Rls and food: Hi everybody and a happy... - Restless Legs Syn...

Restless Legs Syndrome

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Rls and food

Hooc profile image
Hooc
14 Replies

Hi everybody and a happy new year.

I have recently becoming very blasé about my Rls because I have had such a good run until recently. I've enjoyed good sleep and managed my rls until the last two nights. I did not sleep a wink last night and I'm trying to make some sense about my condition. I'm currently on Pramipexole .35mg. And I use a tens machine and do exercises which has been very beneficial for me but last night was a horror story, the only thing that I wondered could have triggered it off again that I had I glass of orange juice late on and maybe the acid effected me in some way and the fact that I am eating more and putting on weight although I exersizes most days and try to keep fit and eat nutrition food. Any suggestion of what foods to avoid would be most welcome as would general advice?

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Hooc profile image
Hooc
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14 Replies
Madlegs1 profile image
Madlegs1

That's something you'll have to figure out for your own individual rls.

I find alcohol, sweeteners , sugar , salt , suphites , oxalic foods and so much more.

Keeping a food diary will help pinpoint particular foods for you personally.

There are also various medications that make rls worse- antidepressants and antihistamines genareally.

See rls-uk.org for more info.

Cheers.

Hooc profile image
Hooc in reply toMadlegs1

Thanks mad legs for your reply I also take Amitipyline at night sometimes hen my rls I particularly bd I take two 25 mg of them they really don't seem to help and lost two nights I have had to take a sleeping tablet to get any sleep at all. I se my go tomorrow for a routine talk about rls but I don't hold out much hope .

Rls doesn't follow any logic sometimes I feel on top of it and then blow me it comes back with a revenge! I suspect all readers have experienced similar results

involuntarydancer profile image
involuntarydancer in reply toHooc

Hi Hooc, just in case you’re not aware (and I’m sure you’ll get many posts about this but it might be useful as you’re seeing your GP tomorrow), amitriptyline is high on the list of substances that exacerbate Rls. There is a VERY small minority who find it helpful for their symptoms but definitely proceed with caution with that one. It is also, sadly, frequently prescribed by the medical profession for Rls in ignorance.

Joolsg profile image
Joolsg in reply toHooc

I agree with involuntary dancer. Amitriptyline makes RLS 100% worse

Try Trazodone as a safe alternative.

in reply toMadlegs1

I agree with the foods madlegs1 lists. Foods can help and harm so many things. I've changed my eating habits in the last few years and several medical problems have been helped for me. I've also gotten off several medications including insulin. I stick with what madlegs has suggested. Also have given up any kind of artificial sweeteners. Lately have gotten hold of a book about eating anti-inflammatory foods by Dr David Perlmutter. This is a rather broad subject but many good books on the subject and lots of internet info to help us understand which foods promote inflammation and which do not. Also there is a lotof info now about many medical conditions being caused, or worsened by eating inflammatory foods which create chronic inflammation in the body. Probably worth a little research. A caveat. Quite a few drs don't buy into this. But I do and have been helped by small changes in food choices. Good luck.

TBanks profile image
TBanks

I just started keeping a food log 3 weeks ago. In 56 years old. I've had RLS very mildly for a decade, but 4 years ago it got worse. Originally I was prescribed 600 mg of Gabapentin . After a year or so I noticed my short-term memory was becoming terrible. I've since cut back on the Gabapentin. In the meantime, my plms/d became significantly worse. Having had a sleep study done for it, they determined I was being aroused from sleep over a hundred and twenty times a night. I now take take 200 mg Gabapentin and 12.5 mg Pramipexole. So far with my food diary I have determine that wine and tea affect my legs. I've come to conclude it's the tannins in both. I have not had difficulty with clear liquors like tequila or vodka. I'm not a heavy drinker, but I do enjoy an early evening cocktail four nights a week. I typically don't eat anything after 7 p.m. and I go to bed at 10:30. I am suspecting that if I have a sugar-laden dessert in the evening it affects me as well, however, I do that so seldom I have not concluded that. Sorry for the long post, but since I just recently started a food diary I thought I would share what I have learned. God bless you. Good luck with your food log and finding solutions. :-)

involuntarydancer profile image
involuntarydancer in reply toTBanks

Surely not 12.5 mg pramipexole? That is the highest dose - by miles - I have ever heard of for Rls. Unless you have Parkinson’s also?

TBanks profile image
TBanks in reply toinvoluntarydancer

Cirrection .125

involuntarydancer profile image
involuntarydancer in reply toTBanks

Phew!

TBanks profile image
TBanks

That's what happens when you haven't had your morning coffee ;-) I had the decimal in the wrong place on my pramipexole it's .125. The smallest dose you can take.

involuntarydancer profile image
involuntarydancer in reply toTBanks

Actually when I started I was on half of .088 and it was effective! (For about 3 weeks). How I wish I was back in those Halcion days.

Before I get too carried away I have a notion the dose is different in the US. I was on the UK dose.

Lash65 profile image
Lash65

I think gluten affects me in a myriad of bad ways, RLS being one.

in reply toLash65

Re gluten. Just wrote a post about anti-inflammatory foods and-where was my mind-? Gluten has been suggested as a food to cutout to see if it helps not only rls but other med probs.I am trying this and and experimenting with ways to make bread with other ingredients besides wheat. Especiallyflatbreads with bean flours. They are easy, taste good, and satisfy my 'need for bread'. Just something to consider. PS I do know, for me, cutting out gluten helps lessen bloating. BTW if you're interested do a little research on all the processed foods that contain gluten. You will be AMAZED at all the ways big food companies find ways to sneak gluten into processed food, beveraEven someges, condiments, ice cream (YES! ice cream). Not to mention how many medication fillers contain gluten.

in reply to

Sorry for typos. Meant beverages.

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