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Cramps during bug-in

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rambojoe

rambojoe

Senior Member
Location
phoenix az
Occupation
Wireman
ATSman said:
I will refer you to this other thread: https://forums.mikeholt.com/threads/carpal-tunnel.2568193/
I will also report after taking HA for the past year the pain in my hands have gone away. I ran out of the HA pills around 2 mos. ago and have stopped them since. Also my work that involved manually switching of ATS (transfer switches) has slowed down considerably may be related to the pain going away. You did not state your age but that may be a consideration re: arthritis, CTS, bone problems, etc.
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What is "h.a."?
 
hbiss

hbiss

EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
Location
Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
Occupation
EC
LarryFine said:
They start after I lie down, and hurt so much that I have to get up and limp around bow-legged, even though it doesn't seem to help, with real tears of pain on my face, lasting about 15 minutes before slowly subsiding.
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That is a common side effect of taking a statin for cholesterol. Lipitor is the worst, also caused a urinary infection (smelly urine). Switched to Crestor. Cramps were less frequent but more severe and lasted longer. Sooo, I'm done with all of them. Rather die of clogged arteries than that pain.

-Hal
 
rambojoe

rambojoe

Senior Member
Location
phoenix az
Occupation
Wireman
Nerve lubricant!! Haha! Isn't that beer?! Kinda like mental floss? :)
The wife has been trying to push her MSM powder on me for 5 years now... a $100 dollar tub of some powder that is probably expired by now.

BTW, I'd go as far as saying come summer, all construction workers are endurance athletes- minus the actual sport...
 
ATSman

ATSman

ATSman
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
Occupation
Electrical Engineer/ Electrical Testing & Controls
rambojoe said:
Nerve lubricant!! Haha! Isn't that beer?! Kinda like mental floss? :)
The wife has been trying to push her MSM powder on me for 5 years now... a $100 dollar tub of some powder that is probably expired by now.

BTW, I'd go as far as saying come summer, all construction workers are endurance athletes- minus the actual sport...
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Ha! Yeah, Budweiser also works! ;)
Have heard of MSM but never tried it.
 
Doc13067

Doc13067

Senior Member
Location
Bucks County/Philadelphia, PA USA
LarryFine said:
I have gotten hand cramps after a long day of using hand tools, which I can ease by flattening my fingers, but the worst cramps I have ever had were on the insides of both of my thighs after a long day of ladder climbing.

They start after I lie down, and hurt so much that I have to get up and limp around bow-legged, even though it doesn't seem to help, with real tears of pain on my face, lasting about 15 minutes before slowly subsiding.

Fortunately, I haven't had them in several years.
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That is the absolute worst! I get up and just hold my bed post and lean over in agony while the wife doesn’t know whether to panic or just look at me like I’m insane.
 
Doc13067

Doc13067

Senior Member
Location
Bucks County/Philadelphia, PA USA
zbang said:
Not just the right amount of potassium- pinching certain nerves in the neck (between c5 and c6?) will also cause hands to cramp or go numb. If this happens mostly when tilting the head back, it's more likely to be a nerve problem (it's manageable but ask your doctor about it).
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Interesting. It definitely happens when im looking up and Im Hunched forward trying not to fall backwards so definitely some stuff going on with my spine.
 
A

alexfox1986

Member
Location
Manchester
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
LarryFine said:
I have gotten hand cramps after a long day of using hand tools, which I can ease by flattening my fingers, but the worst cramps I have ever had were on the insides of both of my thighs after a long day of ladder climbing.

They start after I lie down, and hurt so much that I have to get up and limp around bow-legged, even though it doesn't seem to help, with real tears of pain on my face, lasting about 15 minutes before slowly subsiding.

Fortunately, I haven't had them in several years.
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It's possible that the pain you experienced in your inner thighs was caused by muscle cramps or spasms due to overexertion and fatigue. Climbing ladders can be physically demanding and put a strain on the muscles in your legs, especially if you are carrying equipment or tools.

To help prevent muscle cramps and strains, it's important to properly warm up before climbing and take regular breaks to stretch and rest your muscles. It's also important to stay hydrated and maintain a healthy diet to help prevent muscle fatigue.

