Restless Legs Syndrome

[Longwaytoofar]

I have RLS and take codeine 15mg at night. My ferritin level got too high last year so no longer on iron supplements. Wondering how successful ALA is and if it is what dose and what time to take it. Thanks in advance

[Joolsg]

ALA? Alpha Lipoic Acid? It's used as an anti inflammatory to calm nerves. Usual recommended dose is 2 x 600mg tablets a day.I take it for MS and Long Covid, not RLS.

It may help.

Does 15mg codeine stop all your RLS?

[Longwaytoofar in reply to Joolsg]

Mostly, codeine works. Get a good night sleep which is all i ask for.

[SueJohnson]

How high was your ferritin?

Have you tried gabapentin? It is the first-line therapy for RLS and you might not need the codeine.

[Longwaytoofar in reply to SueJohnson]

No. I refused such drugs as in time dose has to increase and there are many side effects. Codeine is kinder

[SueJohnson in reply to Longwaytoofar]

Obviously it is up to you and what you are comfortable with.

The dose only has to be increased during the first 6 months and that is just to find what works for you. I take it. All drugs have side effects but most of the side effects of gabapentin or pregabalin will disappear after a few weeks and the few that don't will usually lessen. And if they don't, it is easy to come off it by reducing slowly and one will have no withdrawal effects.

Check out the Mayo Clinic Updated Algorithm on RLS which will tell you everything you want to know including about it

[SueJohnson in reply to Longwaytoofar]

You may be confusing it with dopamine agonists like ropinirole and pramipexole where that is the case.

[Svengolly]

How high were your ferritin levels ??

[Svengolly]

Odds of eliminating RLS are pretty good ! …

Studies at John Hopkins have shown 50% of rls sufferers get total relief ,

and another 25% partial relief by raising their Ferritin Level (stored iron) !

I had unbearably horrific rls until i raised my low Ferritin levels.

But note some sufferers have "normal" Ferritin levels and only

benefit when they raise them to HIGH levels.

Sometimes as even as high as 400 to get relief.

There is a small chance a person can have dangerously high iron levels so iron and ferritin blood levels should be tested before piling on Iron .

It took me 8 (horrific !) months taking expensive Heme Iron supplements to raise my Ferritin levels ..

but then i got total relief.

I took one of each of these a day …

amazon.com/Proferrin-ES-Pol...

amazon.com/gp/product/B005C...

Five years later my rls came back strong :(((

& no surprise .. my ferritin test came back low .

I was also anemic.. so i was (thank God & Dr. ) ordered iron infusions, and within 2 weeks my rls evaporated , as well as 30 years of insomnia !!!

This whole nightmare (as well as a dozen gut and other health problems)

were surely caused by my stupid choice to be a vegan/vegetarian .

Two years ago i went on the Carnivore diet

(which fixed my 5 decades of gut & nueroligical issues in months) .

I ate tons of grassfed beef , plus some mega-iron rich beef heart monthly.

Meat iron is way higher & more bio-absorbent than plants ...

needless to say my iron/ferritin levels are 5x higher than my veggy years !

If you fear saturated fat or meat or think it’s unethical like i did …

imo we have been grossly misinformed or worse disinformed .

Watch the movie Fat Fiction … Google MeatRx …

and bear in mind our the mainstay of our evolutionary diet was fatty “grass-fed” animals .

Google eatwild to find local humanely raised grassfed meat