There's nothing on the radio when you're dead

[venta]

I need a little shopping advice.

I often wake up, in the night, with dreadful cramp in my legs. This is not pleasant. Some time ago, someone recommended drinking one of those modern-fangled isotonic-flavoured electrolye-ridden buzzword-compliant sports drinks before going to bed.

I bought a drum of lemon-flavoured powder from (I think) Boots and... hey presto! Miracles were worked, and my legs did not tie themselves into excruciating knots in the night.

Enter a second friend, who assured me that the water was the important part and that I was merely paying for the caché of sports drinks unnecessarily. So, this summer (cramp seems to be a summer problem, for me) I stuck to drinking water before bed. Friend2 was wrong. It does not have the same effect.

So, off to Boots I went. And then to Superdrug, Holland & Barrett, Tesco... Nope. No one sells the damn stuff any more. According to Boots' website, they do still sell drums of mixable powder but they now only do orange flavour. Also, I have yet to catch a branch which actually stocks the damn stuff (and the website is out of stock, too).

Can anyone recommend a powdered sports drink which is (a) cheap and (b) available in something non-orange? I only require the re-hydration parts, not the energy parts, since I'll be drinking it before bed. For preference I'd like something available in high street shops, since I don't think my ego will permit me to become the sort of person who orders highly specialised sports beverages off t'internet.

Either that, or I'll just have to settle for squash made up with homebrew ORS. Which might work, but would probably taste nasty.

Comments

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

Isn't it a lack of salt causing the problem? You sweat more in summer, hence the salt lack and the cramping in summer only.

When I went to India, my co-worker had had dreadful cramps on his previous visit - his leg ended up going black! The doctor told him to take 2 sachets of rehydration salts daily. This to me seemed excessive, but coworker was particularly sensitive to salt loss it seems. Rehydration satchets - and the powders you are searching for, are just sugar, flavoring and salt, I have a keyring measurer to mix my own in the (not yet happened) event I got a runny belly.

Myself, I just added salt to my daily juice, and was fine in the 45 degree heat of India.

Maybe try a salted juice before bedtime? Increase or decrease the salt as required.

[rabbit1080.livejournal.com]

There's this useful bunch of elements from the perodic table that muscles like - sodium (from table salt), potassium (eg from bananas), magnesium & calcium (the last 2 are often in the same supplement tablet). You don't necessarily need sports drink.

Here's a periodic table for reference. http://www.ptable.com/Images/periodic%20table.png

(One of the magnesium compounds I've tried also contains Taurine, which is just a random stimulant. I blame marketing so I don't use that one.)

[sushidog.livejournal.com]

My mum was told to drink tonic water to prevent cramps; no idea if it really works but she swears by it!

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

I loved that Boots lemon rehydration stuff (it was great for hangovers too) but they don't make it any more. I suspect the cramps are probably a combination of dehydration and a deficiency of some mineral salt or other, which is why the isotonic drinks work when water doesn't.

Holland and Barrett sell something called Iso-Energy which seems similar:
http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=550&MCatID=5&prodid=631&cid=513&sid=0

[mister-jack.livejournal.com]

I would be inclined to think the "it's salt you need" camp are correct. Anyway, when I google for "electrolyte powder" it shows me lots of results in various flavours from a variety of suppliers. It looks like one of these should meet your needs?

[waistcoatmark.livejournal.com]

I'd have thought any diarhea-treating stuff would do (the rehydration stuff, like diaralite (sp?), not the contipation-in-a-sachet)? Or is that what Boots ahve stopped selling?

[sea-of-flame.livejournal.com]

Is it worth considering something dunked in soy sauce, or with a marmite element, as a supper snack, with a drink of water?

Salty drinks are nasty, but salty snacks are yum - and tend to naturally encourage drinking of plenty of water, which will help with any dehydration causes of the cramps.

[alien8.livejournal.com]

mostly trained athlete notes.

nuun.

high 5 zero.

there you go.

//a
racing on Aug 21st in Germany, powered by www.mybikefood.com

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

Is it the sodium or the chloride in the salt that one needs? If the former and you're averse to over-salty tastes, maybe sodium bicarbonate would work instead? (you'd need a larger mass of it to get the same amount of sodium, though)

[(Anonymous)]

All I can contribute to this is that it only really happens to me if I've been both drinking and exercising. Not sure what that would deplete, but that's probably what you need to replace.

[drdoug.livejournal.com]

A bit late, and not answering your question (alas, I know nothing of what you seek), but it's worth noting that ORS includes potassium. Less important in cramps - from memory that's more likely sodium than potassium - but for the runs (even if short of cholera-scale) or a hangover, it's an important component.

If it is just the sodium you need, as many have pointed out, there's plenty of ways to get that other than sports drinks. Cheese is often pretty salty and mythically gives you fun dreams (fsvo fun) if eaten just before bed. Or a nightly tequila shot or two perhaps?