Has anyone found restless leg relief from testing for SIBO (and I guess then treating it?) I’m still trying to find relief for my 7 yr old. He was on the treadmill last night after midnight, exhausted, but trying to get rid of rls.
Or same question with yeast overgrowth?
My son has a history of this and food allergies and food intolerances so I’m wondering if this is all gut related.
Thank you !!
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Elizab32
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I’m convinced there’s a link. Try Symprove- I really think it will help your little boy. Email them and they might even give it to you at a reduced price.
The gut has so many Neuro s, it’s part of the Nervous system and almost as misunderstood as the brain.
The other thing that might help is a candida diet- really hard for a little one but if you explain it might help his sleep.
Antibiotics cause yeast overgrowth and kill off healthy gut bacteria. A double pronged attack- kill off Candida by cutting all sugars ( and carbs that turn to sugars) and adding good bacteria by taking Symprove would really be worth trying.
I really, really hope your little one gets relief.
I too have wondered if there's a link. I even did a 6 week sugar free diet but unfortunately it didn't help me.
I would advise a low sugar diet with no more than 6 grams a day. Remember that simple carbhydrates act the same as sugars in the body (white bread, white rice, white pasta etc etc).
You can also add good bacteria in the form of pre and pro biotic supplements.
I have food intolerances and allergies too, and I too have suffered since a very young age.
I would be immensely interested in any potential links.
I read that inflammation is a cause of rls so I changed to goats milk ( sheeps is better but hard to find though sheeps milk yoghourt is available in Waitrose) and I drink carrot juice. Certainly my rls has improved but it is always difficult to pin down improvements and triggers.
Hi Elizab it’s funny you have written about guts and rls , a few weeks ago I went to a very good nutritionist she also did muscle testing very interesting she said I had gut probs I am now on gluten free for a while see how it goes , ifeel so sorry for your little boy give him a hug
Thanks for everyone’s comments. Hopefully we’ll get the SIBO test today. The other thing in exploring is activating the vagus nerve to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system. It seemed to work last night but not sure if it’s a coincidence.
Hi Elizab Your post re gut connection, SIBO is very interesting and makes sense. Several questions: What did you do to activate the vagus nerve? Is it an exercise? And how do you do it? Also were you given info like diet for the SIBO? What changes did you make re diet and are they helping? Gut health is so ignored here. I believe it has everything to do with so many med probs. I've googled the subject but there is so much conflicting info. Also nutrition info/diets are such big business here (US) with people wanting you to purchase their supplements as if thelrs are the only ones that work. I'm happy to learn what you are doing that is helping.Thanks for sharing. Take care irina1975
Hi, we are going to have the SIBO test done in march, as apparently he needs to miss a day of school for it. however, GOOD NEWS! We are having great luck with reducing and eliminating restless leg by activating the vagus nerve. I am also trying to increase GABA in his brain.
Here's the Vagus nerve activation list I've come up with for my son. the top few items are the ones he actually does:
hot relaxing bath
slow swimming, floating
Pooping
suppository (this will stop a massive restless leg in the middle of the attack)
Foot massage
Cold water (body adjusting to cold water activated it). Eg face in cold water
Laughing
Gargle water
Deep belly slow breathing
Carbohydrates
nature
paying attention to senses (feet in sand, tongue in mouth, warm torso)
stopping strenuous exercise
playing with children or animals
guided meditation with DVD
Chew gum
Singing
Mild exercise
Carotid sinus massage. Side of neck
Sleep on right side
Gag reflux
Coughing
Here's the supplement list I put him on
iron, probiotic, ashwaganda, zine, l-theanine, fish oil, zyrtec
and I no longer give him melatonin and benedryl (as these apparently activate the sympathetic nervous system), and i've gotten control of his allergies by giving him zyrtec 2x daily (as histamines also active the sympathetic nervous system),
and here's a variety of links I found helpful in my research:
GOOD LUCK! Let me know if you try any of this and if it works!!
BTW- i wrote a post a few months ago saying the cause/cure of my sons restless leg was constipation. but i now realize its not constipation, it was the suppository stimulating the vagus nerve that fixed the restless leg. However, you can't use suppositorys every night, so now we go thru the above list every night and so far so good (its only been a few days though).
