When I reflect on the series of events that finally led to my RLS I see stress and Insomnia as the root cause. Even now the only trigger really is bad sleep. Symptoms are minimal on days when I sleep well and become painful with twitches on days that I don't.
I was wondering if there's a way to fix my sleep non pharmacologically other than the usual sleep hygiene and exercise Jazz.
I make up a hot milky drink of turmeric, cinnamon , black pepper, cocoa and,honey . And a speck of cayenne.🥵
It usually helps calm me down and get back to some normality.
😴
Turmeric can interfere with iron absorption so is not usually recommended though…
Maybe you are suffering PLMs (leg movements) also at night you don't even notice, which prevents your brain to fall into deep sleep and can cause bad sleep quality. Have you been at a sleep laboratory to check your sleep? Regarding falling alseep and sleeping through the night, low dose Trazodone (25-50mg) has helped me. It sedates a bit and promotes deep sleep.
I haven't had a sleep study done. They're expensive. I have tried trazodone before. I went up to 75mg and it didnt do much tbh. I got restless legs while eventually tapering off of it.
I’m in the same boat and keep trying to find a good way to get some decent sleep.
You seem too young to have protracted RLS. While there are many people under 50 with RLS, it seems to me, especially on this forum, that most people are in their 70s and 80s. That said - I'm 73 and my RLS (severe) is essentially gone (iron supplementation). While I still have sleep issues and the RLS does rear it's ugly head on occasion, I am not positive as to the original cause. And, I no longer take any iron supplements since the original dosing.
But, when the RLS was the worst with 2-3 hours of "sleep" I would get up, drive to work, work 8 hours, and drive home. The neurotransmitters GABA (relaxing) and Glutamate (excitable) were having a battle. I was tired but did not have daytime sleepiness - glutamate won the battle - and would continue to "win" through the next night and day!
So, the key to solving the insomnia battle is to increase GABA over Glutamate. Many, many supplements can help - passion flower, hops, valerian root, l-theanine, taurine and others. This article can help, but there are many others and videos - google GABA over Glutamate.
optimallivingdynamics.com/b...
Were you iron deficient before you started supplementation? My ferritin is at 115 already.
I didnt have RLS ever in my life before. I took clonazepam for a few months for Insomnia and developed RLS when I quit it. At first it was only on my legs but then intensified June last year when I couldn't sleep for several days due to a stressful event. I have it in my arms and parts of my back/shoulder where my arms connect to my spine. On occasion my legs twitch when I'm about to fall asleep which wakes me up. It's annoying af.
I have also gained a lot of weight in the past year and have fatty liver. This is because I was stressing out about my health and RLS all the time and would eat to feel better.
Thank you for the link. It mentions a lot of supplements. I'll see which ones are best suited for me.
My ferritin was 49 with severe RLS (in my arms also), no sleep. Bear in mind it took a couple of months before I even knew what it was! Docs were no help and gave me muscle relaxants. They said iron levels were fine. I did have "growing pains" as a small child and was indeed treated for anemia at the time. No other RLS events 'till in my mid 60s. The cause was either from a head injury skiing 10 months prior and/or a digestive event from taking Ciprofloxicin for an infection. Just taking blackstrap molasses (I read it as a "home remedy" it contains a small amount of iron) one night - cut into my RLS immediately. I then took ferrous bisglycinate chelate and it eliminated the severe RLS within a week. Ferritin raised to 105 in a month. Again, I still have sleep issues - but no severe RLS mostly.
Curiously, the RLS episode was preceded by months of sleep disturbances. I NEVER had any sleep issues prior to this. I tried melatonin supplements, shielding my electric meter, turning off WiFi at night, sleep teas, etc. Also, I developed big time leg cramps at night prior to the RLS. This and the iron deficiency lead me to believe there was an absorption issue of minerals including magnesium and iron.
I used to get good relief from insomnia with cannabis prescribed by a knowledgeable doctor. There are many strains that are sedating and in the 6 years of using this I never felt any addiction at all. However within 3 months of taking opioids for cancer I became very addicted. I can’t take it now as opioids and cannabis do not mix. I wish I could.
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