Condiment cure! Mustard may calm those leg cramps
Q: I’ve heard that yellow mustard will stop leg cramps. I get cramps frequently. Usually I manage them by drinking tonic water and walking up and down the street late at night.
Last night at 11, I got leg cramps in both legs; one was on the upper thigh and the other was on the back of my thigh in the other leg. I could hardly wobble about.
I went out to my car to get one of those mustard packets from fastfood places. I opened it up and squeezed it into my mouth. Honest — it stopped the cramps immediately.
A: Thank you for sharing your success with yellow mustard. Some athletic trainers believe that mustard or pickle juice restores electrolytes like sodium and potassium, but a study showed that could not be the explanation for such rapid relief ( Journal of Athletic Training, MayJune 2014).
Another explanation was discussed in The Wall Street Journal ( July 11, 2016). Research showing that pungent flavors like ginger, hot pepper and mustard flood the sensory neurons and overwhelm the misbehaving motor neurons responsible for muscle cramps.
Anyone who would like to learn more about managing muscle cramps and other common complaints may wish to read our book “The People’s Pharmacy Quick and Handy Home Remedies” (available at www.PeoplesPharmacy.com).
Q: My 8-year-old son had encopresis, which caused large bowel movements that clogged the toilet. The doctor had him on MiraLAX twice a day, but the drug caused him to have an accident at school. I felt so bad for him. We had to change schools because he was so embarrassed.
Now he is better and takes two fiber gummies, two probiotics and two vitamins after dinner. He is doing really well.
A: Children as well as adults can suffer from this condition. Symptoms can include constipation, days between bowel movements and abdominal pain. Some people have no symptoms but pass large BMs that clog the toilet.
Some people use magnesium supplements to solve the problem. Although this mineral can counteract constipation, there can be negative consequences from taking too much.
One reader reported this experience: “I thought I should take magnesium for my bowel problem. After three days of swallowing a 300 mg tablet each day, I now say: Don’t do it! Magnesium caused serious loose bowels and watery, explosive bowel movements.”
People differ in their reactions, and some tolerate 300 mg of magnesium daily. But it is worth remembering that even natural remedies can have unpleasant consequences.
Q: I’ve always had problems with insomnia. A few times every week I would get only two or three hours of sleep a night. Four months ago, I was lucky if I slept six hours even one night a week.
My doctor prescribed lorazepam. I take it nightly, and it seems to work most of the time. Nothing else worked: chamomile tea, warm milk or reading to relax.
I told him about my fear of addiction, and he said I should not worry unless I felt the need to take more than one tablet a night. He added that I might need to take these the rest of my life if I want to sleep at night. That worries me. What do you think about taking this medication for a long period of time?
A: Lorazepam (Ativan) is a benzodiazepine, meaning it belongs to a class of anti-anxiety agents like alprazolam (Xanax) and diazepam (Valium). The official prescribing information states that lorazepam is for “the short-term relief of the symptoms of anxiety” and doesn’t mention insomnia.
The Food and Drug Administration warns about adverse reactions such as depression, dizziness, unsteadiness, confusion and memory problems. Nine out of 10 studies in one review found an increased risk of dementia among longterm benzodiazepine users (Expert Opinion on Drug Safety, May 2015). Not all scientists are convinced that this is a problem, but your concern may have merit.
We are sending you our Guide to Getting a Good Night’s Sleep for information about sleeping pills and many other approaches to overcoming insomnia. This recently revised, 16-page downloadable guide is available at www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.
Q: Please let the FDA know that there is a problem with generic mirtazapine. It is not exactly the same as the brand-name antidepressant Remeron.
I was on Remeron for many years without any trouble. I had to switch to the generic because the brand is so expensive.
After two weeks on this drug, I am having a bad response. The consequences are serious for people like me who depend on the drug.
A: Other visitors to our website also have reported problems with mirtazapine (generic Remeron). We suggest that you report this problem to the FDA directly through www.fda.gov/Safety/ MedWatch.
Q: When I quit eating gluten, my migraines went away. Now if there is a little bit of gluten in something I eat at a friend’s house or a restaurant, I wake up with a migraine and know I ate the wrong thing. Have you heard of this?
A: Migraine headaches are frequently a symptom of celiac disease. In this autoimmune condition, gluten (a protein in wheat, barley and rye) triggers the immune system to attack the lining of the digestive tract and other tissues in the body.
You did not say if you have been tested for celiac disease, but you might want to discuss it with your doctor. A person with a celiac condition must be even more careful than you are, since exposure to gluten could have many serious health consequences.
Recent research shows that some people who don’t have celiac disease also react to gluten with symptoms like migraine headaches or digestive problems (Gut online, July 25, 2016).
Prior to this research, doctors often suspected that people who reported problems with gluten had active imaginations. This research shows, however, that many such individuals have significantly elevated markers of immune-system activation and of damage to the intestinal lining. These objective findings show that wheat sensitivity is not a fad.