I have had two weeks of *total* remission. So of course, I am trying to figure out why. I think it is possible that it has to do with adding soy to my diet. I am not sure that this is the answer, and it’s only been two weeks, but I am sharing this in case it resonates with anyone else or helps provide a clue to anyone about their own RLS puzzle, since there doesn’t seem to be one cause or solution that works universally.
By way of background…
I am 45, female, live in the US. This is my second serious bout with RLS. It’s been several months of unbearable discomfort but no pain, worse at night but sometimes during the day. I’ve also had very bad insomnia despite a calm mind, even when my legs weren’t actively bothering me. I’m usually a great sleeper so this has been unusual for me. I have never taken prescription medication for RLS like DAs or gabapentin. I take oral magnesium every day and have done so for years.
Short-term things that have helped during this time have been sleeping on a futon (no movement when my spouse moved); walking on a treadmill for a half hour when I couldn’t sleep; tiring my legs through leg lifts; cold water, especially immersion; hot epsom baths; vibration plate on my calves; lidocaine cream; caffeine; nightly gentle iron; and intensive stretching — not so much of my legs, but of my back, especially backward stretches. All of these things helped sometimes but did not work always or totally. And even when they helped my legs, they didn’t always help the insomnia.
Things that did not help me (that I was aware of, at least) were reducing oxalates, reducing histamine foods, and cutting out sugar (although that helped other things).
So it’s been two weeks now of feeling good. The timing is somewhat weird in that I have not been eating very well at all. Lots of sugar, frozen pizza, etc. How can it be that I am finally feeling good?
I have a history of low iron and ferritin and have been taking gentle iron for months. So maybe it’s just finally “built up.”
But the timing of this remission also coincides with me switching my 2-3 cups a day of high quality organic cow’s milk to organic soy milk. I’ve cut out dairy in the past by replacing it with oat or almond milk, and it did not seem to help. And I am still eating cow dairy now (cheese and ice cream). So I am considering that the soy may be helping. One hypothesis is that my RLS might be caused by changing hormones because of my age and sex, and soy can affect estrogen (oestrogen). Dairy can affect hormones, too, so reducing it may still be part of the equation.
We are all different. I don’t know that the soy is what is helping, and even if it is, I would not be surprised if soy made RLS worse for some people. I’m not claiming to have “the” answer. But it’s possible that this might be part of the puzzle, at least for some people, especially women around my age. Or maybe tonight it comes back and I regret this post. Time will tell, but in the meantime, I hope this helps someone. This condition absolutely sucks and I am hoping everyone on here finds lasting relief.
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