leg cramps

[SleepyBee]

I've been using APAP for the last month and it seems to be going well. My AHI is now stabilising around 5 or less from an untreated score of 72+.

however, I have had a couple of instances of waking up and cramping my calf muscles.

I was wondering, could low SpO2 cause muscle cramps? My flow data indicates I still have a the odd longish pauses in my breathing (30sec or so).

Could waking up with cramps be an indication I'd just had a desaturation?

[justMongo]

Or, electolyte imbalance? Mg, K, Na, Ca

[SleepyBee]

yeah, possible.

I have woken with leg cramps in the past, always calf muscle.

it's possible it's nothing to do with SA and just a coincidence that I/ve had 2 or 3 incidents in the past month and very few (that I can remember anyway) in the few years before.

I just thought i'd ask in case it was a known thing.

[chill]

There is a connection between leg cramps and OSA. I very seldom get cramps after starting on CPAP:
http://www.aasmnet.org/jcsm/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=29516

With an AHI of 5 or less, I'd look elsewhere first as JM suggested.

[Beej]

If it is a magnesium deficit, using Epson salts in a bath may help, or taking oral magnesium (antacid version is magnesium oxide, such as Phillips; there are other forms)

[chill]

An iron deficiency can also result in leg cramps. This is more a problem for females.

[AshSF]

I get it if I have had a very salty meal for dinner. I correct it by drinking some pure coconut water. It balances the excess sodium of the meal with excess potassium of coconut water.

[Cbarrios]

Certain high blood pressure medications lower your potassium therefore causing calf cramps. At least that is what was doing it for me.

[BadGoodDeb]

And on top of the potassium and magnesium bits (I take both), there is enough "old wives tale" data that my Primary doctor even suggested this to me: drinking tonic water, which has quinine in it. Some people say that's hogwash, but it certainly seems to be helping me. I drink 16 ounces a day of diet tonic water (with 2 tablespoons of lemon and a pack of sweetener, just cuz I discovered lemon flavored tonic water in the UK!) and have had no full occurrences of leg cramping since I started, about two years ago. I've had a few "oooo, it feels like it's about to cramp" but I stretch and it never quite does cramp.
My cramps were not all during sleep, which is why I can recognize some of them coming.

[holden4th]

And on top of the potassium and magnesium bits (I take both), there is enough "old wives tale" data that my Primary doctor even suggested this to me: drinking tonic water, which has quinine in it. Some people say that's hogwash, but it certainly seems to be helping me. I drink 16 ounces a day of diet tonic water (with 2 tablespoons of lemon and a pack of sweetener, just cuz I discovered lemon flavored tonic water in the UK!) and have had no full occurrences of leg cramping since I started, about two years ago. I've had a few "oooo, it feels like it's about to cramp" but I stretch and it never quite does cramp.
My cramps were not all during sleep, which is why I can recognize some of them coming.

Not an old wives tale at all. I used quinine sulphate tablets when I was playing football to help with cramps. It worked.

I started to have leg cramps recently and I now use a multi magnesium tablet and the cramps have gone. There are different magnesium combinations. Magnesium chelate is the best for cramps.