Merrill and foot cramps

I have a small glass of tonic water every morning and haven't had painful leg cramps since (until I stop drinking the tonic water and then a couple weeks later...ouch). I also wear Merrill's with SuperFeet inserts (the lime green ones). Used to be after a full day of tramping around the ball of my left foot would be sore. Inserts solved that instantly. Buy on-line (o/a $30 I think). Can be switched from one pair of shoes to another.

I'm no expert on foot problems, but I have my own. I wear Merrells some and have liked them a lot. I used a stretcher to expand the front area of the shoe and use SuperFeet arch supports in them. This works for me, but I still don't wear them all the time. The most comfortable shoe for me, with my bunions and flat feet, are Keens. They have a wide front foot and a good insert, which I alternate with the SuperFeet arch supports. It seems to me that your high arch could be a problem. Some drugs lead to foot cramps; I've had that, too.

If this has only happened the one time, I wouldnt' necessarily blame the shoes. It could be the way you were sleeping, or perhaps your body is low in potassium, that causes cramps.

I know that I get foot cramps in the middle of the night, and MAN are they painful!

If this happens more frequently, then I'd look to the shoes.

Maybe keep a journal of the cramps, see if it happens again after you wear these shoes. This could be a one time problem...but you need to keep track to see.

When I talked to my doctor about my leg and foot cramps, which were not helped by plenty of potassium and calcium in my diet, he recommended drinking some tonic water with quinine everyday. Some tonic water does not contain quinine, so reads labels carefully.

Quinine can not be prescribed as a medication for this ailment in the US (it is an anit-malarial drug), but many people report that it works for them; it works for me!

I always thought it was the gin in a gin and tonic that made it taste...hmmm...blech...but I have found that I really don't care for the taste of the tonic water itself. I make sure it's cold, which helps some, and often I will use pieces of frozen fruit i.e., a few strawberries) as ice cubes.

Another thing relating to potassium depletion -- if you are taking any anti-hypertensive medications, you should check with your doctor to see if any of them are potassium depleting. I usually have to "stock up" potassium about once a week to make sure I don't get foot/toe cramps.

I am another quinine user. I have the pills but find that the tonic water gets the quinine into the system faster and provides faster relief. This is useful for cramps in any part of the body.

Thanks to all of you who replied..it is so great that people are so helpful..appreciatively, Gerri

Typically, cramps are from dehydration. If you've been walking more than normal and not drinking a lot of water, that's more than likely the problem. We used to take salt tablets to counter cramps when I was a swimmer, now it's been decided that your body needs water more than salt.

My wife gets cramps in her feet or legs occasionally. Usually it's because she hasn't been drinking any milk.

Like Brad's wife, I find that if I haven't had enough milk for the day I will quite often get leg or foot cramps during the night. On trips when I know I won't get much or any milk, I make sure to take calcium tablets. From the great info here I'm going to try quinine next time to see if that helps too.