It's bout 11:30pm and I've been asleep for about 2.5 hours -- well, as deep a sleep as I get with Sadie roaming the floors. We had run an errand earlier, and anything outside her "norm" messes with the bedtime routine--- you know how that can go! Anyways, I'm laying there, and all of a sudden, my eyes fly open and I feel like I had been jabbed by a hot poker. When its out of the blue in the middle of your sleep, your first thought when you wake up and "What the hell was that?"
And not two seconds later, as I begin to swing my legs over the side of the bed it hits me: a very intensely painful leg cramp down my inner thigh. It's cramping so hard, I barely catch my breath, and I tell myself to slow down, breathe .... breathe... don't hyperventilate! but the cramping doesn't stop. I feel myself break out into an intense sweat from the pain, and my next thought was "oh gawds, please don't make me throw up from the pain..." and I'm back to my mantra: breathe... breathe.... deep breath .... breathe.....
Ok. Next issue: how to relieve the cramping. I've had them in my calves before (always my left leg, and this was too) and usually just standing on it and gently stretching it will do the trick. Not this time! I tried to stand and nope, fell right back onto the bed. A whole two minutes might have gone by, and my next thought was "geeee, how am I gonna get to the bathroom... if..... "
I closed my eyes, concentrate on my breathing, and putting my leg in a position where the cramping eases up, and focus on relaxing (ignoring, of course, the fact that I want to toss my Milky Way bar .... ) Once I've allowed the muscle to relax just a little bit, I decide I better hobble across the room toward the bathroom .... just... in ... case....
By the time I cross that span of eight feet, I'm beginning to feel a little better, noticing though that my pajamas are soaking wet, sweat's been dripping into my eyes. I grab a towel, lower the lid on the toilet and ease myself into a sitting position. The nausea has passed ,the pain has subsided enough that I can endure small movements. I slide out of my jammies and into something dry and fresh. I towel off my face and neck, all the while making sure I'm breathing.
I tested my leg for its ability to hold me without pain, and it finally did. I took a few laps around the bedroom, then the kitchen. Ok. Its doing ok, it doesn't seem to be cramping any longer and wow, I think I can get back in bed. Of course, any movement that uses the muscle that had cramped was a little painful, and I was nervous about having it cramp up again.
I grabbed an extra pillow, shoved it between my knees and laid on my right side, letting that left leg just rest up there on that pillow. I was able to go back to sleep rather quickly (which was nice!) but I woke up in that same position in the wee morning hours. No way was I going to risk another horrible cramp because I *moved*.
Cramps are attributed to three things: mineral deficiency in the system, dehydration, lack of stretching, and overuse. Well. I'm quite sure it was all four of those things! I'd been to the gym four days in a row.... its not as hot here, so my water intake is lower than it had been.
Sometimes when things like this happen in the middle of the night, you feel your alone-ness a lot more; there's not much anyone else can do when this happens, but having someone to help get past the worry could be nice...... I'll be sure to stretch nicely, drink more water and take my vitamins this week, to keep this from happening again!!
Happy Weekend!
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