Hi all, I'm new to the forum but not to RLS. I've had it, lightly, all my life as has my mother (worse than me).
A good few months ago I was lying in bed, with my feet not happy, unable to sleep and I suddenly remembered the pills my mother used to take decades ago. They were called Limb Ease, you could buy them from the chemist and they worked. Of course they stopped making them many many moons ago.
Then I remembered that there was a very old box in the bathroom cabinet, for emergencies. I pulled it out and checked the active ingredient listed in the leaflet. Then I googled.
It was Inositol Nicotinate.
Available in capsule form from ebay. There's 500mg and 1000mg available. I got the smaller dose as that was what Limb Ease were. The dose is one or two pills. It's niacin, but there are several other forms of niacin available and I have no idea if the others work
This one does. I take a capsule before I turn the light out and no problems since. Even when it was so hot. Sometimes I take a second but that's rare.
I have no idea if this has been mentioned on this or any other RLS forum but I really thought someone out there might be helped by this. BTW, I asked at my chemist and it was four times the ebay price.
Sorry for not posting before. Hope this helps.
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smudges
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Thanks for that advice but would it help with RLS in the evening or is it better last thing? I find early evening difficult as I don't want to go to sleep...so I listen to music....but not always practical. Will try the tablets.
I wouldn't think it would matter particularly when you take it. It's a supplement so any time should be fine. I just ended up taking it at that time because it was for the RLS and I wasn't going to bother if I didn't need it on a given night. As it transpires, I have now got into the habit of taking it every bedtime. I can feel the twitch starting in my feet, take a pill and about 15 mins later it's gone. But I don't get it particularly badly, just enough, though!
A case report of niacin in the treatment of restless legs syndrome
Article in Medical Hypotheses 73(6):1072 · July 2009 with 383 Reads · Download citation
DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2009.05.048 · Source: PubMed
Dennis Mangan
Abstract
A woman, age 87 years, with no other remarkable medical his- tory other than allergies, has suffered from restless legs syndrome (RLS) of many decades duration. She would awaken at night approximately every 45 min or so, and would need to get out of bed and walk around in order to relieve her symptoms. At times she found that drinking coffee would give some relief. Her physi- cian had prescribed Mirapex (pramipexole dihydrochloride), the leading medication for this disorder, and while it gave her some re- lief, especially initially, it led to severe morning fatigue and grog- giness. Furthermore, over time, her RLS worsened; the symptoms began to start much earlier in the day, often by early evening, and the medication became increasingly ineffective. For much of the day, she was effectively incapacitated, as well as extremely fa- tigued during the rest of the day. On the recommendation of this writer, who read about the pos- sible effectiveness of niacin for the treatment of this disorder 1 , she began to take niacin, approximately 400 mg a day in divided doses. Within three to four days, while continuing her regular medica- tions, her RLS symptoms disappeared, and have been completely absent since then. References in the literature to niacin for the treatment of rest- less legs are sparse, a search on PubMed for example for ''niacin restless legs'' returning no results. Niacin deficiency causes pellagra, and it is of interest to note that in pellagra neurological symptoms are prominent, symptoms such as peripheral neuritis, restlessness, and insomnia, suggesting a possible link between niacin and RLS. The two main forms of nia- cin, nicotinic acid and nicotinamide, differ in their pharmacological effects; while nicotinamide is often preferred for supplementation due to its lack of side effects such as flushing, it is not clear whether one form is more effective. The subject of this report in- gested nicotinic acid, but reported no flushing. Since it appears that no systematic study of niacin for the treat- ment of RLS has ever been undertaken, and since currently-used medications for RLS are expensive and have significant side effects, and since RLS severely impacts the lives of its sufferers, controlled studies of the effect of niacin on RLS may be warranted.
Interesting. What's the brand name of the nicotinate you got from Ebay? The only inositol nicotinate I can find there is Vitamin World Flush Free Niacin Inositol Nicotinate, and that's 1000mg.
I recently went through a whole bottle of niacin (not on the same day, but over a month or so) and didn't notice a scrap of difference. Perhaps I took too few pills at a time.
