Help! Restless legs!

[Strawberry]

I got really sick after the holidays, and now that the virus is gone I have really bad restless legs. Nothing is stopping it yet. I’ve taken so much magnesium, potassium, and baking soda and it will not touch it.

WHAT ELSE!

 

[junkcrap50]

You could have low iron/ferritin levels.

How much magnesium are you taking? I think there's a point at which you can't take enough Mg orally to keep restless legs away if you get too low or your legs get too bad.

 

[Strawberry]

It was well past tolerance... Maybe two heaping teaspoons? Also my iron has been very high for a few years so it doesn’t quite seem likely but I guess possible?

Also on top of the two large spoonfuls of magnesium calm last night, I took two nuun tablets this morning. I’m still extremely uncomfortable.

 

[Lovetheland]

Hi, I do exercise when I am trying to sit and it comes on, but I guess that would be difficult for you. It gets real bad with me if I get even a little bit warm in bed, so can't have warmer sheets in Winter. I have PHN, or known as the after affects of Shingles, and that has made it much worse at night. The last three nights I have taken a product called Stop Cramp, and it says it is good for RLS too, and it seems to have helped so far. However, I think it is only sold in New Zealand. I know what you mean though, it is a very annoying thing to get, and I have had it for over twenty years now. I have found a good site in www.healthline.com, and looked it up about RLS just before, and it says a lot about it on there. All the best on finding a cure

 

[junkcrap50]

Also on top of the two large spoonfuls of magnesium calm last night

If that's all you're taking per day, that's not enough and you can do much more. You should do that 3-4x/day. But spread out or else it'll give diarrhea. I take 1600mg of elemental magnesium a day. You should count how many milligrams of Mg/day you're taking.

You could try Magnesium Water: https://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2018/08/magnesium-water-updated-recipe/

Magnesium Bicarbonate has an absorption of 50-60% and it's easy to injest a lot of it. However, it too will give diarrhea if you take too much, despite the better absorption.

 

[Strawberry]

Normally magnesium calm is enough for me but it makes sense this virus depleted me. I’ll start taking more in increments

 

[Strawberry]

Sorry @Lovetheland i just now saw your post. Very good point about having a cold room. Normally I sleep cold but had just come back from warm Honolulu and was sick so had my window closed. I’ll open it tonight and see if it helps! I’ll have to look into stop cramp and see if there is an American similar supplement to try. Thankfully I haven’t had shingles, but I know everything will get worse on that day.

I’m really regretting that my doctor will no longer prescribe gabapentin, that would help big time right about now!

 

[Lovetheland]

Hi, it is a Homeaphic remedy, and I see it contains arnica, which is good for pain, mag phos, cuprum, and nux vum if that is any help. Hope something natural will help, as we get enough chemicals if our bodies I feel, from all the rubbish we breathe in, and eat

 

[kangaSue]

In researching taurine for something else, I came across a few blog or forum mentions about taurine being helpful for Restless Leg Syndrome.

I've also come across mention that RLS often occurs in a lot of people who have SIBO too.
https://chriskresser.com/4-little-known-causes-of-restless-legs-syndrome/

 

[PatJ]

In researching taurine for something else, I came across a few blog or forum mentions about taurine being helpful for Restless Leg Syndrome.

Here is a useful comment from mgk here on PR. I'm not sure which thread it's from:

Taurine keeps magnesium and potassium in the cell, but the body has trouble holding onto taurine in a zinc-deficient state (source: http://physrev.physiology.org/content/72/1/101). It has proved true in my experience as well. I've made more progress on my magnesium deficiency symptoms in the last 2 weeks than in the last several months just by adding in a well-absorbed form of zinc and adjusting the amount based on the taste test.

As an aside, I continue to be amazed at how ineffective a lot of supplements are, especially when it comes to minerals. I found out that I was deficient in zinc even though I had been supplementing with it for upwards of 5 months. The glycinate form is what I finally had some success with. I was using picolinate before that.

 

[soulflower]

I get restless leg - most exclusively at night when the room is warmer. I will often get up immediately as it starts and take magnesium in that moment. I am often able to fall back asleep within a short while if it worked. Works for me more often then not. Quite frustrating when it doesn't - sorry for others who get this experience as well.

Interesting @PatJ you mention taurine. I just had the issue with RLS alot and I was back on the 5hourenergy drink which does contain taurine.

