Wow this is a very enlightening series of emails. I have terrible cramps in my legs, arms, hands, feet, and sides. I am a regular coffee/tea/Dr Pepper drinker. I also have terrible diarrhea ~worse since I began Gleevec about 4 years ago~ which has been linked with a Diary Allergy. I have had a problem with low potassium and blood calcium levels which I thought might have caused the cramps, but I didn't notice any improvement in the cramps after having a potassium infusion and/or taking calcium supplements. I think I may try giving up caffeine. If it stops the cramps, it will be worth the sacrifice.
Thanks for sharing your experiences! Bobbie On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 5:16 PM, Patrick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > Boy, I love my chocolate milk. But while I was an > IKE<http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=ike+galveston&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title>refugee > I just got completely away from it. I was pleasantly surprised when > all the bloating I've dealt with on Gleevec went away. Glad I didn't part > with my "normal" size pants! And yes, I think the diarrhea was much better > as well. > > I don't drink any caffeine at all and haven't in about 20 years. (Just as a > side note some medications make me drowsy that aren't supposed to make you > drowsy. As one of my docs and I discussed it's a pretty good bet that 100% > of the people taking any drug in a clinical trial consume some amount of > caffeine so being a member of this particular minority means you are your > own guinea pig on some things.) > > As it happens I stopped caffeine because I was able to tie it to my > life-interrupting diarrhea way back after my HIV diagnosis but long before I > started any meds. How many people have a cup of coffee in the morning and > head straight to the toilet? > > I do get muscle cramps and I am going to see if they correlate with my > occasional cravings/consumption of chocolate. Yes, I know there's some > caffeine in chocolate I just never drink caffeinated beverages. Curse you, > Milton > Hershey<http://inventors.about.com/od/hstartinventors/a/Milton_Hershey.htm>! > The only thing that occurs to me is that caffeine is a vascular constrictor > which makes it useful fighting headaches. But makes it a dumb thing to put > in "fitness" drinks IMHO. Maybe that has something to do with it. > > Patrick > > ----- Original Message ----- > > *From:* Jim Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Wednesday, November 19, 2008 4:41 PM > *Subject:* [CMLHope] Re: Cramps - arms & legs > > > Hi Suzieq, > > I've been on gleevec for 74 months. I was diagnosed with CML on Sept 16, > 2002. > > I had leg, arm and hand cramps until about 1 year ago when my cramps > suddenly stopped for a few days and then started up again. I thought back on > what was different for me on those days and realized that I did not have any > caffeine. I stopped caffeine drinks and the cramps stopped. I seldom have > caffeine anymore and when I do, the cramps appear again. I had been taking > calcium for most of the six years but it didn't do much for my cramps, but I > am a vegitarian (almost vegan) so it helped there. A couple of years ago, I > discovered a similar situation with dairy products causing my diarrhea. > > The philosophy that works for me is: > > No Caffeine - No Cramps > > No Dairy - No Diarrhea. > > Jim > > > > > Another thing......I talked to her about the muscle > > cramps....as > > I've been having them in other places lately....like > > under my right > > arm (strange) & lower back....besides the usual leg > > and hand cramps. > > I told her that I had kicked up the calcium....she said > > that that was > > not the problem......it's the > > "drug"......Hmmmmm......they've not > > admitted that before, either. Could they actually be > > learning > > finally????? > > > > Love, Suzieq > > Counting down to my 5 yr. CML anniversary in Jan. > > > > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ [CMLHope] A support group of http://cmlhope.com ------------------------------------------------- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CMLHope" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/CMLHope -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