Puritan's Pride flush free Niacin. Inositol Nicotinate. £11.95 for 100. They're an American import. Ebay UK item # 272193138235. Maybe the niacin you took wasn't the inositol type or possibly low dose? The chemist quoted over £40 for a bottle (not sure how many) of this niacin. He'd have had to order it in so it's unlikely that the one you tried was the same. 1000mg is fine (also by Puritan's Pride) to take and I've had no side effects at all. Fingers crossed for both of you.
Hi.. I've just come across your letter about "limb ease" and inositol nicotinate...
My rls has reappeared after about 4 months of disappearing.. really don't know why... Mabe because I wasn't taking the same or enough iron tablets...
I barely have any sleep..it's a pain that seems from the nerves in leg.. sometimes both legs..
I'm taking magnesium and magnesium cream to rub on legs..but feeling like a zombie at present and exceptionally disappointed and low as I thought it had gone away.
I'm now full of hope again after reading your letter..thank you.
I've also read lately.. chiropractor could help..but I really can't afford.
Also the fact that dopamine needs to be increased...and that the body initiates twitches and jumping to increase dopamine ?..
And if body isn't aligned properly.. some nerves get trapped causing rls..
Why oh why don't doctors take us seriously.
Thank you in advance..
Hope limb ease works..
Jan.
Thank you. I'm going to try it. Sometimes an answer is out there and no one has realised. I have a neuropathy which I think maybe makes my RLS worse so you never know.
I had mentioned RLS to my doctor and he started talking about heavy duty (or so it seemed to me) neurotransmitter drugs (can't remember what) and that seemed to me to be a bit sledgehammer and nut, so I never bothered especially as I don't get it that badly.
What is also interesting is that my mother, who now has mixed dementia, doesn't get RLS any more! Her preferred method after Limb Ease was discontinued was to lie in bed with her legs straight up for a good long count. I have done this and often I could feel the cessation of symptoms, sort of like calming water running over my feet. It's worth trying....after all, you're awake anyway!
Will do. Have been trying to look up how to buy already but hard to see from the sales sites which version of Niacin is in the bottles. And yes, I hate the thought of the heavy duty stuff. I've already used one of the semi heavy duty ones ( pregabalin ) and though it worked for a time I have suspicions it caused me some of the problems I have now.
Someone else told me about holding legs straight up and swore by it. However my knees won't let me!!
I had a look for a Dutch supplier. Don’t want to advertise, jist to mention. Puritans Pride, the one mentioned by smudges, is available at Body & Fitshop. Currently at a reduced price. But you may have to count in additional shipping costs to the UK.
Try cutting and pasting the ebay item number. That price includes free postage and strikes me as excellent value.
Try holding your legs with your hands behind your knees to keep them up. It usually does work.
I am always suspicious of major drug interventions - Big Pharma and all that. You can usually be pretty certain that if there is an easy, cheap solution it won't be advertised and there will be few studies done as the drug companies can't make any money.
Thank you for getting back to me again. I've now ordered from an internet site which had the 500mg ones so I can check how I get on with the lower dose re side effects. Probably more expensive than ebay but will do for a start. I'll let folk know what transpires and meanwhile I'm hopeful
Inositol Nicotinate is no-flush niacin - which for most niacin therapies (like decreasing cholesterol) it is useless. There is good evidence that niacin - the regular flush kind and Inositol do indeed help with sleep. So, that's where I would start. I've tried all this before along with other "cures" but I will try them again separately as mostly they were all involved with other supplements in a shotgun approach.
All I can say is that Limb Ease worked. It was never promoted and so eventually got discontinued. This is the same stuff as far as I can tell and it works for me. Perhaps having more serious symptoms than I do means it's not as effective. We can but try. Good luck to you and everyone else....please report back!
Interesting - I'll have to try that. I use a script right now, so something natural would be wonderful... Thanks so much!
Thanks for the information. I’m at the stage after augmentation with Neupro and suffering distressing side effects with Gaberpentin, when I’m willing to try anything! Have just ordered a bottle of Puritans Pride flush free niacin. Will report any benefits
Interesting, i have suffered with rls since 1968 and was only properly diagnosed in 2013. i was given clonazepam and now am on pramipexole, have to say drugs do not seem to control it most of the time and the G.Ps answer to this is to increase the dose which is ok for a few days then it starts to get bad again, am also trialing CBD oil have to say with not much luck, so your post really intrigued me, have sent for capsules as you described with hopeful anticipation and will keep all posted.
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