Restiffic for RLS

[Engineering]

Hello I'm new here and am being driven round the bend with RLS syndrome at night

Has anybody else tried Restiffic the foot wrap?

They offer a 30 day money back guarantee

[Hidden]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I hope you find it helpful.

I can't comment on the foot wrap, I've never tried it. It has been mentioned, I recall, by a few members. Based on that I'd say it's certainly not in the top ten RLS remedies.

A 30 day money back guarantee is no guarantee it will work, it's an advertising ploy.

However, I wonder what remedies you've already tried. Have you been diagnosed by a doctor and what did they suggest?

There are many remedies for RLS that are known to be effective. Forgive me for not writing what they are you may have already tried them.

[Engineering in reply to Hidden]

Many thanks for information

[Engineering in reply to Hidden]

Hello sorry I just reread your message and realised that I didn't reply.

Yes I have been diagnosed by a doctor and was originally on Lyrica which worked very well but unfortunately is affecting my vision so I cant take it any more.

At the moment I am taking tramadol at least 2 nights a week and interspersing that with co codamol.

I am also going to ask for a referral to the clinic mentioned on this forum at Guys and St. Thomas.

[Hidden in reply to Engineering]

OK I hope the tramadol (and occasional cocodamol) is working at the moment.

Hopefully if you get a referral to Guys, they will prescribe a more suitable opioid. Oxycodone is licensed for RLS in the UK. Methadone or buprenorphine are also used.

The advantage of this is that becasue they're more potent (codeine and tramadol are weak). you only need a lower dose, plus may be more effective.

I really don't know if you knew or not but medicines aren't the only things you can do for RLS.

The two main things that your doctor should have discussed with you is iron therapy and exacerbating factors.

The main cause of RLS is Brain Iron Deficiency, (BID). Your doctor should therefore carried out tests for iron deficiency.

The tests should include serum iron, transferrin saturation and ferritin.

Tests for magnesium, vitamin B12 and vitamin D would be useful too.

If serum iron and transferrin are LOW then this indicates the possibility of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA).

So if your doc says that all these three are normal, then you won't have IDA.

However, NOTE, ferritin can be as low as 12ng/mL and is still considred "normal".

BID can exist despite there being no IDA and for somebody with RLS ferritin ideally should be at least 200.

The recommendation is then, that if your ferritin is below 75, then start an oral iron supplement. If it is above 75 but below 200 then you may benefit from an IV iron infusion. Ask them at Guys about this.

Succcessful iron therapy can eliminate the need for drugs in up to 60% of cases, (iron infusion).

Please read this

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

If you have a deficiency in magnesium, vit B12 or D then supplements in these can help. These are however less significant.

Exacerbating factors

It's well worth exploring if there is anything making your RLS worse which could be avoided.

There is a whole host of things that can do this, some of them affect almost everybody, some of them can be very individual.

The main ones are other medications. There is a long list of medications that can make RLS worse. The main ones are antidepressants, sedating antihistamines and antiemetics. There are MANY others.

Any inflammatory condition you have or any inflammation you have but don't realise (sub-clinical or chronic) can make RLS worse.

If you have a bowel condition this can be a cause of inflammation. If you have any food sensitivity this can cause inflammation, gluten, lactose or others.

Excessive carbohydrate in the diet causes chronic inflammation with a variety of poor health consequences.

Diet then is a factor. Alcohol, sugar and generally, caffeine should be avoided, but these are short term "triggers".

Eating a low oxalate diet, an anti-inflammatory diet or taking an anti-oxidant can help.

Note that these measures only give results in the longer term (except the triggers).

One last thing worth noting is that there are various other health conditions which can make RLS worse. If you have one of these however, I would imagine you're already aware of it.

This includes diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, underactive thyroid, kidney disease, peropheral neuropathy and circulatory problems.

For guidance on the general managmenmt of RLS as recommended in the UK, please see this link.

cks.nice.org.uk/topics/rest...

Good luck at Guys!

[Engineering in reply to Hidden]

Thanks again

[Kaarina Administrator]

Here is one posting on the foot wrap from 10 months ago. healthunlocked.com/rlsuk/po...

[Engineering in reply to Kaarina]

Thanks

[Joolsg]

I've wasted hundreds of pounds over the last 5 years on gadgets and supplements for RLS.If you have mild RLS it may help but it did nothing for my severe RLS. It was sent to me by a cousin in the US so by the time it arrived in the UK and I discovered it didn't help, the guarantee period had expired.

If you're in the USA you could check reviews to see if people actually get their money back.

[Engineering in reply to Joolsg]

Many thanks

[Carlettejaque]

It wouldn't work for me as I can't stand anything tight on my legs or feet. I use ice water soaks for my feet and have just bought a dog cooling mat which doesn't seem to work as it gets warm after 5 minutes?

[Engineering in reply to Carlettejaque]

Many thanks

[LoveCA]

I tried it and it failed miserably! I did get my money back though. Would not recommend it but let us know if you get it.

[Engineering in reply to LoveCA]

Thanks for information. Not sure yet about getting one