 

[MTpockets]

Try taking some sodium. If your potassium gets to high it can cause the same symptoms as low potassium. I sometimes have luck with a swig of sea salt water before bed. Remember, with the electrolytes it's a constant balancing act.

 

[junkcrap50]

It has proved true in my experience as well. I've made more progress on my magnesium deficiency symptoms in the last 2 weeks than in the last several months just by adding in a well-absorbed form of zinc and adjusting the amount based on the taste test.

What did you notice and how did you know that taurine and zinc helped with magnesium levels.

 

[Cherry]

I got rid of my restless legs by taking iron supplements. scientific consensus article

 

[Strawberry]

I've been able to manage night time RLS with magnesium, although to bowel tolerance makes for many fast runs to the bathroom as soon as I wake up. I'm hoping my body normalizes soon, otherwise I will definitely look into iron, taurine, and zinc supplementation. Daytime I'm putting up with the achy legs as I can't be running down the hallway all day long...

 

[Rebeccare]

I don't know if this is for you, but I've used a brush to help manage restless leg syndrome. I have a surgical scrub brush (they're sometimes marketed as sensory brushes), and I use it to gently brush my legs when they're bursting with energy. This may be overstimulating for some people, but for me this stimulation actually helps my legs calm down.

 

[PatJ]

What did you notice and how did you know that taurine and zinc helped with magnesium levels.

That was part of mgk's comment that I posted. I've edited my post to make it more clear. I assume that mgk knew about taurine and zinc being linked to magnesium levels by reading the document posted in their comment (http://physrev.physiology.org/content/72/1/101).

 

[Frunobulax]

I got really sick after the holidays, and now that the virus is gone I have really bad restless legs. Nothing is stopping it yet. I’ve taken so much magnesium, potassium, and baking soda and it will not touch it.

Head over to the RLS forums at http://bb.rls.org/index.php. Plenty of good stuff there.

As someone with severe RLS myself, there are a number of things you can do. DIY remedies:

• Avoid all carbs, especially sugar. It triggers RLS for many people. Keto or paleo AIP is the way to go.
• Go on a low oxalate diet. There may be a dump phase so symptoms may get worse for a few days. Add plenty of magnesium and some calcium to flush out the oxalates.
• Avoid caffeine and artificial sweeteners, they trigger many people too.
• Stay away from baking soda. You want high stomach acid, not low.
• Make sure you take lots of vitamin B12. 1000 micrograms a day or more.
• Avoid everything that spikes dopamine (smoking, alcohol, drugs). It's possible that dopamine volatility contributes to RLS long term.
  However, many sufferers use THC or kratom to relieve their symptoms. I don't because I suspect that it will cause more damage in the long run even though it certainly helps short term.
• There are a gazillion things out there that help very few people. Try them all, one by one. There is nothing that helps most RLS sufferers (except for some heavy duty drugs like opioids and dopamine agonsts, which should be last resort though).

As for medical treatment: Get an iron IV. (Oral iron is absorbed very slowly. It will take months to see just a minor improvement.) Long discussions on that in the RLS forum. It's a recommendation from the IRLS study group: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389945717315599 (type and dosage included there).

Also my iron has been very high for a few years so it doesn’t quite seem likely but I guess possible?

Ferritin is high for anybody with silent inflammation. Brain autopsies of RLS patients revealed that all of them had iron deficiencies in the brain, despite many of them having normal blood ferritin levels. This meshes with the fact that iron IVs are just as likely to be efficient for people that have high ferritin values. However, the response rate to iron IVs is only 50% to 60%, so it may help but it's no guarantee.

 

[Likaloha]

I know many people are down on taking so many meds....especially ones that may have side effects....I tried everything under the sun and finally my doc prescribed clonazepam taken before bed and I can finally sleep without the terrible restlessness I used to get...My little brother has RLS too and the only thing helping him is clonazepam too...much better for me than constant problems the RLS caused!

 

[Lovetheland]

Hi, I used to lay on my stomach when it came on in bed before my neck got too sore to do that any longer. I would hook my toes on the bottom of the mattress and pull them up against it on and off for a while and that always seemed to ease it, as they go mad if they get even a bit warm. I found last night when they.started up that I could do it without laying on my stomach, just on my side, and such relief, yay. And if they come on when I am at home sitting down, I get up and I do some exercise on my Stair Stepper machine that I bought for five dollars, but I see you can buy a type that you can exercise your legs stirring down which is good for older people, not that I am young, lol, 77 later this Month