I have had RLS for approximately 7 years. When it first began it kept me from falling asleep at night for a couple hours and became progressively worse. I discovered that by running in place for 20 to 30 minutes before bedtime helped me fall asleep more easily which lasted until I discovered that it was the synthetic sweetener in diet coke that was the problem. I tried other synthetic sweetners to try and keep my sugar intake down but they all had the same effect as diet coke and I had to give them up as well.
This worked well for a couple years and then the RLS started intermittently again leaving me with no other solution other than taking a strong dose of Advil to get a good night of sleep. Over time I figured out that different foods caused the RLS problem which led me to becoming a vegetarian. I made sure that any food that I bought and consumed didn't contain any additives other than natural ingredients. This solution worked great for a good length of time only requiring me to only take Advil once every week or two.
Unfortunately this solution also got worse over time and I took a lot of Advil as well as rubbing dicloflonex on my legs to enable sleep which got so bad I had to do it every night. Recently I found out that even though I was taking vitamins and other supplements I was missing 2 of the most important ones. Vitamin D3 and K2(Mk4) My multivitamin had 100% of D2 but online research led me to discover the body does not efficiently convert D2 to D3. Also the multivitamin contained no K vitamin at all. I got a supplement containing K2 as MK7+MK4, K1 and D3 and for several weeks now have been able to go to sleep easily without taking any medications and no RLS whatsoever. I can only hope this is a lasting solution and that it may benefit others.
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Ajt0
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Have you had your ferritin checked? Improving your ferritin to 100 or more helps 60% of people with RLS and in some cases completely eliminates their symptoms. When you see your doctor ask for a full iron panel. Stop taking any iron supplements including multivitamins that have iron in them 48 hours before the test, fast after midnight and have your test in the morning. When you get the results, ask for your ferritin and transferrin saturation (TSAT) numbers. You want your transferrin saturation to be over 20% but less than 45% and your ferritin to be at least 100. If they are not, post them here and we can give you advice.
Good news. Thanks for sharing what works for you. I'd be interested to know whether you enjoy ongoing success with these supplements. Do keep us posted?
Curious - Advil (ibuprofen) is a supposed glutamate (the excitable neurotransmitter) blocker. Excitable contributes to wakefulness. I take an ibuprofen caplet broken in half when I awaken in the night - usually sleep returns in an hour.
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