Carbonfiberboy 

And now you have me scared. I've recently had a couple of accidents (skiing, not biking) and have been sitting for unusually long periods, though never for more than 1-2 hours. Now I've developed weird cramping in my right quad - like 10% of the muscle and always in the same place, and usually after I just get up from sitting and go down stairs. Never had anything like it. Seems to be getting worse. I'm trying to get back to it and have started doing easy roller rides and it even cramps on the rollers, though I can ride through it. This morning I went for a walk and it cramped then, too.

enfilade

I've had cramps and pins and needles for a while now. Slightly worried about what's going on as well.

Genetics must play a part. Poor circulation runs in my family. My mother's hands go white when it's cold. My feet go pale and icy cold when I stop exercising. I need rest to heal the tendons, but movement to get blood to them :/

I suppose it's everything in moderation, seems like the healthiest option.

And some alcohol to thin the blood. Maybe that'd help circulation on the long haul flights, providing you weren't dehydrated.

Enthalpic

If you're really curious consult this article.

Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2004 Jul;28(1):1-8.
Non-traumatic lower limb vascular complications in endurance athletes. Review of literature.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...m&ordinalpos=3
Ehsan O, Darwish A, Edmundson C, Mills V, Al-Khaffaf H.

Department of Vascular Surgery, Burnley General Hospital, Burnley, Lancashire, UK.

OBJECTIVES: To review the importance, clinical features, investigations, management and prognosis of non-traumatic vascular injuries, affecting the lower limbs of endurance athletes. DESIGN: Review of literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A literature search was conducted from Medline, Pubmed, the National Electronic Library for Health, Google and Yahoo search engines for related articles and case reports regarding non-traumatic vascular complications involving the lower limb of endurance athletes. CONCLUSIONS: Non-traumatic vascular complications affecting the lower limbs include endofibrosis, stenosis/kinking of iliac arteries, dissection of external iliac artery, adductor canal syndrome, popliteal entrapment syndrome, chronic exertional compartment syndrome and effort-induced venous thrombosis. These are important as they affect athletes at the peak of their career and can be confusing to diagnose. The management is relatively well documented and produces good results in short term but the long term results are not known.

enfilade

Do you have to pay for the full article?

I couldn't find a way to download it.

jdon

Alcohol dehydrates which is what you don't want. Take a low dose Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) daily until you can see a doctor for an Ultrasound.

On genetics, I would also recommend a Leiden Factor 5 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factor_V_Leiden )blood test to determine if you have a clotting tendency.

coasting 

there are a whole bunch of anti clotting foods which basically work by making the platelets tend to stick together less. A few examples are onion, garlic, cinnamon, black grapes, cayenne pepper, apple cider vinegar, green tea etc. there are a lot more. may well improve circulation generally. but if you are feeling the pins and needles, don't delay and go see the GP. if there is a problem they can put you on preventative drugs immediately. don't assume it's nothing. assume it is something until the professionals tell you otherwise.

do some surfing for anti clotting foods and you will be surprised.

plodderslusk

Thanks for valuable input Machka, and I hope you have a quick recovery. I went twice to Hawaii (from Norway) this last year and both times I had a bad time with my calves. Most people around seemed fine but on the long leg from LA to London I had to move around a lot because my lower legs were restless and swollen. (no alcohol on BA and I drank alot of other fluids). I also wonder if my cyclist legs are more prone to this problem and consider using pressure stockings for my next long flight.

coasting 

it looks like it can happen to anybody irrespective of fitness.

some sports news today. national team level pro sportmen can get it randomly too.

https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...rs/8503800.stm

Machka 

One again it makes me think that fit people are quite possibly more prone to developing DVT than a) researchers etc. think they are; and b) than perhaps the "average" person who is neither obese and sedentary nor particularly athletic.

If you start looking you'll discover all sorts of athletes who have developed DVT.

And I still think it has something to do with the lower resting heart rate.

Kolelo

I've had chronic problems with DVT...

Warning signs for me were:

• bad veins in left leg
• hard to bruise or get skin scratched ie my blood was thick
• legs falling asleep after a few min of sitting such as on the toilet, etc.
• computer related periods of inactivity at work and home

Day of first DVT I did a lot of squating installing new door nobs around my house followed by 2-3 hours on the PC. The squating injured my already bad left leg veins triggering the initial DVT which then continued to clot up my whole left leg during the evening and night. In the morning I could hardly walk due to pain.

Spent a year on a blood thinner. Now I excersise - lost 35 lbs. and take a lot of supliments:

• Fish Oil- daily to twice daily
• Flax Seed Oil- daily
• Butcher's Broom - almost daily
• Horse Chessnut Complex - every 3 or 4 days
• Vitamin A, E, D, Baby Aspirin - every other day
• Folic Acid - daily
• Nato Kinase - every once in a while or when I feel leg pain (can help disolve clots, only natural substance to do so)
• Apple Cider Vinerger with mother - 2-3 times a week with honey and water
• Garlic

I reclotted a few months ago for no apperant reason other than spending a weekend being inactive and trying a new suppliment black current seed oil which is supposed to help prevent clots but could have had the opposite effect on me, who knows.

A routine of excersise and the supplements have helped me. Long trips and drives have been OK. Just had to make sure I took more of the blood thinning stuff - aspirin, vit E, etc. as well as get out and walk, fidgit my feet and legs.

Also, I have to watch my vit. K intake as it tends to help the blood clot up.

coasting 

you may want to think about drinking green tea. most of what you list I've seen advised for clot prevention and blood thinning, but green tea is also given as a drug interaction warning for anticlotting drugs for perhaps over thinning. So even the drug companies accept that green tea is an effective blood thinner.

Kolelo

Yes, I do drink green tea as well... about 3 - 4 times a week. I forgot to list niacin (daily) which is great for circulation.

The vein specialist I went to said one way to look at DVT is as the body's way of trying to correct an unhealthy vein by clotting and closing it up just as they do through lazer treatments for varicous veins. That is an interesting perspective to consider when talking about athletes who may damage healthy veins and capilaries through over use and over exertion over a period of time.

Machka 

Doesn't green tea have high levels of Vit K?

Kolelo

not too high, if you drink it in moderation.

CdCf

It could just as well be that people who exercise a lot have a better knowledge of their own bodies, and notice small changes more easily, and/or are better at understanding that the pain/problem is unusual and not likely to be connected to any other activity.

coasting 

i know what you are getting at. vit K hinders blood thinners like warfarin but not anti platelets drugs like clopidogrel which acts by limiting the platelets from sticking together. Warfarin works differently. I think i read something about preventing the fibrin forming the fibres that start the clot and vit K promotes this effect thus countering the warfarin. Green tea apparently is an anti platelet and so acts in the same way as the clopidogrel and so may over-do it.