Vitamin D for Painful Nocturnal Leg Cramps

Stopped early · Not applicable · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Leg Cramps, Nocturnal

In brief

1. Research question: Does vitamin D reduce the frequency and severity of nocturnal leg cramps in older persons who previously took quinine for leg cramps? 2. Experimental Design: This is a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled study of 70 men and women veterans receiving care at the Madison VA Medical Center(VAMC) or at the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics (UWHC). Individuals age 50 or more who have previously taken quinine for nocturnal leg cramps and meeting baseline criteria are eligible to enroll. Enrollees meeting laboratory criteria, including low-normal vitamin D levels, will undergo a 2-week "diary run-in" period to confirm cramp frequency. Those who report two or more leg cramps in each week will continue in the study and will be randomized to vitamin D or placebo. After a two-week wash-in, subjects will take a vitamin D capsule (50,000 units) once daily for 10 days, followed by a once weekly vitamin D (50,000 units) maintenance dose for 7 weeks. Subjects will record by diary the number and severity of leg cramps from the start of the "diary run-in" until a week after the last dose of study drug. Study investigators will call subjects at scheduled intervals to assess compliance, tolerability, and diary use. 3. Major risks to subjects: No major risks are anticipated. Excessive vitamin D can increase blood calcium levels (hypercalcemia), with symptoms such as thirst, nausea, and weakness. However, symptomatic hypercalcemia has not been reported except for those taking more than 40,000 units daily for several months. This is far above the cumulative dose in our study. 4. Potential benefits: Subjects may not receive any benefit. Vitamin D may alleviate leg cramps for subjects who receive it. 5. Consent Procedure: Flyers describing the study and telephone contact information will be mailed to patients who have received quinine during the period 2002-2007. The PI or Co-PI will return calls to describe the study and answer any questions. For persons meeting preliminary (pre-lab) study criteria, two copies of the consent form will be mailed, with the patient mailing back one signed consent to the PI.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT00715429
Run by: University of Wisconsin, Madison
People needed: 29
Starts: 2007-08-01
Expected to finish: 2011-08-01
Last updated by the study team: 2019-09-17

Who can join

Age: 50 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

One or more prescription for quinine at the Madison VA in the last 5 years, or else be a UWHC (U Wisconsin Health Clinics) patient whose UWHC medication list had quinine listed in the last five years
At least 50 years of age, with women being past menopause. This is defined as the woman reporting no periods in the last 12 consecutive months or longer.
Leg cramps listed in medical record,
Ability \& willingness to give informed consent,
Stable estimated Glomerular filtration rate (GFR)>35 ml/min for the prior 6 mos,
No change in diuretic therapy in last 3 months,
Stable pattern of two or more cramps per week for past three months,
Ability to complete daily diary entry,
Post-consent: serum 25-OH of 20-45 ng/mL, albumin- corrected calcium <10.3 mg/dL, and urine calcium/creatinine ratio <0.25.

You may not qualify if…

Not receiving primary care at Madison VAMC, or at UWHC
Hyperparathyroidism (1°, 2°, or 3°),
Osteomalacia ,
Paget's disease,
Metastatic cancer,
Taking vitamin D 50,000 units capsules,
Serum Ca++ >10.3 mg/dL in subject chart,
Sarcoidosis or tuberculosis, and
Peripheral vascular disease or other condition confounding assessment of cramps.

Where it is running

University of Wisconsin — Madison, Wisconsin, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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