Lexii, it's not just salt in your diet that causes cramps. Apparently there has to be the right balance of sodium, potassium and magnesium in your diet to stop them, and when those are out of whack, then you get cramps.
My father gets shocking leg cramps and found a herbal chewy tablet which stops them in their tracks. They're small, sweet, white and slightly chalky. I tried it and it works very well. Go to the health food shop and buy a bottle of Schluessler Tissue Salts, Muscle Relaxant (Mag Phos). If you can't guess already, they are a magnesium and potassium tablet. In my local shop, 100 tabs will set me back about $8.
I keep them on my bedside table so that if one strikes in the middle of the night, I grab a tab and chew. Dissolving them like that means it enters your blood stream quicker. It can take 3-4 tabs to get rid of the cramp, and the most I've ever had to chew is 12 for a really serious one.
Also I have found a bit of Tiger Balm (another herbal cream - it smells brillo and it's similar to Deep Heat but better for you) rubbed into the cramping muscle can help. But the problem with this is that you have to then get up and go wash your hands thoroughly - you don't want to get Tiger Balm in your eyes because you're rubbing them while waking up in the morning...
