"Restful Legs" arsenicum alba for RLS - risk of arsenic poisoning?

[sylvanwanderer]

A bit of back story: I am currently attempting to wean of the Neupro patch 1mg under the direction of Dr. Berkowski. After a trial of buprenorphine (the lowest dose patch made me insufferably sleepy and nauseous), I am trying liquid methadone. Currently I am at 2mL methadone, taking off the patch at 2pm and replacing it at 6pm. A series of illnesses, including C. diff, which seriously disrupted my GI tract, have caused me to be more susceptible to nausea, so I'm inching up on the methadone. It doesn't cover the RLS, though I imagine things would be much worse without it. I am unable to take pregabalin or gabapentin.

Even before tapering, I would have breakthrough symptoms of RLS. These would usually resolve with a dose of Hyland's "Restful Legs," a homeopathic remedy from Walmart that has arsenicum alba as its chief ingredient. From what I can find on-line, there is a risk of arsenic poisoning over time, but the directions just say, "repeat every four hours as needed."

As I move proceed with tapering, there are nights when two doses are needed... and no way am I waiting four hours. I am concerned though, that even though it works, it may be a bad idea to be taking so much. (Pramipexole and Neupro worked, at first, and I wish I'd never taken them!)

Dr. Berkowski is unfamiliar with arsenicum use for RLS and is concerned about toxicity. Has anyone else here used it? Thoughts on the risks?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Madlegs1]

You could write to Mark Buchfuhrer in CA. South ca RLS group.

[ChrisColumbus]

Homeopathic Ars. alb. can apparently cure Covid and eczema etc as well as RLS....I've seen mention online that it led to cases of arsenic poisoning in India, but it was believed that it had not been properly prepared (i.e. not diluted to homeopathic levels).

Dr Berkowski and, as Madlegs says, Dr Buchfuhrer, are RLS experts.

[Joolsg]

You're under one of the best RLS doctors in the world.I can't comment on the homeopathy, but, as I understand it, the dose of active arsenic would be very, very tiny.

For Buprenorphine and methadone nausea, try cannabis at night.

I lost 7 pounds the first week I took Buprenorphine, as I was so nauseous, I couldn't eat and was unable to move.

However, it stopped my severe RLS overnight, so I was determined to find a solution to the nausea.

Chemo patients successfully use cannabis for nausea, so I tried it and it worked straight away.

I used a small 0.3ml dose of liquid cannabis oil with 20%THC at night for 2 or 3 weeks. When I stopped the cannabis, the nausea had disappeared.

[sylvanwanderer in reply to Joolsg]

Thank you, Joolsg!

[SueJohnson]

I took it for several months but only one time a night before it stopped working . That was when I decided to see a doctor. It has only 0.000000000076% Arsenic. There is arsenic in a lot of things like apples, rice, sardines and even water. The lethal dose of arsenic in humans is 2-20 mg/kg, or 140 to 1400 mg for an average-sized adult. A . I wouldn't worry about it.

[sylvanwanderer]

Thanks so much for your reply, Sue, I'm so relieved!

[marsha2306]

I take Restful Legs and it helps me almost immediately after taking 2 tablets under my tongue. I told my doctor about this (he had never heard of it) and he didn't find any issues with it. BTW, my doctor is Dr. Christopher Earley at John Hopkins, who is a well renowned expert in RLS.

[sylvanwanderer in reply to marsha2306]

Thanks marsha2306, I appreciate the perspective from both you and Dr. Earley.