# Aching legs at night?



## Zephyr (Nov 8, 2003)

Hey, does anyone ever get this....Ever since I can remember, every once in a while, my legs will ache at night. I'm posting this now because this is one of those nights for me. It's sort of a deep aching, right in the bone, and it goes from my kneecaps straight down to the bottom of each foot. On the days that it happens, it starts in the late afternoon and lasts till whenever I go to sleep at night. It slowly gets worse throughout the evening too. Luckily it only happens rarely...like maybe once every few months. It's funny because just the other night I was thinking that I haven't had one of these nights in a while...and now here one is.

When I was younger my mom told me they were growing pains. I don't even know if those are real, but since I'm 25 now I can't imagine that that's what they would be anyway.


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## Melusine (Jun 19, 2004)

They are mostly likely 'growing pains', i believe, both my brother's got that before that shot up many inches....


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## Zephyr (Nov 8, 2003)

Yeah but at age 25? I doubt I'm still growing, and I'm long past my teenage growth spurt.


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## Zephyr (Nov 8, 2003)

Becky said:


> You weren't doing any kind of activity that would have caused it? Like running or jumping, stretching? Something you don't normally do maybe?


No no, that's the weird thing about them. I was going to put this in the original post but didn't. They don't seem to be caused by anything. Yes, today I was at work in a warehouse standing on a cement floor...BUT...I work at this warehouse every Saturday and hardly get the aching legs. I worked there almost every day back in the summer and didn't get them. I remember sometimes getting them after laying around and doing nothing all day. They aren't sore muscles or anything like that...it feels like it's right in the bones. It just shows up whenever it wants.


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## lildpt (Feb 26, 2006)

ya im 26 ive had leg cramps at night since i was a child. Not every night just once in a while. i was told they were just growing pains, but i havent grown since the age of 15. during med school i found that the most common cause is a lack of potassium. you could start eating bananas or take potassium suppliment. i choose the pills. it is possible that it could be due to a more serious medical condition, but i doubt it since you've been experiencing it since childdhood.


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## Swiftwind (Feb 5, 2005)

I used to have nights like that, but *touch wood* I haven't for a while. They used to be the worst! My knees also used to ache heaps. I started taking Glucosamine about 1 year ago and it has helped me a lot. Not sure if it would help leg aches though.


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## Johnny_Genome (Nov 11, 2003)

I used to get those when I was younger but at some point grew out of them.


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## Argo (May 1, 2005)

I get pains that seem to go right to the bone sometimes too. Like yours, they don't seem to be provoked by any kind of activity; they just seem to "happen". I really don't know what to say. Hope it's not the early stages of bone cancer or something.


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## Zephyr (Nov 8, 2003)

Argo said:


> I get pains that seem to go right to the bone sometimes too. Like yours, they don't seem to be provoked by any kind of activity; they just seem to "happen". I really don't know what to say. Hope it's not the early stages of bone cancer or something.


Yeah me too. That's my main fear with them, that they're the precursor of something serious. But like I said, I've had them ever since I can remember, like going back to age four or five. And I do think that mine are more rare now than they used to be.


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## rusalka (Jan 12, 2004)

It could be calcium deficiency (leg cramps), that's what I read...


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## kikachuck (Nov 10, 2003)

I always get leg cramps at night when I don't drink enough water during the day.


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## Zephyr (Nov 8, 2003)

Aw, people...they're not cramps. I'll say it again: They're not cramps! :lol 

It's not in the muscle. It's not muscle cramps or spasms. It's right in the bone.


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## Zephyr (Nov 8, 2003)

quietstorm said:


> I think I know what you're talking about. Those type of pains are hard to explain, and I used to get them at night. What worked was putting long socks on my leg and warming it up as much as possible, including using a hot water bottle, and just sleeping like that. It helped me so I'm guessing it may be from drafts or cold air. :stu It happened to me even when I wasn't cold anywhere else. But the warm socks and heated water bottle helped alot.


Hi you must have posted right when I did. Yes I can try that next time they happen.


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## Argo (May 1, 2005)

Zephyr said:


> Aw, people...they're not cramps. I'll say it again: They're not cramps! :lol
> 
> It's not in the muscle. It's not muscle cramps or spasms. It's right in the bone.


Someone said calcium deficiency might be the cause. Wouldn't surprise if it was, since my calcium intake throughout my life has sucked. I never liked milk and though I eat cheese and such now and then, I think my eating of calcium-inclusive foods has definitely been below average.


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## Swiftwind (Feb 5, 2005)

I know what you mean by 'right in the bone'. It gets really painful and it feels like there's nothing you can do about it.


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## Zephyr (Nov 8, 2003)

Argo said:


> Zephyr said:
> 
> 
> > Aw, people...they're not cramps. I'll say it again: They're not cramps! :lol
> ...


For me I doubt it's a calcium deficiency since I've always had lots of milk. Unless it's an absorption problem, I don't know..


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## lildpt (Feb 26, 2006)

Hmm. calcium and potassium work oppositely. if one is high the other is low (and vise versa). i'd check out the potassium as i mentioned previously. but that's all im going to say about it now. i think you've recieved enough advise...


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