Deep heat, deep freeze, or massage oil?

[usernameanoonymous]

I've been massaging my legs for 1-2 min each night before bed, and it seems to help a bit.

What has your experience been? Also, have you tried something like deep heat or deep freeze, and how did that go?

[Elffindoe]

These may be of some help, but at nest will only relieve symptoms temporarily.

If you want to treat RLS or prevent symptoms without drugs there are some options.

The first treatment to be tried by everybody for RLS is iron therapy.

Brain iron deficiency is the main cause of RLS.

1) Have blood tests for serum iron, transferrin saturation, ferritin and haemoglobin.

2) If serum iron and TSAT are low you have general iron deficiency. If haemoglobin is low you have iron deficiency anaemia. Iron therapy is needed to treat these.

3) if all these are normal then it's safe to undergo iron therapy (TSAT less than 45%).

THEN check the ferritin result, i.e. the exact number.

For people with RLS the recommendations are

a) if ferritin is less than 75 start taking an oral iron supplement

b) if it's between 76 and 100 see if you can get an IV iron infusion.

The aim of these is to raise ferritin to at least 100 and ideally 200 or more.

You can find guidance on what iron to take and how to take it elswhere in this forum.

The second thing to be considered by anybody with RLS is to identify and if possible eliminate any aggravating factors, i,e. Things that make RLS worse.

Recommendations state that the main aggravating factors are other medications.

Antidepressants

Sedating antihistamines

Dopamine Antagonists.

Some antacids

Plus many others.

Look under "General Considerations" in this link

mayoclinicproceedings.org/a...

Other sources will identify other aggravating factors.

Triggers - alcohol, sugar and stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine should be avoided.

Diet and inflammation may be a factor

If you have a deficiency of vitamin B12 or vitamin D, supplements of these can help.

Strong anti-oxidants can help prevent inflammation, e.g. selenium or celery juice.

A low carbohydrate diet or anti-inflammatory diet can reduce inflammation.

If you have SIBO, IBS or H Pyloribacter, treating these will reduce inflammation.

Promoting good gut health by taking probiotics may help.

You may have a food sensitivity e.g. to gluten or lactose, eliminating these may help.

There are no other food supplements that have been conclusively shown to be helpful for RLS.

"Natural" remedies for RLS include Kratom, which can treat RLS and cannabis, which can relieve pain and anxiety and promote sleep.

CBD oils are notoriously unreliable.

Medicinal Cannabis is ideal, but this is a drug.

If you simply don't know rather than are deliberately avoiding RLS drugs, then be aware that there are medical treatments for RLS. See the link above.

[usernameanoonymous in reply to Elffindoe]

Thank you so much for this. I actually recently had blood tests and my ferritin was 18! Fortunately the other markers — i.e. TSAT, serum iron, and transferrin — were normal.

Started taking iron supplements and my RLS symptoms are much less frequent now (1-2 times per week as opposed to 6-7 times per week.)

[usernameanoonymous in reply to usernameanoonymous]

Funny enough, earlier this year a doctor put me on a low dose of antidepressants (amitriptyline) to help me sleep. It did help me to fall asleep and I can't specifically remember that my RLS symptoms were worse at the time.

[involuntarydancer in reply to usernameanoonymous]

Typically, amitriptyline is one of the worst offenders for exacerbating RLS. It is best avoided. If you are still taking it, you could see if your GP would replace it with a different med - although SSRIs are also known to worsen RLS so care does need to be taken with anti-depressants. I hope that the iron supplement will help you. Raising serum ferritin can completely resolve issues for some sufferers.

[usernameanoonymous in reply to involuntarydancer]

Luckily I'm not on amitryptiline anymore Sleep hygiene and a strict bedtime routine, as well as taking iron supplements to slowly restore my ferritin levels, seem to be adequate for most days in a week.

[Hidden in reply to usernameanoonymous]

Hi there. How long after starting the iron did you notice a difference?