If you experience muscle cramps or spasms in the future, you can try stretching the affected muscles gently or massaging them to help relieve the pain. Applying heat or cold to the area may also be helpful.
 
G

garbo

Senior Member
Started getting bad leg cramps as a kid after swimming all day. Then if I worked long days in hot areas. Hands would cramp up after using hand tools for a halve hour or so. Mr family doctor had some blood test done but everything was normal so he recommended that I take over the counter antihistamines. Always get the leg cramps several hours after done working or middle of the night. The antihistamines tablets usually take away painful leg cramps. Growing up we used to call the Charlie horses. Worst part about some middle of the night leg cramps is up that I would limb around the next morning.
 
T

TVH

Senior Member
Doc13067 said:
Hey guys, very very often when I’m tying in to the utility lines my hands cramp up so bad that I have to put my tools down and use my other hand to pry open my fingers. This happens from holding the utility line while cutting it (sometimes with the hand that’s holding and sometimes with the hand that’s stripping insulation), holding a bug while torquing it, or just bending the wires where I need them.

I’m working with 12kv gloves that don’t fit great, very often a ladder that makes me have to reach a bit, and a good amount of time in the cold. I stretch beforehand a lot and drink lots of water and Powerade.

Is there anything I can buy to minimize this? If the ladder is taller or if gloves fit better can this be solved? I know this has happened to everyone so I’m curious what you guys did to solve it.
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Doc13067 said:
Hey guys, very very often when I’m tying in to the utility lines my hands cramp up so bad that I have to put my tools down and use my other hand to pry open my fingers. This happens from holding the utility line while cutting it (sometimes with the hand that’s holding and sometimes with the hand that’s stripping insulation), holding a bug while torquing it, or just bending the wires where I need them.

I’m working with 12kv gloves that don’t fit great, very often a ladder that makes me have to reach a bit, and a good amount of time in the cold. I stretch beforehand a lot and drink lots of water and Powerade.

Is there anything I can buy to minimize this? If the ladder is taller or if gloves fit better can this be solved? I know this has happened to everyone so I’m curious what you guys did to solve it.
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This would be considered a job related injiry and needs to be formally reported to your employer. Your employer would be responsible to arrange necessary medical attention under workmans compensation requirements. Also your company need to look at and implement a viable hand safety program to includ proper gloves, proper fitting gloves, work ergonomics, etc.
 
Doc13067

Doc13067

Senior Member
Location
Bucks County/Philadelphia, PA USA
TVH said:
This would be considered a job related injiry and needs to be formally reported to your employer. Your employer would be responsible to arrange necessary medical attention under workmans compensation requirements. Also your company need to look at and implement a viable hand safety program to includ proper gloves, proper fitting gloves, work ergonomics, etc.
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Ok thank you. I will send an email to myself and make sure I provide these resources for me 😂. The buck stops here! So it’s up to me to find my own solutions.
 
Doc13067

Doc13067

Senior Member
Location
Bucks County/Philadelphia, PA USA
garbo said:
Started getting bad leg cramps as a kid after swimming all day. Then if I worked long days in hot areas. Hands would cramp up after using hand tools for a halve hour or so. Mr family doctor had some blood test done but everything was normal so he recommended that I take over the counter antihistamines. Always get the leg cramps several hours after done working or middle of the night. The antihistamines tablets usually take away painful leg cramps. Growing up we used to call the Charlie horses. Worst part about some middle of the night leg cramps is up that I would limb around the next morning.
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Yeah I get them after doing a service too. Sometimes I jump out of bed in the middle of the night haha
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Occupation
EC
Doc13067 said:
Ok thank you. I will send an email to myself and make sure I provide these resources for me 😂. The buck stops here! So it’s up to me to find my own solutions.
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Reminds me of a T shirt ad I recently seen,

if you see me apparently talking to myself
don't be alarmed I am self employed
we are currently having a staff meeting

or something very close to that anyway.
 
ptonsparky

ptonsparky

Tom
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
kwired said:
Reminds me of a T shirt ad I recently seen,

if you see me apparently talking to myself
don't be alarmed I am self employed
we are currently having a staff meeting

or something very close to that anyway.
Click to expand...
Yes, strikes home. I screwed up but still managed to live through a DA attack. The rectal reaming I gave, was pretty severe as I took myself to the Dr.
 
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