You’re deep in sleep when it hits you—a sudden, stabbing pain in your calf that yanks you out of dreamland like a fire alarm. Your leg locks, the muscle twists hard, and for a moment you can’t even breathe. It’s a charley horse: sharp, relentless, and completely uninvited.
And once the pain fades, the question always lingers—why do these cramps strike out of nowhere, especially in the middle of the night?