I’m just writing to ask if stress, even if it’s good stress, can start up your RLS? Today, I had old friends in for lunch, and it was a delightful day, but since they left, I’ve been going through hell with my restless leg pain and distress. It’s 2 a.m. and I’m still in bad shape.
.Two weeks ago, I held an outdoor party for friends and the same thing happened. It was all “good stress” and fun, but I really suffered afterwards and a little bit before. I think all the planning and details got to me even though the events were happy and successful. Both were kept simple, nothing fancy, but that doesn’t seem to matter.
I recall a book by Dr. Hans Selye about how some stress is good for you, so that’s why I call this good stress, but it seems no stress is good for this RLS
Second question: In the past two years, I’ve been on three different antibiotics , and I could only last three days with them as the RLS were so intense I had to stop. I could no longer cope. I was supposed to be on them for 7-10 days. Has anyone else had this experience with antibiotics?
Thank you all.
Written by
WendyBea
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I feel your pain, just had another night on the sofa so as my wife can get some sleep. I have had no experience on antibiotics and RLS but been on a number of different meds and currently using air compression things to help. They are too large to be truly helpful but do ease slightly. I have had gaba, prami and romin all make things OK but soon escalated again. No idea where to go now.
Welcome to the forum. You will find lots of help, support and understanding here.
I assume you are off pramipexole and ropinirole. Can you tell me about your experience with gabapentin. If you were taking it at the same time as the DAs then it would help much. If not you may not have taken enough or in the right way. Please tell me so I can help you as there are also other medicines that can work.
Have you had your ferritin checked? If so what was it? If not this is the first thing that should be done for RLS.
When you see your doctor ask for a full iron panel. Stop taking any iron supplements including in a multivitamin 48 hours before the test, don't eat a heavy meat meal the night before and fast after midnight. 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 ferritin to be over 100 as improving it to that helps 60% of people with RLS and in some cases completely eliminates their RLS and you want your transferrin saturation to be between 20% and 45%. If your ferritin is less than 100 or your transferrin saturation is not between 20% and 45% post back here and we can give you some advice.
Some things that can make RLS symptoms worse for some people are alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, sugar, artificial sweeteners, carbs, foods high in sodium(salt), foods that cause inflammation, ice cream, eating late at night, oestrogen (estrogen) including HRT, dehydration, MSG, collagen supplements, electrolyte imbalance, melatonin, stress and vigorous exercise.
Some things that help some people include caffeine, moderate exercise, weighted blankets, compression socks, elastic bandages, masturbation, magnesium glycinate, 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, vitamins B1, B3, B6, B12, C, D3, K2, if deficient, and potassium and copper if deficient, massage including using a massage gun, vibration devices like therapulse, using a standing desk, listening to music, meditation and yoga. Keep a food diary to see if any food make your RLS worse.
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.
By the way it would really help us to give you advice if you would indicate on your profile what country you live in and your gender.
Stress can be a trigger, and is difficult to totally avoid.
But various dietary factors can also trigger: did you have more sugar, carbs, artificial sweeteners, msg, alcohol, caffeine etc than usual?
Some RLS sufferers cannot tolerate antibiotics, possibly because of the effect on the gut microbiome. A good probiotic, such as Symprove, can help.
A further thought: are you still on pramipexole, even a reduced amount? If so, this will reduce the effectiveness of gabapentin and you could still be suffering from augmentation. Or have you totally come off the pram recently and could be suffering from withdrawal?
Thanks for your reply. No, what I ate at the two recent occasions where I entertained friends did not include excess of the things you've mentioned. I haven't had alcohol in years. I am reducing successfully the Pramipexole. I'm down to half, and I am also reducing the Gaba as I can't stand the drowsiness. Along with those, I use Codeine 30s and on a really bad day, Tramacet helps. I have never heard that Gaba can reduce the effectiveness of Prami. I will look into that.
No soup or gravy! I think what I ate was reasonablly healthy food (even though I splurged a bit on the leftovers!) so none of the food should have been a trigge,r and I haven't had alcohol in years. Was your "MSG" meant to say monosodium glutamate? Thanks for your reply.
I find that emotional highs and lows are more likely to trigger my rls than stress as such. It's not a terribly useful discovery because, well, how do you avoid emotional highs and lows in life but sometimes it helps to know what caused a flare up even if it was unavoidable. Like the others, I also wondered if changes in what you would normally eat or how/when you eat might have been a factor. I have never experienced problems with antibiotics.
Thanks so much. I love your username! I've seen it before on this platform. I agree that emotional highs and lows are the often better terms rather than stress itself, but I also did experience stress because of who I was entertaining (wanting to be perfect, you know!) I don't think I ate anything unusual, and because of the season, much of it was fresh and healthy. I had no alcohol, but my friends sure enjoyed their drinks! I just feel I have to live a slow and steady lifestyle, which isn't always easy and can be boring. Thanks again.
Hi WendyBea, just a thought. You say 'much of it was fresh and healthy'. I know some of my triggers are cheese, chicken and tomatoes, all 'fresh and healthy' foods, but which can increase the chances of a flare up in my legs. I have to be particularly careful with glutamate which I've read is often already at a high level in people with RLS. Just thought I'd add that thought to your pondering.
Thank you for that interesting information. I appreciate it. I eat all those items regularly, too. I was told by a therapist to go off grains, dairy, and sugar to reduce the lymphedema in my legs. I haven’t done that, as I can’t imagine such a diet, it m sure there’s evidence that it works in many cases. Guess we’ll learn more about food and RLS at some point, too.
I have tried going off a lot of foods. I now eat mostly ancient grain bread, like spelt and millet, and am lactose free. I found when I do this, I absorb iron better. Sugar was the hardest thing to reduce but one of the most highly triggering foods for me, along with fats. The worst RLS night of my life was when I had a cheese platter for super in the days before I learnt. I got about ten minutes sleep! Apparently BBQ chickens are worst. You live and learn with this syndrome and it's something that is so individual the only way to find out is to try. Good luck with your journey.
Thank you. I just bought a barbecued chicken for the first time in ages! LOL! And I eat a lot of cheese. Yesterday afternoon was an exciting afternoon and I couldn’t get to bed until 4:30 a.m. because of RLS. I got 2 hours sleep then had to get up. I decided to catch up on sleep by moving to my Lazy Boy chair at 8 a.m, it’s now 10:30 a.m, and the damn legs are going again. This is going to be another lost day. I have now had three nights in a row where my legs kept me up till 4:30 AM. As far as I can figure this is all due to excitement. Thanks again for taking the time to reply.
No, no alcohol for years now. I'm often tempted, and my friends sure enjoyed their drinks the other day, but not me. I think it was the stress of planning and all the details, etc. I'm a "senior senior" and these events are getting harder to pull off. Thanks for your reply.
Yes, I notice that certain antibiotics can really exacerbate RLS. I'm on doxycycline at the minute and it's having a noticeable impact. Immediately prior to that, i took Augmentin (amoxicillin clavunate) and had no problems. I try to avoid antibiotics but it's not always possible.
Ah, Wendy …. I feel your pain. Anything outside of routine involving entertaining, holidays etc is destined to set off RLS symptoms and too much food and alcohol will definitely exacerbate it! It’s so unfair - not just on us, but on partners as well.
Thanks for your kind sympathy. You’re absolutely right about how it affects partners as well. I’m so fortunate mine is understanding and helpful. I haven’t had alcohol in years, and I thought my lunch was reasonably healthy, but I did overindulge on the leftovers! 😅
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