Eating desire with RLS

[1234kids]

Does anyone experience wanting to eat when you have RLS episode

[Newyork5755]

Yes! Absolutely

[Hidden]

People want to eat for all sorts of reasons. Some of them are physiological, some psychological.

Some people eat more when they're anxious, or bored. This is "comfort eating". If you get anxious, or suffer insomnia when you have a RLS episode then it could be that.

Physiologically, if you're taking Gabapentin then that's a known appetite stimulant.

If you're taking a Dopamine Agonist it can lead to an Impulse Control Disorder such as overeating.

Unless you're grossly overeating, then I wouldn't be over concerned.

[slim1953 in reply to Hidden]

I agree with you. Awake at night. Board. Food is for comfort. Being diabetic does not help. Watch what you eat.

[Hidden]

I'm with Manerva - I comfort eat. I don't know if its my body saying " I need more dopamine" or me thinking - "F**k it, I have to put up with RLS? I might as well have a bar of chocolate as I deserve some good in life, but if I am having a bad night I crave away at ice cream and loads of sugar and fat loaded goodies - unfortunately as I am GF and Dairy free I end up with toast and crappy chocolate

[Dakota13 in reply to Hidden]

Me too! I can’t believe at 2am I’m into eating ice cream out of the container!

[Hidden in reply to Dakota13]

Oh you lucky thing - I had a GF and dairy free 'Italian coffee flavoured desert' not quite Ben & Jerrys

[lahita in reply to Hidden]

I eat I guess because of the pain. I also drink mostly Vodka and Rum (the cheap stuff because if you down it, it tastes the same as good stuff) I do shots of 1/4 to 1/2 oz. The worse the pain the more I drink. I keep 4 pints of Ben and Jerry's in the freezer in case of emergency ! I use to be on 90 mg. of Morphine a day till the price went up. Has anyone looked for their bag of chips and finally found the empty bag in the microwave? I've done it a few times. It's called sleep eating.

[1234kids]

Thanks so much for responding

Yes I agree with everyone

Eating to ease the pain and restlessness in the middle of the night every now and then and my go has suggested 3 gabapentin at night which I did not know could be a catalyst for eating

I am not overweight I don’t think but I should loose weight. I am 5’5 158 lbs

My laminectomy has been the beginning of my troubles...when it was supposed to relieve pain but has produced more pain and severe RLS

Thank you all for your support and info!!

God bless you all!!!!

[auntiesioux]

to NewTork5755 and the rest...i can't tell you how many people I know eat with RLS. I have one friend who ate the exact same thing I do. I thought I was alone. I gain weight with this night time stuff.The food I eat is not something I normally would eat during the day, high carbs and

sugar. For me it is not a comfort an do not understand the physiological genesis. Right now eating toast with cottage cheese on top. I am not even hungry. My legs are barely letting me write this. S--T Keep posting

[Eryl in reply to auntiesioux]

Sugar slows down the release of the 'full' hormone, so you tend to eat more if you start with something sweet. I've found that sugar is my trigger food, so it may be that you're prolonging your RLS by eating sweet foods at night.

[Birdman70]

I totally do. It's called insomnia snacking. I can stop myself now. Some nights I have eaten entire chocolate bars. The big huge ones, or half a bag of chocolate chips for cookies.

[Birdman70 in reply to Birdman70]

Sorry, can't stop myself

[Birdman70 in reply to Birdman70]

Been a problem for about 25 yrs now. I have tried many different things...all, like everyone else, they are sugary foods.

[Birdman70]

I just thought of something. This is all new info for me. I have been pointing a finger at the idea that RLS starts in our guts. Leaky gut, candida overgrowth, low grade inflammation, leaky blood brain barrier, excess glutamate in the motor cortex...... candida loves sugar.....I believe it can cause our bodies to crave sugar by altering hormones. Very interesting!!! Thank you for the post!

[Parminter]

Your brain wants a dopamine injection, and it gets it, particularly with sweet and fatty food. The problem is that it does not last long, and there is often a lot of shame and secrecy involved with these compulsive behaviours.

If you're on a dopamine agonist that alone will do it.

Just know that you are not alone, there are a lot of us out here behaving oddly at the behest of our brains and our ghastly medications.

[Hidden]

Of course! Not much else we can do You'll burn off all of the calories anyway

[Scarlet78]

Yes!! I dont understand it

[Abookwriter2]

About 5 weeks after starting gabapentin, a 20-year-Old eating disorder reared it’s ugly head! I’d want to eat junk food during the day (about 2-5 p.m.) not at night. A week ago, I started taking taking .25 mg of ropinole with the 100

Mg of gabapentin and after three nights, the RLS has DISAPPEARED🎉🎊. The past three nights I stopped the gabapentin which I suspect was causing the eating episodes.

I’ve read that ropinole, not gabapentin, causes the eating but for me it was definitely gabapentin.

I was horrified because it’s been over a year of no sugar, organic salads and fish because of a cancerous eye tumor (gone, ‘Radical recovery’).

For me it was the gabapentin and I’ve been trying all manner of ‘rlcure.com’ magnesium, progesterone cream for RLS & NAD. Somehow I went from moderately severe to no RLS the last week. Hope it lasts and no more gabapentin for me.

I would try changing up the meds before I gave into the chronic eating?

[Lapsedrunner in reply to Abookwriter2]

Thankfully I’ve never been driven to midnight snacking, neither on DAs nor on my current 200mg of gabapentin.

Abookwriter2 The ropinirole will be why your RLS has gone...long may it work without augmentation

[Abookwriter2 in reply to Lapsedrunner]

The ropinole added back definitely did it as I've stopped gabapentin now! Down to 1/2 the lowest .25 ropinole and going to try none tonight. Maybe the iron supplementation and adding back meat helped; don't know. I will likely find out if I eventually eliminate the iron supplementation, the progesterone cream on legs etc...taking away one at a time will tell a story or the rls was event-related to shoulder/rotator/biceps surgery and the opiates for a month. Who knows but I'd like to find out.

[Lisapt]

Yes. Absolutely. Thankfully the place I live now has the kitchen on a different floor than the bedroom, so I’m often successful at convincing myself to stay upstairs. But the craving — in my case for salty, fatty stuff — is so strong. Plus I’m partially convinced eating will help me sleep and at some point I’m going to try anything.

[Jelbea]

I have this problem too. I know it is partly “poor little old me” but I am convinced that eating something does enable me to get some sleep again. Roll on the colder days when I’ll think twice about getting out of bed.

[Casinogoer]

Yes, I have had RLS for over 30 years, and when it acts up I will eat almost anything even what I don't like. It is terrible for your weight, but you can't help yourself. It is really bad when you don't sleep for a few days in a row. Keep the faith and remember that we are here for you.

[1234kids in reply to Casinogoer]

Bless you too

[Sara_2611]

Hello

No. I don't I've usually had my tea by then (which is in the evening when my RLS starts. Even when I haven't eaten beforehand I reach for my Balneum Cream when it kicks off - pardon the pun

[RupertMac]

Absolutely. Can't sleep, out of bed, down to the kitchen and gorge for 30 mins, pace around, try to get back to sleep. Usually sweet things.

[Pippins2]

Yep ! Comfort i guess and feeling sorry for myself -deserve a "treat " x

[Hidden]

Nope i dont want to eat in the night. I do drink either tea or coffee tho.

[Postbote]

Running a marathon all night tends to burn the calories. That and I find being up all night for multiple nights in a row totally wrecks my metabolism and I'm forced to eat constantly to keep my energy levels up