Diet and RLS

[Seaux]

When I eat less than 40G of carbs in 24 hours I have no RLS but when I eat much more than that the RLS is severe. I will be seeing a gastroenterologist in a month and if he is able to shed any light on this I will post his assessment and hope it will help many of us.

[Madlegs1]

Thank you. Looking forward to the assessment!

[suzsull48]

I have often wondered the same. I find if I’ve eaten a lot of sweet stuff my RLS seems to be worse. I am very much an advocate of ‘you are what you eat’. But what works for one doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for another as our bodies are unique to ourselves. It’ll be interesting to see what your dietitian says.

[RLSofManyYears]

I do think there is a link between our diet and RLS. I have noticed this last week that when I have had a heavy meal in the evening then my legs start jerking about 30 minutes afterwards. Too much sugar, salt, alcohol, caffeine, etc also exacerbates it. There is more interest in SIBO i.e. the link between our gut and the brain. So I'm just starting on some herbal supplements to see if that will help. Search SIBO on this forum and you will get some info.

[Eryl]

Why would you want to see a gastroenterologist? It's do do with blood sugar and the insulin level which affects chronic inflammation. Keeping your carb intake down will also reduce the chance of heart disease, vascular calcification nerve problems like fibromyalgia, epilepsy, Alzhemer's. Be thankful that you've realised the damage that a high carb diet is doing to your body.

[Seaux in reply to Eryl]

I am going to see a GI doc because this problem started after major surgery when I had to take a large and prolonged dose of an antibiotic which could have upset gut biome.

[Amrob in reply to Seaux]

I noticed a definite worsening of symptoms after taking 2 courses of antibiotics recently. Things settled somewhat after a few weeks.

[kylieah]

I've just realised carbs are making mine worse as well. I'm going to start a food diary to keep track and monitor what I eat and record how my RLS is as a result.

[Seaux in reply to kylieah]

You might also consider buying a food scale because the quantity of food triggers can play a big role.

[DicCarlson]

Hmmm - makes great sense. I hired a nutritional consultant and she suggested a ketogenic diet (very low carbs). I've settled on more of a paleo diet, but definitely less than 75g carbs/day. Of late I'm increasing protein to see if that helps - mostly sleep issues. I have a friend that has RA and she is in total remission with a keto diet. If she eats more than 30g/day her hands are on fire!

[Mariuanna]

Perhaps get diabetes checked

[Seaux in reply to Mariuanna]

Thanks. My last A1C 10 months ago was pre-diabetic. Will get it rechecked soon. Thanks for the suggestion.