OT Restless Leg Syndrom

[B&Bforever]

Hi Folks

RLS has been so bad lately. Any ideas on how to help without prescription meds.

Thanks

 

[Swimalie]

Sorry to hear that. My dad has had it for years and is on prescription meds for it. It is the only thing that helps his. I keep telling him he has to stop training for his next triathlon when he sleeps

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

I have it and the best things that have helped have been keeping my legs propped up when I am watching TV above my heart (I just use the arm of the couch), taking my multi-vitamin at night with krill oil and aspirin with water and eliminating all caffeine or carbonated beverages. I have an allergy to aspirin at certain levels so we just keep it under that amount and of course lots of exercise (I am training for a half marathon so I run a lot). If I skip any of those steps, I usually end up paying for it, especially if I haven't been drinking a lot of water.

I hope you find something that works. I know quite a few people have had their doctors prescribe those special socks but I haven't tried them.

 

[loveysbydesign]

I use Hylands Restless Legs homeopathic, all natural pills that I get at Walmart. They work wonders. I also like their Calms Forte for when I just can't get to sleep.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

Stay hydrated and take some magnesium.

 

[ajk912]

I have not been officially diagnosed with this but after googling it I do have the symptoms. I notice that staying active helps IMMENSELY. I have been inside because of heat and work, and haven't been going to the gym or walking/ running- uh, really at all. I notice that when I give my legs a good, hard cardio workout I am symptomless. They aren't restless/jittery at all!! They are just too exhausted to be jittery I think.

 

[teacup princess]

My mom keeps a bottle of mustard by her bed and takes a couple shots of it in the middle of the night when her restless leg is bad. She and my uncle swear by it. Try it!! I'm interested to hear if this really works or if they are both getting a little senile . I've also heard drinking pickle juice helps. (I think it has something to do with the vinegar.)

Also, drinking a bottle of gatorade before bed is sometimes helpful as it keeps you hydrated and replaces electrolytes.

 

[everylastbreath]

This is seriously going to sound ridiculous, but here goes.... I was having a problem with RLS a while back, it was just starting to get annoying and I asked my sister (who is a nurse) to get some info. on it for me, well.. she asked around some friends and someone at the hospital told her to tell me to put a bar of soap in the bed, under the sheet... she called to tell me, as I laughed at her, she said what have you got to lose? ok, I tried it... amazingly enough it actually worked! It has no scientific basis, who knows if it actually did anything but I know it worked for me. I know I still have RLS because when I start to get tired, my legs start up- especially when traveling on a plane at night!! It's horrible.

Give it a shot, Good luck! Please let me know if it worked for you.

 

[webprinter]

I have a bad case of it (for the past 20-30 years) and have tried almost every medication there is but they all put me to sleep during the day to the point where I fall asleep driving. I flew to Seattle to visit my mom and dad about a year ago and forgot to bring my Mirapex with me. I just about went crazy the first night. The next day I went to the healthfood store and purchased an all natural topical liquid called Nighttime leg calm by Natures Inventory. If you want the website, let me know and I will give it to you. It is a blend of essential oils and works well. It is about $16 or so for a bottle that lasts for months.

 

[branv]

This is seriously going to sound ridiculous, but here goes.... I was having a problem with RLS a while back, it was just starting to get annoying and I asked my sister (who is a nurse) to get some info. on it for me, well.. she asked around some friends and someone at the hospital told her to tell me to put a bar of soap in the bed, under the sheet... she called to tell me, as I laughed at her, she said what have you got to lose? ok, I tried it... amazingly enough it actually worked! It has no scientific basis, who knows if it actually did anything but I know it worked for me. I know I still have RLS because when I start to get tired, my legs start up- especially when traveling on a plane at night!! It's horrible.

Give it a shot, Good luck! Please let me know if it worked for you.

I've read this time and time again. I also remember them bringing it up in the column, I think it's called "People's Pharmacy". The doc had heard from tons of people saying it worked for them. He couldn't explain it, didn't get it, but considering it was harmless and truly seemed to work for people, actually saw no harm in himself recommending it.

I know it tends to be more for leg cramps, but I've also read of people with RLS saying that quinine had helped them. So they drank tonic water every day (just make sure it doesn't conflict with anything else you may have or are taking).

DH has RLS, but they found that it was something that really only occurred (and got worse) when he wasn't getting enough sleep. They also did a sleep study on him and found that he wasn't entering deep enough sleep for long enough. They put him on Neurontin and he no longer deals with RLS (well, unless something else ends up disturbing his sleep for too many nights), and he's not exhausted all the time like he was. I only mention this b/c while I know you don't want to go on meds, there could be more going on than just the RLS. And, at least in DH's case, sleep deprivation was way more harmful physically and emotionally than taking this medication.

