cramping only. Had plenty of electrolytes and two Tylenol before bed, these helped I’m sure. Did some foam rolller work in the morning to got some tight areas. feeling more “normal”the last couple of days.


I might have a drink for tonight’s Packers 49rs game
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Old 01-21-20, 05:24 PM
  #28  
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Definitely getting slowly better week by week. Days will vary a bit.

Although it’s hard to be perfectly scientific as many variables change, I am concluding alcohol has had SOME impact on my muscle cramping. No doubt there are other factors as well.

My next challenge is weight loss via Keto which I started yesterday. Keto is about the only weight loss approach that has ever worked for me as an adult over 40. It works well right up to when Spring cycling season gets into full swing where I’m biking daily, about mid-April, than I need the carbs and some beers
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Old 01-22-20, 08:11 AM
  #29  
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Alright, been on track to do 180 days alcohol free in 2020. I sleep better, but the cramp thing for me has totally been about using muscles a lot I didn't used to (time trial) and not doing some light weights and stretching/foam rolling.

I picked up a foam roller and stick and started some light stuff to balance out the imbalance in muscles and it's gotten better.

I've noticed zero difference alcohol wise though.
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Old 01-22-20, 08:53 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by burnthesheep
Alright, been on track to do 180 days alcohol free in 2020. I sleep better, but the cramp thing for me has totally been about using muscles a lot I didn't used to (time trial) and not doing some light weights and stretching/foam rolling.

I picked up a foam roller and stick and started some light stuff to balance out the imbalance in muscles and it's gotten better.

I've noticed zero difference alcohol wise though.
​​​​​​I use a foam roller regularly, great item! Too big to carry on my bike so I actually bring with me a bocce ball in my bike bag.
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Old 01-22-20, 11:48 AM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
Eeeek!. Don't take Benadryl. It's an anticholinergic medication. Ask your doctor for an alternative to anticholinergics.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/...k-201501287667
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...rticle/2091745

Ibuprofen isn't that great either because it inhibits healing, i.e. adaptation to training stress. It's an antiprosteglandin, an NSAID. Over the years, I've found I heal faster if I don't take NSAIDs. My exception is long-term tendon pain, which NSAIDs really help.
Wow! I had no idea about that Benadryl was so problematic. Thank you for passing this along.
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Old 02-07-20, 08:29 PM
  #32  
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Update. things have gotten better. I still have the occasional drink but it’s not regular. Also stopped taking Benadryl.

Started Keto, almost 3 weeks in and that threw me another curveball where I tightened up a lot again. Been taking a Potassium and Magnesium supplement and getting the right healthy fats into me helped. I was also excercising a little too hard for a Keto diet so I scaled back some. Keto makes me tired! But the weight loss is worth it and they say the tiredness will wear off some.

Lesson learned, my body is a moving target. Constantly adapting to new conditions. I’m eliminating some poor choices and finding solutions to new problems.
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Old 06-03-20, 06:03 AM
  #33  
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Follow-up. Things got better and I started bicycling harder/more frequent/longer rides. Started drinking a bit more this week (Vodka Lemonade, OJ) and I started getting some of that tightness/cramping back in my legs. So need to dial that way back and cut out the Vodka!

I don't particularly care for Vodka mind you but is a treat in the Lemonade and OJ when it's hot out. I can go without it now I see it causing some muscle tightness again.
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Old 06-04-20, 10:22 AM
  #34  
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Just another datapoint to muddy the waters:

In the beforetime, I was commuting to work daily, about 50 minutes total (split over 2 rides to/from) at moderate intensity. No stretching. Nightly leg cramps were frequent.

During lockdown, I've been riding 5-6 times a week at higher intensity, at least an hour at a time. I stretch for a few minutes afterwards most days but not all. I've had one nightly leg cramp in the past 2+ months.

I have a thimble of scotch before bed maybe half the time. My drinking has gone down a little during lockdown. But I've seen no correlation between my level of alcohol intake and nightly leg cramps. I may not be drinking enough to register.
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Old 06-04-20, 12:53 PM
  #35  
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FWIW, the only time I've found alcohol makes a difference in my cramping is during hot tours. After a few long, hot days, a beer seems to reduce the frequency of cramps. Must be the micro-antiox-phyto-bioflavonoids.
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