Has anybody out there had any success with holistic supplements or gadgets?

[Jscottxx57]

It’s overwhelming. The more I read it sounds like prescribed medication sometimes can be the culprit. I’m currently on pramipexole and doing okay for the time being but sounds like that could end. I’m trying to find alternatives. Thank you

[RKM7]

I tried homeopathy for a full year with a trained practitioner. There seems to be a little relief with it but not enough to cover my severe RLS. I occasionally use Hylands Restful Legs in the middle of the night and it’s helpful. I’m taking Gabapentin and that is working so far.

[Elffindoe]

Basically what you're looking for is a non-drug remedy that is yet effective, safe and non toxic.

It might be easier if you ignore all the labels such as "holistic", "natural" or "alternative" these can sometimes be confusing or misleading. It's often inferred that these are safe and non-toxic when in fact, they aren't necessarily and there may be no way of knowing.

In terms of substances you can take, there are basically those that are approved as "food supplements" and those that fall outside of any regulation.

It may be safer to consider food supplements rather than unregulated substances as these have to adhere to some standards of approval. With unregulated substances you may have no idea even what you're actually getting.

Food supplements are essentially products that have been extracted from things that you would eat.

In that case you could ask the question, whay not just get them in your food.

I can think of three posible answers

1) They are lacking in your diet

2) Despite a good diet you have a specific deficiency of a particular food element.

3) That although getting normal quantities in the diet and NOT having any deficiency then EXTRA amounts can have additonal effects.

As regards 1) One solution is to check what's lacking and find out what foods can correct the lack if possible. If not possible, take a supplement.

As regards 2) It seems logical to take an appropriate supplement until if and when the deficiency is corrected.

As regards 3) This is perhaps the least logical since you have the normal levels that your body needs, there's nothing to suggest really that having EXTRA will be of any benefit.

Food supplements usually consist of

Minerals

Vitamins

Amino acids

PLant extracts that have specific properties.

With the first three. If lacking any of these then it's reasonable to take a supplement If you eat sufficient good quality protein, unless you have a specific health problem then it's unlikely for you to have any amino acid deficiency. Although, people on restricted diets may need to be careful, e.g. macrobiotic, vegan, vegetarian.

What usually happens with these is if you take more than you need then the body simply gets rid of the extra or stores it.

This is especially true of minerals, because an excess of minerals can be dangerous and toxic. It's also generally true of water soluble vitamins.

When it comes to plant extracts, it can get very woolly!

One thing you could say about plant extracts is that many medicines are derived from plant sources, so if some pharma company hasn't already developed them into a drug, then they're probably not going to be very effective.

How do you know something will be effective and safe?

Approved (licensed) medicines are clinically tested which means they have been "proven" to be effective and safe (at least in the short term).

There are really no food supplements proven to be effective for RLS apart from, to my knowledge, iron, vitamin B12 and vitamin D.

This applies to "popular" supplements such as magnesium and potassium (both minerals).

Other supplements might have what's known as "anecdotal evidence" to support their use. This means quite a lot of people claim that the supplement has worked for them. Anecdotal evidence however is unreliable, "popular" doesn't equate to effective, sometimes improvements in RLS can occur by chance alone but may be coincidental to taking a food supplement. There may also be "confounding variables" which make it appear that the supplement is effective when in fact, it is some other factor.

I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions about various food supplements that people will claim "works for me"

A typical popular one these days is CBD oil. This is simply a label for a variety of products which contain (or are claimed to contain) cannabis extracts. There is however so much variation in what these contain that you cannot say CBD oil is a thing.

There is anecdotal evidence that some CBD oils can help with some of the symptoms of RLS, but these are are usually relatively high in THC content. This makes them illegal in some states.

There is no evidence that cannabis can help with the principal RLS symptoms. There is evidience that cannabis can help with sleep, pain and anxiety which makes then a helpful remedy for RLS, but only in conjunction with other remedies.

The mostv reliable product is actually a medicine i.e. medical cannabis. This isn't a food supplement.

But it does bring us to non-regulated substances.

The two principal substances for which there is some anecdotal evidence is Kratom and cannabis.

Cannabis has the same limitations as medical cannabis, it's useful for pain, anxiety and sleep.

Kratom is an opiiod like substance which is completely unregulated. You have to be very careful then about where you get it from, what you're actually getting and dosing is very vague with no real gudiance.

Vitmains B12 and D, iron.

There is evidence that vitamin B12/folate deficiency can cause or worsen RLS. Correcting the deficiency can therefore help. You can have a blood test for this.

Vitamin D deficiency has a lesser effect and if corrected it can improve RLS sumptoms. It's not however a treatment. You can have a blood test for this.

IRON THERAPY IS THE FIRST PROVEN TREATMENT RECOMMENDED FOR RLS before drugs. This is because Brain Iron Deficiency (BID) is the main cause of RLS.

NOTE : BID is not the same as general deficiency or iron deficiency anaemia and can exist in people with RLS even in the basence of any other iron deficiency.

BID cannot be tested for by usual methods. However it can be inferred from blood tests for serum iron, transferrin saturation, ferritin and haemoglobin.

Here is a link to some information about this

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

Most recommendations (if not all) for the manaegment of RLS put iron therapy FIRST.

DEVICES

There are all sorts of devices on the market advertised as being effective for RLS.

There is some evidence that vibrational devices can be helpful with some aspects of RLS. They can relieve symptoms, but they do NOT prevent them.

However some companies make dubious claims about their effectiveness, so see what other members say first before trying one.

Compression devices or stockings may also be useful for RLS if the RLS is at least partially caused by hyypoxia or poor circulation. Again see what others say.

There are devices that are theoretically effective for pain. RLS sufferers often assume then that they can relieve RLS symptoms, but this is a false assumption. The nerve pathways in pain and the nerve pathwats in RLS are not the same. Some people are deceived by the fact that some drugs, commonly known as "painkillers" can treat RLS. Painkillers come from many different classes of drug and that they're effective for RLS is not simply because they ALSO treat pain.

Two examples are opioids and gabapentinoids. Their effectiveness for RLS is coincidental to their effectiveness for pain.

A common example of a pain device thought to be useful for RLS is the TENS machine. It isn't effective for RLS.

Incidentally, the same applies to acupuncture.

Don't completely dismiss drugs for RLS.

There are many people who were prescribed a dopaaine agonist in the past and many still being prescribed these, i.e. pramipexole, ropinirole or rotigotine who were/are never told of the risks of these drugs and never told that there are alternatives.

If you have to stop taking pramipexole, don't think that aren't other drugs for RLS that are effecvtive and less risky.

See this link for an overview

mayoclinicproceedings.org/a...

LASTLY

I'm not trying to persuade you to ignore all "alternative" remedies for RLS simply warning you of the pitfalls so you can make an informed choice.

[BAK524 in reply to Elffindoe]

Elffindoe, this is an excellent summary and review.