Synonyms
Clonus, spasmgl. : convulsion
Therapy
The treatment depends on the underlying disease causing the cramps. Convulsions are not a disease, but a symptom that can be treated in most cases. However, it is also important to diagnose the triggering cause, as otherwise cramp-like symptoms can return.
Muscle cramps can be alleviated in the long term by the administration of magnesium (e.g. preparations from Biolectra) or even treated completely. In most cases one simply tries therapy with magnesium without a blood test. If the cramp-like symptoms disappear after the regular administration of minerals, one knows that it must have been a deficiency of the corresponding substance.
Cramp-like complaints of the gastrointestinal tract can be treated symptomatically with Buscopan® Buscopan®. It is important to note that Buscopan should not be given in cases of a so-called “acute abdomen“, which is associated with severe pain and a stomach as hard as a board. The active ingredient butylscopolamine contained in Buscopan is intended to reduce cramps in the gastrointestinal tract of the uterus and the urinary organs. The treatment of menstrual pain can usually be treated with Ibuprofen.
Therapy of neurological spasms
Neurological seizures are treated with so-called antiepileptic drugs once the diagnosis has been made. These include: Carbamazepine, chloral hydrate, clonazepam, ethosuximide, lamotrigine, potassium bromide and many others. All these drugs have in common that they raise the seizure threshold, making a seizure unlikely.
At the beginning of an antiepileptic therapy, one must more or less approach the sufficient dose before maintaining it for a few years. Whether one then reduces the therapy again or even tries to stop it depends, among other things, on whether the seizure has developed in young years or in older years, whether it was the first seizure or whether there have been several. If the first seizure occurs at a young age, an attempt can be made to reduce the medication after a few months of treatment and even to stop it at some point.
Then it has to be observed whether a seizure does not occur without treatment. In this case the treatment can be stopped. The probability that after a single seizure at a young age the medication can be discontinued one day is very high. In contrast, a history of multiple seizures in an elderly patient is an indication that the anti-epileptic therapy should be continued.
