I've had the leg cramps for years. I only get them when I eat too many carbohydrates. This is why I'm so careful what I eat -- because my sugar rarely goes up, but I get woken up at 2 am in agony. It can take 20 minutes of direct ice (yes, it burns my leg) to get the cramp to stop and I can never get back to sleep.
If I eat anything with white potatoes I'll be guaranteed to wake up with a leg cramp. If I eat too much bread, same thing happens.
I can go months without a cramp then I slip up and eat the wrong thing and bam, serious pain. Sometimes it takes me a while to wake up and the cramps are so bad that for the next few days it hurts to walk.
I only get cramps in my calves. They are so severe you can not only feel the muscle palpitating but you can see the deep indentation in my leg where the muscle is constricted.
Most foods high in potassium are high in sugar and/or carbs, so that won't help me.
I asked my diabetiologist about this many years ago and he gave me an explanation that made sense, something about the sugar and viscosity. I can't remember his explanation after 10 years
