post diving cramps

[AfterDark]

V8 juice works for me. Lots of Potassium. Without it I cramp like crazy. Sports drinks work but have a lot of sugar and not as much potassium.

I only drink sugarless anything. How much potassium daily?

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

The hand cramps yes only after diving, but there are other times when other parts of my body will cramp after extended exercise. Such as I mentioned after paddling the yak around all day. The hamstring cramps were due IMO to lack of doing that motion. That finning motion is hard to duplicate in a gym. As soon as I switched over to a frog kick the leg cramps stopped. Its the post diving cramps that give me pause to think someting might be wrong.

Thanks for clarifying. It's interesting that the only time the hand cramps happen is after diving, and the mechanism may or may not be the same as the cramps you get from other types of exercise. A lot of different things can cause hand cramps; hyperventilation and an inadequate level of calcium are a couple, though yours may well be related to something else. Lab tests aren't a bad idea, but a basic metabolic panel doesn't include calcium so it might be beneficial to have an ionized calcium level drawn at the same time.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[AfterDark]

I only drink sugarless anything. How much potassium daily?

Since I posted this I checked my vitamin / mineral tablets and didn't find potassium listed on the label. Will be getting some this week, see what happens. Got the same cramp in the fingers of the left hand, Monday out of the blue so doubtful it is dive related, I haven't dived in a week.

 

[AfterDark]

So here's an update. I've been taking 200mg of potassium daily for the last 3 weeks. I did 7 dives in NC last week. Not one cramp! I did 2 dives back here in NE Sunday, 60F water temp, No cramps! We require a lot of potassium, 1600 to 2000 mg daily! Thanks everyone!