Hi Sandy! So glad to see and talk to you too!
Actually, your question about leg muscle cramps can in fact be an herbal medicine question! Your question is also a synchronicity for me because, among the herbal information I've been reading is material on perimenopause/menopause. According to what I've been reading, it's a gradual process that usually starts sometime in a woman's 40's (though it can start as early as age 35) and can last for several years. I'll be 42 in a couple of weeks, and I'm already experiencing some of the many symptoms. At any rate, leg and foot cramps (as well as numbness, aching, or twitchiness in the legs and feet) are some of the symptoms I've just recently been reading about. These symptoms can also be due to other causes as well, but for those of us in our 40's, this seems a likely possibility; you can let your own intuition be the judge for you.
As Kim has already mentioned, one part of the recommended treatment is to ingest more calcium. Good low-calorie vegetarian dietary sources of calcium are leafy greens, especially collard, mustard, turnip and dandelion greens, and kale, as well as broccoli, and several types of seaweeds. In addition, miso, oats, and many types of beans, as well as figs, almonds, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, and sesame and sunflower seeds, are good vegetarian calcium sources. (Apparently, some greens that contain calcium, such as beet greens, swiss chard, and spinach contain oxalic acid, which inhibits the absorbtion of calcium, so, even though they're good for you, they aren't the most ideal of all calcium choices). In order to increase the absorbtion of the calcium you eat, it helps to increase the hydrochloric acid in your stomach by drinking lemon juice with water, or using calcium-rich herbal vinegars, during the meal.
Also, I found the following tea recipe, "Menopause High-Calcium Formula" by the herbalist Rosemary Gladstar from her book "Herbal Healing for Women," which contains many of the recommended calcium-rich herbs I've seen mentioned again and again in different books:
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* 1 part comfrey
* 1 part oatstraw
* 1 part horsetail
* 1 part borage
* 2 parts nettle
* 3 parts peppermint
* 1 part chamomile
Mix herbs together and adjust flavors to suit your taste. Use 4-6 tablespoons per quart of water. Pour boiling water over the herbs and let steep for 30 minutes. Drink 2-4 cups daily.
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Many herbalists seem to prefer getting your calcium from food, since food also contains a bunch of other minerals needed for bone strength and the like. However, if you'd like to add a supplement too, they recommend that calcium be taken with magnesium in a 2:1 ratio. Many sources recommend 1000 mg of calcium (in the form of calcium citrate for more absorbability) and 500 mg of magnesium per day (in the form of magnesium gluconate, chelate, or citrate). Often, you can find combined calcium/magnesium supplements. Dolomite, bone-meal and oyster-shell calcium supplements should be avoided since they can contain traces of lead and other undesirable minerals.
Also, it's really important, from what I've been reading, to do some form of exercise, daily if possible. I finally did start exercising on our home treadmill again, just three days a week for now (in order to invoke as little of my resistance as possible!

), doing a multi-week routine that builds up slowly from walking to running by interspersing periods of walking with running for 20 minutes, then over weeks, gradually increasing the percentage of time running until you're running for the whole 20 minutes. I've made it to about week 5 now without stopping (yay!

), and am really finally starting to feel a lot better because of it.
Finally (gee, this post is getting long!

), if you're looking for excellent multi vitamin/mineral supplements, I can highly recommend USANA (
http://www.usana.com . We get the "Essentials" packs monthy, which include "mega-antioxidants" and "chelated minerals"), even though they are a little pricey, and I think you can only order them from a USANA distributor (a friend of ours used to be a distributor then later quit, but we somehow still ended up in their system as "preferred customers" and can continue ordering them for ourselves). My sweetheart Ron and I have been taking them for 3 or 4 years now, and neither of us has gotten sick or even caught a cold once since we started taking them, so it's been worth it.
Anyway, there's tons of information available on all this stuff (my head is nearly spinning with it all these days

), but this is probably enough to get you started!
Love and Blessings

,
Debbie