please share your thoughts

[Lluvinlife]

I am - 54 year old post-menopausal woman who has have been suffering from RLS for approximately 18 months and it is becoming more severe. I weaned myself off of Lexapro, exercise daily, have almost eliminated caffeine and sugar, take magnesium and soak my feet in a magnesium salt bath at bedtime. Most of these help sone but none help completely. With these helps, I now have only one or two really bad nights a week (up every two hours) and 5 nights a week where I am up twice and get back to sleep fairly quickly.

I have had mY iron tested and it was fine but next week I will be showing my dr the May Clinic protocol And asking for further testing

anyways, on a seemingly unrelated note, I was prepping for a colonoscopy and therefore when to be in the damasked state last night (24 hours fasted) and slept like a baby - no RLS

any insights as to why this might be?

[Lluvinlife]

p.s. I have also recently switched to a standing desk for work and find that helpful, too

[SueJohnson in reply to Lluvinlife]

A standing desk is one of the things that helps RLS as you have found out.

Some things that can make RLS symptoms worse for some people are alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, sugar, carbs, foods high in sodium, foods that cause inflammation, ice cream, eating late at night, estrogen including HRT, dehydration, MSG, collagen supplements, electrolyte imbalance, melatonin, stress and vigorous exercise as well as exercise late in the evening or a change in your exercise. Some things that help some people include caffeine, moderate exercise, weighted blankets, compression socks, elastic bandages, masturbation, magnesium glycinate - take at night, fennel, low oxalate diet, selenium, 5 minute shower alternating 20 seconds cold water with 10 seconds hot water finishing with hot water for another couple of minutes, hot baths, distractions, CBD, applying a topical magnesium lotion or spray, doing a magnesium salts soak which you are doing, vitamins B1, B3, B6, B12, D3, K2, if deficient, and potassium and copper if deficient, massage including using a massage gun, vibration devices, using a standing desk - again as you have found out, listening to music, meditation and yoga.

Many medicines and OTC supplements can make RLS worse. If you are taking any and you list them here, I can tell you if any make RLS symptoms worse and if so may be able to give you a safe substitute.

[SueJohnson]

You say you had your iron tested but was your ferritin tested? Improving your ferritin to 100 or more helps 60% of people with RLS and in some cases completely eliminates their symptoms. If not 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, don't eat a heavy meat meal the night before, fast after midnight and have your test in the morning before 9 am if possible. 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 some advice.

[Lluvinlife in reply to SueJohnson]

Thanks. My plan is to take the Mayo clinic protocol and highlight the iron testing recommendations for him. I don’t have it I. From of me but I am assuming these are the same numbers you are sharing here.

Lynn

[SueJohnson in reply to Lluvinlife]

Actually although they definitely recommend testing for your ferritin, they don't mention the 60% although that is commonly known.

[Lluvinlife in reply to SueJohnson]

any idea why the fasting helped?

[SueJohnson in reply to Lluvinlife]

Not really.

[Munroist]

Some people find eating earlier and avoiding certain foodstuffs helps lessen RLS. By fasting you‘ve taken both of those to the extreme e.g. you can’t be triggered by food if haven’t eaten any. I reduced carbs and ate early ish (6pm) for a while and it seemed to help and definitely had a run of more restful nights. It doesn’t seem to be 100% effective and I occasionally still had bad nights and sometimes I sleep ok having had stuff which should trigger RLS. It might be worth experimenting and eating at midday and missing the evening meal for example to see if that has benefits. I should probably try that but as family cook I find it hard to make food for others and not partake. If it did work then you could try reintroducing foods later to see if any are better or worse than others. Could be a long process!

[Lluvinlife in reply to Munroist]

Thanks, I am going to do this… slowly reintroduce foods . I have done that in my past before I was diagnosed with Celia disease.

[RCHD]

Yes fasting reduces inflammation. You might want to look into bio identical hormones therapy, it might help your rls.

[Joolsg]

Are you on any other medications? Here's a list of meds that trigger RLS.rls-uk.org/medical-treatments

Low brain iron is the most common reason for RLS. Raising serum iron above 60 and serum ferritin above 100, preferably 200 can resolve the majority of cases.

You may have food or drink triggers. Fasting may have eliminated a trigger.

Try keeping a food diary. Caffeine can be a trigger for many. In tea, coffee, chocolate. So try eliminating that first for 4 weeks. If no change, it's not caffeine.

Then eliminate alcohol. It's a slow process but dietary triggers do cause RLS for some people.

[Lluvinlife in reply to Joolsg]

thanks. I don’t drink and have eliminates all but one does of caffeine first thing in the morning. I was actually able to still have my morning coffee during my fast. I have also eliminated almost all added sugars. I think what I am going to do since my system has been “cleaned out” is take my time adding foods back in one at a time to see if it can find the trigger.

In the meantime, my appointment to chat about more extensive blood testing is next week.

If nei try et of those help I may explore hormone replacement but I hate to mess with naturs

[SueJohnson in reply to Lluvinlife]

Unfortunately most hormone replacement medications contain estrogen which can make RLS worse for most.

[Lluvinlife]

I was on Lexpr but weaned my self odd in order to see if my RLS would improve. I have been offf it completely for 5 weeks. Now my only message is occassional ventalin for asthma