No Meds working solution to my RLS. My story...

[Ducatidave]

My legs started to feel tense and sort of nervous and would drastically spoil my sleep and also spoil times when I had to sit still ie Theatre or eating a meal out. I would also ‘kick out’ at night when asleep…. When I eventually got to sleep !!!

My top front of my legs would also seem to get cold. I could almost draw a line around the area affected.

I eventually found out the I had RLS and also the kicking in bed was Involuntary Leg Movements (ILM). My wife would be black and blue !!!!!!

Good news is that I knew what I had but how could I stop this….

I started a contract in Kuwait and the food I ate was mainly all processed and without knowing I was consuming more salt than I should..

My RLS was very, very bad and my sleep was affecting my work and my mental health.. well… I just felt tired and not ‘sharp’ in work. I was getting desperate….

I googled RLS and came across someone in the States saying they had the solution and for $19.99 I received an e book with ‘The fix’.

It only really needed to be an e mail back because across the second page in massive letters was the word SALT and the message was Reduce or Cut out totally.

The book advised to go ‘cold turkey’ with no salt for five days so I ate eggs and chicken breast cooked without salt… WOW I felt alive and active and slept better than I had for ages. I never thought that salt would make so much difference to me.

I would advise this cold turkey method as it will show you how drastic it is and you should feel better. The taste buds in your mouth will also start to ‘come alive’ as salt is actually harming them.. I think.

Apparently, although we have a daily intact amount of salt we never should add salt only get the salt from natural means. Some food has salt naturally. Salt was introduced into our diet due to the fact it preserved meats etc…..so it’s a man made introduction.

So I now to try to prevent RLS

1.Stay away (or try) salt in foods or eat foods with reduced salt

2.Reduce my caffeine intake … never after 16.00 (this includes tea also)

3.Reduce Chocolate and never (if I can help it) in the afternoon

If I have not been so careful or could not help it and start to get RLS I

1.Heat a bean bag in the microwave to quite hot and place it on my legs or in between my legs. It’s got to be hot enough that you certainly know that you’ve had heat there.

2.I use my fists (knuckles) to bang on my legs in the area that I have found to be cold and its strange, but I can feel when I hit the spot, so I am quite hard on the area and that seems to move the circulation of …. I don’t know.. Blood or nerves but it seems to free up the anxiety in my legs.

3.Sometimes if away from home and the hot bean bag, I run a hot shower and concentrate the hot jets on my legs.

Now. The above is what I think, experienced and what I am doing. It works for me and now I know I feel I am in control but not fully as sometimes I’ll eat something with salt in which I can not help but then I will probably end up using the ‘hitting’ method of relief.

Hope this helps

[Hidden]

Thanks Ducatidave. All you say is very sensible and I'm glad it's working for you. Great.

[Madlegs1]

So much of what you say ,is exactly my experience as well. No salt, banging or using a thumper type vibrator on the legs.

I also find hamstring stretches of the glutes works well for instant relief.

Thanks for sharing.

[involuntarydancer]

Great post. I also find avoiding wine (funnily enough spirits are ok🤣) is helpful. Also applying very cold water to legs sometimes also helps. Salt and chocolate are definitely bad.

[Ducatidave in reply to involuntarydancer]

Hi ... I forgot to mention that red wine... a glass helps my RLS !!!!! Strange how different we all are.

[Ducatidave in reply to involuntarydancer]

Red wine is great for me actually.

[Hidden]

Thanks for this!👍

[Casi]

Thank you for your post. I will try reducing or cutting out salt and chocolate. Funnily enough I thought it was sugar making RLS worse. I know I definitely can’t drink gin and tonic!!

Last year it took me over 6 months to get off ropinerole and I’m fortunate to have a GP who seems to be relatively genned up on RLS and prescribes Tramadol 37.5mg twice a day plus pregabaline which is, in the main, working for me. I still remember the horrendous augmentation and the very black thoughts I had. This is such an awful condition and the information shared on this website is invaluable.

[Ducatidave in reply to Casi]

Hi Casi. I am lucky as mine is not as bad as others and my ‘solution’ works for me. Sugar.... yes that doesn’t help I don’t think but salt is massive with the effect it has on me but not only did cutting it out help RLS it made me feel more alert and clear. It may have been the better nights sleeping that I was having.... good luck.

[Bantamdyno]

You need salt to keep hydrated🤔

[Madlegs1 in reply to Bantamdyno]

Do elaborate, please.

[Bantamdyno in reply to Madlegs1]

Something I saw on Facebook

[Madlegs1 in reply to Bantamdyno]

It's a bit more complicated than just that.

A delicate balance between essential salt and too much.

Most of us get quite enough salt from our western diet.

No need to add more.

[wantokporo]

Thanks. Because I have hypertension I already wasn't adding salt. I tried to reduce salt completely which meant no bread (the salt-free variety is funny, that is if you like eating cardboard) and milk, etc. My electrolytes seem sensitive so no sodium gave me nocturnal leg cramps and I had to add a small amount of salt back in. The reduction seemed to help but only for about two days and then not really as I said, I already eat little salt. The other dietary restrictions I already do--and many more. But I much appreciate the suggestions.

[BoojaBooja]

Brilliant! I’ve never been told to cut out salt but I’m willing to try anything. Thanks for your information.