Hi Elizab Thank you so much. All this is valuable info I'm already doing a few things without knowing they helped the vagus nerve. What kind of sibo test? I would like to ask my doc about having one. I think she will if I do the leg work and have all the info. Also what kind of suppository? This might be an interesting piece of info. I never hear anyone talking about the vagus nerve-probs associated etc. But years ago when I first started working in the Operating Room, frequently patients would be scheduled for a "Vagotomy" where if I remember they cut the vagus nerve. I'm not sure why this done, then it seemed to fade out of favor. Going to read up on it. Do you use a specific meditation dvd or should I just pick one I like? Don't hurry to answer if you're busy. You've already given me a lot to work with. I'm just an 'information junkie' and like to find out everything. I am trying to handle my rls without meds of anykind as long as I can. But I believe in supplements as our food supply is not as healthy as it once was. Thanks again. irina1975
It’s the breath test. Where you drink a liquid and then they test your breath every 20 minutes. Apparently it takes a few hours. I am not sure of the name of it. The doctor said it’s not that reliable and that she would be willing to treat him with antibiotics even without a positive test result. But I said I wanted the test anyway because I don’t want to give him unnecessary antibiotics.
We don’t actually do any meditation, my son is too young for that. That was just on the list that I’ve compiled.
And the name of the suppository is Pedialax, it’s for children.Good luck!
Thank you again. I have some good meditation DVD's. I'm trying to learn to meditate more often as a way to control my anxiety (lifelong worrier charter club member!!!). I do it at home and am now thinking of figuring out something to buy to take my DVD with me when away from home. (Not very technological). Often my anxiety is worse when there are large crowds of people or heavy traffic or just 'big city' chaos in general. irina1975
If u read up on the sympathetic / parasympathetic nervous system, you’ll discover that anxiety, sluggish digestive system, etc are related to an imbalance and an overactive sympathetic nervous system (so the fight or flight one). My sons super anxious too. So my plan is to fix the nervous system balance in him which I’m still working on😉
Thanks. I will. Amazing how all the body systems tie together in unexpected ways, esp. re disease processes. Specialists are wonderful and an important part of healthcare but they deal so much in their specialty they don't always have time to look at the big picture. Maybe it's time to look at (and maybe revamp) the role our PCP's/GP's play in coordinating our care on a deeper level. I don't have a clue how this could be done but hopefully someone will. Take care. irina1975
Hi, we are going to have the SIBO test done in march, as apparently he needs to miss a day of school for it. however, GOOD NEWS! We are having great luck with reducing and eliminating restless leg by activating the vagus nerve. I am also trying to increase GABA in his brain.
Here's the Vagus nerve activation list I've come up with for my son. the top few items are the ones he actually does:
hot relaxing bath
slow swimming, floating
Pooping
suppository (this will stop a massive restless leg in the middle of the attack)
Foot massage
Cold water (body adjusting to cold water activated it). Eg face in cold water
Laughing
Gargle water
Deep belly slow breathing
Carbohydrates
nature
paying attention to senses (feet in sand, tongue in mouth, warm torso)
stopping strenuous exercise
playing with children or animals
guided meditation with DVD
Chew gum
Singing
Mild exercise
Carotid sinus massage. Side of neck
Sleep on right side
Gag reflux
Coughing
Here's the supplement list I put him on
iron, probiotic, ashwaganda, zine, l-theanine, fish oil, zyrtec
and I no longer give him melatonin and benedryl (as these apparently activate the sympathetic nervous system), and i've gotten control of his allergies by giving him zyrtec 2x daily (as histamines also active the sympathetic nervous system),
and here's a variety of links I found helpful in my research:
GOOD LUCK! Let me know if you try any of this and if it works!!
BTW- i wrote a post a few months ago saying the cause/cure of my sons restless leg was constipation. but i now realize its not constipation, it was the suppository stimulating the vagus nerve that fixed the restless leg. However, you can't use suppositorys every night, so now we go thru the above list every night and so far so good (its only been a few days though).
With SIBO be very careful with taking probiotics. The majority of strains can make it worse. SIBO is a bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine— where unlike the large intestine — you should have only low levels of bacteria. Adding bacteria can often add fuel to the fire. You might want to be careful of some ptebiotics too.
I have SIBO and started taking several different probiotic strains with many different strains for a round of antibiotics I took recently. It made my RLS so much worse! I did quite a bit of reading up!
There is a brilliant microbiologist called Kiran Krishnan who discusses this. You can find his seminars on YouTube.
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