 

[bumbershoot]

I started to suffer from this while pregnant. Wow is it maddening!

For some reason, I started taking a Cal/Mag pill. It's important to keep those two in good balance, so I didn't want to just take magnesium, and the pills had it in the right ratio. So I started taking the pills, and it STOPPED.

NOt only that, but my sleep got better, too. Turns out cal/mag is known for both of these things.


Just looked up mustard, and it has a good amount of magnesium in it...in an article I saw they said it was the turmeric, and turmeric has magnesium in it. Nice!

Hope you get some relief. Not sure what exactly makes it so hard to deal with, but it's just awful!

 

[apnep]

someone at the hospital told her to tell me to put a bar of soap in the bed, under the sheet...

I have heard this works too!

Ang

 

[jstbcuz]

I take a Cal/Mag pill too.......mine is chelated which is supposed to be better, and is one pill for both so I dont have to figure out how much of this or that to take.

 

[Nette]

I started to suffer from this while pregnant. Wow is it maddening!

For some reason, I started taking a Cal/Mag pill. It's important to keep those two in good balance, so I didn't want to just take magnesium, and the pills had it in the right ratio. So I started taking the pills, and it STOPPED.

NOt only that, but my sleep got better, too. Turns out cal/mag is known for both of these things.


Just looked up mustard, and it has a good amount of magnesium in it...in an article I saw they said it was the turmeric, and turmeric has magnesium in it. Nice!

Hope you get some relief. Not sure what exactly makes it so hard to deal with, but it's just awful!

I also take a cal/mag/zinc supplement. I can tell when I miss it. You can also soak in a hot bath with epsom salts (mag is easily absorbed in the skin).

Iron deficiency or folate deficiency can also cause RLS symptoms. Don't take iron without having your serum ferritin checked (NOT you hemoglobin as that can be "normal" and you could still be lacking in free iron in your bloodstream.)

Also search for foods that are dopamine agonists (NOT antagonists). More dopamine has been shown to reduce RLS symptoms. Ripe bananas are good for this. There are even sites that tell you how to make a banana tea to get high -- I don't recommend going that far. For me a ripe banana or two per day seems to reduce the pain enough to "ignore" it and get to sleep.

Good luck. RLS is one of the worst feelings in the world.

 

[Chicago]

I also take a cal/mag/zinc supplement. I can tell when I miss it. You can also soak in a hot bath with epsom salts (mag is easily absorbed in the skin).

Iron deficiency or folate deficiency can also cause RLS symptoms. Don't take iron without having your serum ferritin checked (NOT you hemoglobin as that can be "normal" and you could still be lacking in free iron in your bloodstream.)

Also search for foods that are dopamine agonists (NOT antagonists). More dopamine has been shown to reduce RLS symptoms. Ripe bananas are good for this. There are even sites that tell you how to make a banana tea to get high -- I don't recommend going that far. For me a ripe banana or two per day seems to reduce the pain enough to "ignore" it and get to sleep.

Good luck. RLS is one of the worst feelings in the world.

I, too, suffered for years until just a few months ago. I completely agree with this poster. I take 1 iron pill and 1 calc/mag/zinc (builds bones/teeth combo vitamin) pill. I found that I have to take it immediately before bed. I tried it during different times of the day and that time works the best. The only downside is that I find that I get VERY warm for a short period during the night, but it is better than RLS.

 

[alwaysmom]

This is seriously going to sound ridiculous, but here goes.... I was having a problem with RLS a while back, it was just starting to get annoying and I asked my sister (who is a nurse) to get some info. on it for me, well.. she asked around some friends and someone at the hospital told her to tell me to put a bar of soap in the bed, under the sheet... she called to tell me, as I laughed at her, she said what have you got to lose? ok, I tried it... amazingly enough it actually worked! It has no scientific basis, who knows if it actually did anything but I know it worked for me. I know I still have RLS because when I start to get tired, my legs start up- especially when traveling on a plane at night!! It's horrible.

Give it a shot, Good luck! Please let me know if it worked for you.

This does work!!! I've been sleeping with a bar of Ivory under the sheets for a good 6-8 months. I had to go off my Neurontin which I took for years. A couple weeks ago I went a week without the soap, legs drove me nuts.

Don't know why it works, it just does.

 

[vettechick99]

Does everyone know that Benadryl makes RLS worse? I had them awful my first pregnancy and I didn't realize til this one that it was the Benadryl. I now take Unisom to help me sleep and my RLS is way better. Still there, but way better.