Restless Leg Syndrome relief

[Ex-sufferer]

I’m 57, male, and a long time sufferer of RLS. I suspect it runs in the family as my grandmother, and my mother also were sufferers. I’ve been suffering for probably the last 20 years or so.

In my case I have found a source of relief. It’s not a cure as such, but it certainly gets rid of it which I’ll take any day of the week! And I’m sharing just Incase it works for anyone else.

The solution came to me after I had a heart attack about 3 years ago. I survived (obvs), and am now on the standard post heart attack medications that thousands of people are on, but I was one of the unlucky ones who had a bucket load of side effects too.

One of the side effects was I now get hugely dehydrated particularly when I drink alcohol. So if I go out and drink 3 pints of beer, i’ll Have to drink 3 or 4 pints of water throughout the night as I’m so dry.

But here’s the thing. I also noticed that when I was dehydrated, my restless legs kicked off as well. And when I rehydrated, the leg thing stopped!

Anyway, my side effects from my meds have gone now, so alcohol doesn’t have such a dehydrating effect, but if I ever get restless legs, if I drink at least 1 pint of water, or preferably 1.5 pints, within 30 minutes the RLS has gone!

I don’t know if this will work for anyone else, but I know from my own experience I would have tried anything to get relief. And this one is so cheap and simple. Pure water. 1.5 pints, if you can manage it. And the only downside is you will need to get up in the night to go to the loo quite probably, although I’ve even managed to get my quantities right now so I don’t always have to do that.

Anyway, I hope this helps and best of luck to all you fellow sufferers out there.

[Hidden]

I agree. I like to drink anything but water, so I tend to dehydrate myself. I have noticed a correlation between the RLS being bad and that happening, so I now make a conscious effort to drink more water. It is not the solution for me, but it definitely does help.

[RLS1952]

Dehydration definitely a trigger for many.

[Graham3196]

I have had a couple of dieticians recommend drinking water but not tea or coffee even decaf. Two litres a day if you can choke it down. My throat sometimes refuses to swallow any more water so I drink it hot like a very very weak tea (ie zero tea) and it seems to go down better.

The theory is that keepin your body well watered helps the RLS and both tea and coffee (decaf or not decaf) are diuretics so you make a lot of urine and dry yourself out. Strangely I am sure I have fewer trips to the toilet during the night which is not what I expected.

Hot water grows on you after a while and you will find that you look forward to it with almost the same relish as a "nice hot cuppa"

I can't be sure if its helped me because I just realised before Christmas that I had slipped from just one cup of real tea in the morning to a cup of real tea whenever I wanted it. OK I admit to being a weak willed jelly but I am back on the water wagon hoping for some sign of success.

Good Luck

Cheers

Graham

[LotteM in reply to Graham3196]

“A weak-willed jelly...”. So am I!!! Never mind, we’re all human. Fortunately. I try to drink quite a bit too and, apart from water, I drink only true herb teas, or infusions - as they say in France. Such as chamomile or mint or Verveine. Sometimes rooibos. I don’t know whether they also have diuretic properties or not. Hopefully not; or much less.