Creeping Up On Me

Where would I be if I didn't take this stuff? I'm talking about Calcium tablets. Many years ago I would get cramps in my toes while laying in bed at night, trying to fall asleep. I found that if I kept my feet warm, it helped, but eventually I turned to calcium tablets. I am a big milk drinker so you would think that I would not have a calcium deficiency. A few years ago, the cramps no longer bothered me, at least not the ones in the toes and feet. It was now the calf muscles that would seize and knot, causing me to jump out of bed and straighten out my legs to release the tightness and pain. Busylizzy informed me that I needed magnesium with the calcium so I added the monster pills to my morning breakfast, which was now starting to resemble a pharmacy heist. There was already the daily multi-vitamin for overall health, the D3 tablets for my skin problems and immunity, the B12 for my energy levels which are almost always at or near zero, the Mannatech Ambrotose capsules which help my cells communicate with each other ( do they text message?) the Glucosomine for my aching and depleted cartilage in my aging joints, and the magic pill with the Saw Palmetto in it for the plumbing problems that more being prevented right now. I have had to cut my breakfast intake in half to make room in my stomach for all the pills.

But I digress. The leg cramps are creeping ever upwards. Last night I awoke with a big snake in the back of my thigh, squirming and writhing and eventually biting me, very hard. It was a 'Charlie Horse', the kind of thigh cramp that make those big burly football linebackers curl in a ball in the middle of a stadium full of 60,000 people and cry like a baby from the pain. They are often carried off with a stretcher or by two other 300 pound gorillas. But not me. I suffered in silence and sat in as a calm a state as possible, gently massaging the knot and not daring to stand up. (I tried that immediately and decided I would have to get busylizzy to call 911 if I tried that again.) After 15 minutes, it finally settled down and I eased myself back under the covers, only to bolt up again when the other leg did the same thing. As I sat there yearning for a pain free sleep, I realised the cramps were progressing upward, from the toes, to the calves, and now the thighs. In my half asleep state, I imagined that the ultimate cramp is in the heart muscle, which almost always results in death. As I prodded and massaged my other thigh, the thought occurred to me that I was half way there.