Researchers reported in the journal Hypertension (September 2005) that women who regularly rely on more than 500 mg. of acetaminophen daily almost doubled their risk of developing high blood pressure. Although aspirin was not implicated, other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen were associated with higher blood pressure in this study.
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I get terrible cramps in my feet and lower legs at night. I take atenolol, Norvasc, tolazamide, Lasix and Diovan for diabetes and heart failure. Neither my cardiologist nor my primary physician has had any success helping me with these leg cramps. I'd be grateful for any remedies.
Some of your medications may be contributing to muscle cramps, but you can't afford to stop taking them. With your medical conditions, you also need to be careful about home remedies. Pickle juice, a favorite of some leg-cramp sufferers, is too high in sodium for you.
You may want to try sleeping with soap. As strange as it sounds, many readers report that when an ordinary bar of soap is placed under the bottom sheet, it prevents leg cramps. Others say a spoonful of yellow mustard can stop cramps in seconds.
Joe Graedon, a pharmacologist, and Teresa Graedon, an expert in medical anthropology and nutrition, can be reached at http://www.peoplespharmacy.com .
