Iv been suffering from rls for several years and it seems to be getting worse.. every night now instead of about 4 times a night...
Lack of sleep getting me down really badly now..plus I have had dreadful flu like virus this week...so haven't gone far from bed..
Iv been trying potassium in little glass of water..plus iron tablets 200 mg..plus few drops of electrolytes..plus L tyrosine and vitamin D and c and zinc...
However..I ran out of magnesium tablets this week and having had no sleep for 3 nights on the run...I go and eat a banana and milk.. still restless legs..
Then I remembered I had some magnesium gel left over from last year from the osteoarthritis I had in knees..
I rubbed on both legs...
Shortly after restless legs went away and I slept...
This gel is called Glucosomine and magnesium gel from healthspan..
Also I found online...
A restless legs foot wrap which has good reviews..but costs £199..
From Medi UK..
Restiffic it's called..
01432 373500...
Not sure if it's guaranteed..but..it's there.
So tonight.. trying the magnesium and Glucosomine gel again..
Hope this might help someone..
Best wishes
Janlando
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janland
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Hi Janland, sorry to hear about your struggles, I hope you've found a solution. Are you aware that you need to be careful about how much supplementary potassium you consume, too much can be very serious to your health. I have heard about Mag creams before, but have never tried them myself, I would be very interested to hear more about how it goes for you. A few people have mentioned the Restiffic wraps on here before, I don't think they've had the best results though. I think there is a 30 day money back guarantee though. Do you tale any meds for your RLS?
It is my dream to, if not eliminate RLS completely, manage it through non-medicinal ways like you seem to. Well done you, I hope you can stick to it and manage it that way. What form of and quantity of Mag do you take as different forms work on your body in different ways; I take about 300 Magnesium Malate? Is that the recommended dosage of iron that you are taking as that seems a little low to me (I'm taking 325mg) and do you take it every other day and with 500mg Vit C? Do you take it on an empty stomach, don't eat anything with it and don't for about 1 hour afterwards?
I agree with you, I think the poor sleep, stress and anxiety compromise the immune system and make the RLS worse and then that makes the lack of sleep worse. Awfully vicious cycle.
How is your sleep 'hygiene'? Do you try to follow the principles of good hygiene? Do you get out every day to ensure you are exposed to natural daylight every day? Do you undertake moderate exercise and avoid vigorous exercise? Do you avoid RLS food and drink triggers? Are you aware of the OTC medicines that can make RLS worse?
most superdrug stores sell a heatwrap , it does help . heat ok for about 20 mins but if u use it at night and esp before bed it does help .....its called THERMO THERAPY HEAT WRAP , and only £ 3.99 ! worth trying oh i find a banana each day which has pottasium in helps too .
I’m now on 5 days of potassium. It is difficult to get supplements of K, so I have used the low sodium salt which is 27% potassium chloride (KCl), until my order of pure KCl arrives. I also have some 100mg potassium citrate capsules which is for a top up.
After reading the now famous paper on potassium citrate, I experimented to see what dosing does. I’m healthy and research indicated you need to do some serious abuse for it to be dangerous without pre-existing conditions, but ignore me I’m a maniac.
My first 2 days I hit the salt hard with a few 4gm doses of the salt, with just over 1gm of KCl, in water on an empty stomach. I must have been low on K because I felt pretty good after. I had no problems with the high dose, and I would guess if I was low, the body would have sucked it up.
Now I’m just adding that amount to my evening meal. I took a 100mg capsule during symptoms, which did nothing, so it is not the potassium, but it’s effect over a period of time.
My first night gave me different but complex RLS symptoms, but so far my good leg is RLS free and the bad one is still very resistant to easing symptoms at night. My guess is that it is consistent with the study as light muscle tension, my good leg, is relieved quickly and stronger tension takes longer. So my other leg will take a few weeks.
I have also done some exercises that makes my RLS worse, so my good leg being symptom free is excellent and the bad one is still protesting.
I could ramble on my theory of what RLS is, but we all have our own. I will just add that relief from potassium is interesting and supports many of the physical aspects described in papers and anecdotally.
My absolute go to for relief is a knee wrap that is used to make the lower leg numb. The wraps can sometimes be used to just compress the area, which works on mild symptoms. Probably better than the Restiffic.
You also need magnesium levels to be normal, if not you will excrete the potassium rather than absorb it.
Taking more sodium with potassium (in salt) will also tend to promote some excretion.
It’s better to take it on a full stomach.
High strength Potassium chloride tablets can have local effects on the gut and lead to perforation, hence the FDA limits to 99mg for supplements. It generates hydrochloride acid - a strong acid.
It’s better to take pot citrate powder which you add to plenty of water or orange juice as it dissolves quickly and you sip it slowly. Citric acid is a weak acid too.
The potassium helped a bit, and I’m now on no/low oxalates which seems to solve everyone’s RLS who tries; it is definitely the source of mine.
2g of potassium chloride a day in two doses is a good dose for me, even with the oxalates stripping levels. I’ve gone to 4g but it was a bit of overkill. No problems with 1g in half a cup of water on an empty stomach, but early on I made my own capsules and they burnt a hole in my stomach, as you mentioned, causing a lesion; don’t ever do that. You are right on the magnesium, that has been covered.
I should have gone the potassium citrate, but KCl was cheap and I bought a heap. I now need citrate from other sources to clear the oxalates, but the whole process is still a work in progress…
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