Has anyone found having allergy testing at all helpful in pinpointing foods that make their rls worse? We're making a big effort at the moment at home to cut out sugar to see if it helps but its when we're out with fam/friends etc that it's hard to tell a 5 year old they can't have things! I can see that eliminating all.the foods we want to test being a very slow process... I'm wondering if normal allergy testing would show things up? I don't know much about it...
Thanks all x
Hello, I understand that if you are prescribed antihistamines for an allergy they can make your problem worse. Others on here may have more specific answers for you.
Thank you, yes we've experienced that with Phenergan when the Dr tried it for her rls symptoms. She doesn't have any allergies as far as we know so it's starting from scratch to try and figure out if anything is aggravating it. I was wondering if regular food intolerance testing was relevant 🤔
Well, I respect you doing your best to find ways of helping with this debillitatin problem. I believe we will try anything (within reason) to find a way of controlling the symptoms we experience. We know that eating certain foods can make other health problems worse and it stands to reason there may be a link as you suggest. I really don't know but there are other very knowledgeable members who will no doubt help you more than I can.
I'll be looking closely for their answers too. Good luck in your venture. Chrys
I was just thinking, when I was 5 years old , my Father had no trouble at all telling me what to do .😂
Sorry-- I replied to your later post, before seeing this one 🙃
In general, allergy / sensitivity testing is a golden minefield, full of chancers.
Skin prick is probably the most reliable.
My daughter is super sensitive to a lot if things, and tried a skin prick test, with quite good results.
Ultimately, the only reliable test is to pare back the diet to 'skin and bones' and add substances slowly, noting effects.
You have already got results from a minimal start, that is quite fantastic.
It is hugely difficult to motivate a 5 yr old, but you have made a successful start, and I'm sure she sees the benefit already.
Would a system of rewards work?
My grandchildren will do anything for fresh fruit, in season here at present!
Anyway, enough from me.
Good luck with your work.
I have had RLS for years and I have found caffeine, alcohol and sugar to be culprits for me in making the symptoms worse. For me, also, pizza causes bloating followed by increased symptoms for RLS. Not sure why.
In fact eliminating all the foods that are likely to be not tolerated is quick and easy. You go on an elimination diet where you eliminate almost all foods and then reintroduce them gradually to see what causes a bad reaction. Reintroduction of foods is called "Challenging" in the diet business.
This is better than eliminating foods one at the time because several foods might contain the same intolerable substance.
This is the basis of the FODMAP diet that is used for IBS patients and has found to benefit some RLS patients. There are probably many elimination diets for different types of intolerance. I only know a bit about one other which is the Low Chemical diet and it works in the same way. (NOTE the chemicals referred to are not necessarily additives but in many cases are naturally occurring chemicals so buying organic food is not part of the diet.)
Some people are only intolerant of a few foods but these might be very common. Gluten and lactose are examples. If you are intolerant to these then it causes a considerable disruption to your life but regardless of your age the only thing I have heard that you can do is stop eating foods your body can't process.
You need help from a qualified and experienced dietician. I saw quite a few dieticians who were happy to advise on weight loss or similar things but knew nothing about IBS and RLS diets. Ask what their experience is with the FODMAP or low chem diet before you hand over your money!
The good thing about this is that if the diet is going to help you then you probably start to benefit from almost day one. I found that it took about 12 weeks on the FODMAP diet before I cleared my system and started to really benefit. However a year or so before I started on the FODMAP diet I avoided all gluten and felt the benefit within a week. So hope for a quick result but be prepared for the long haul if necessary.
The other important thing is to be absolutely strict with the diet. Small amounts can mess you up. Your 5 year old will be depending on you to keep them on track.
FODMAP was invented by Monash University in Australia
Low Chemical diet was invented by Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Australia.
They both have websites.
Hi Weeniebean,
This might sound random, but I watched a documentary film yesterday called The Gut: Our Second Brain. In summary, our guts have the same neurotransmitters as our brain and both are intrinsically linked, and the gut affects the brain. They are linking gut health with illnesses of the brain using scans.
So if, and I don't know if RLS is a neurological condition, we improve our gut health, can it stop the RLS?
To do this, the documentary proved it's bacteria we need, and lots of it. I am starting to make kombucha and kefir to see if I can increase my gut bacteria.
Thought I'd share in case it's useful.
Medications and food to avoid, applies to most of us who has RLS. This is taken from the www.rlshelp.org website..
Neurotransmitter testing for rls
A suggestion that is working well, for me at least. AT least for now.
Triggers
