My Friends Legs

[debber]

Hey you guys. I have friend of mine that started having problems two weeks ago with his legs. He said they feel weird and he hasn't been sleeping good. Can lack of sleep be cause? What can he do to sleep better???? Thank you for any advice you can give. debber

[Hidden]

Hello debber,

Sorry to hear your friend is suffering from weird feelings in the legs.

This could be down to a nutrient dificiency or some other underlining cause.

Does your friend suffer from thyroid issues? Maybe he/she needs a dose change.

Ask your friend to post thyroid hormone test results complete with ranges (numbers in brackets) for members to comment.

The link below gives advice on restless leg syndrome:

nhs.uk/Conditions/Restless-...

F

[Heloise]

I also was thinking of restless leg syndrome as well. A calcium/magnesium supplement at bedtime can relax both nerves and muscles.

[Marz]

B12 deficiency ?

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

[elisawh]

It does sound like restless leg syndrome. I have this issue and and it flares up at different times. It makes it extremely difficult to relax and sleep. The feeling is hard to explain. Just feels like you are going to go crazy. I usually get up and stretch out my legs for a few minutes and then take a sleep aid. Usually helps

[Maryh1 in reply to elisawh]

Take potassium. I take 200 mg in am and 200 mg in pm. Also 400 mgs of magnesium.

[Hidden]

Taking a magnesium supplement may help. Sleep deprivation can be caused by restless leg syndrome and this is often due to magnesium deficiency. Magnesium relaxes the leg muscles. It worked for me but it will probably take a few weeks to feel the difference. You are not likely to get immediate results. Also you could try epsom salt baths (a cup of epsom salts and bicarbonate of soda added to bath water). Epsom salts is magnesium sulphate which is absorbed through the skin. Stay in this hot bath for at least 20 minutes before going to bed

[MsLR in reply to Hidden]

I have the same leg prob. I've been doing this for the last few days, and both morning and night. I have noticed a significant improvement in that awful feeling in my legs

[Brownlow]

I agree with some of the suggestions here that it could be magnesium deficiency but do check out other possibilities as well such as B12 deficiency mentioned by Marz. Remember that reference ranges used by the nhs are often not appropriate so research these online. I don't think it's that easy to test for magnesium. I'd just go ahead with the suggestions below as the majority of us is deficient in magnesium anyway and restless legs is the tip of the iceberg. Deficiency can cause other serious issues as magnesium is involved in something like 300 processes in the body if my memory is correct. The soils are very much depleted of magnesium from over farming so even if you eat foods that are known to be high in magnesium there is no guarantee that the levels are as high as they used to be.

We don't easily absorb magnesium supplements. Taking supplements can result in loose bowel movements if you're not careful with the dose as magnesium acts as a muscle relaxant. The most easily absorbed form of magnesium is magnesium citrate. You can get it in powder form which allows you to regulate the dose. Start off low at say 1/2 a teaspoon. If bowels are ok and don't cramp then gradually increas the dose.

A better way of supplementing with magnesium is to use a magnesium oil spray on the body after showering. The skin absorbs the magnesium. I use Better You brand. In USA, Ancient Minerals. This is simply magnesium chloride dissolved in water and isn't an oil as such. Epsom salt baths are also recommended. Epsom Salt is magnesium sulphate. You can also get magnesium chloride flakes which are more easily absorbed by the skin than the sulphate version. The molecules are smaller. I bulk buy magnesium chloride flakes and bag up into small ziplock bags. Much cheaper.

Potassium is another important salt that works in concert with calcium, magnesium and sodium. Imbalance between these 4 salts can cause restless legs among other things. I have heard of people eating a banana before bed time to increase their potassium intake and it seems to help with restless legs.

[Maryh1]

Take potassium

[johnnyxs]

when you say your friends legs feel 'weird' , is it in the muscle ? or skin ? or does it feel like its in the bones or joints ?

Periodically I experience a weird feeling in the skin of my shins at night. The skin becomes really really itchy and I scratch my shins until they bleed. Over the years the skin on my shins have become darker and blotchy than the surrounding skin.

I have no idea why this happens. It may be a blood supply problem or excess heat under the duvet.

I often suffer with cramp in the valves and feet and take an electrolyte like Dioralyte which contains Sodium and Potassium Chloride and is available at any chemist.

Occasionally I have an ache in the wrist and ankle joints which sort of feels like flu. The joints ache so much it stops me sleeping and I have to constantly move my ankles and legs to try and get relief. I believe this could be restless leg syndrome but I may be mistaken.

Do any of these sound like your friends symptoms ?

[tamladp]

I agree with the magnesium/calcium supplements but, you need vitamin D3 to absorb the magnesium. That should help and it will take a couple of weeks to feel the difference.

[Travelling]

Sounds like Restless Leg Syndrome to me. I have it and find that if it is stopping me sleeping, two paracetamol work. But for the longer term, I may try the magnesium/potassium supplementation suggested above.

[turnbacktime]

I've suffered from "weird feelings" in my legs/feet for about a year now, as well as sleeping issues (early wakening and difficulty falling back asleep). I tried lots of sleep meds and nothing worked. My feet feel numbness/tingling, mostly in the ball and toe area. Sometimes they just feel cold. My legs feel generally weak, more so in the left leg. The degree of weakness varies from day to day. Fortunately the muscle twitches, which plagued me for months are now gone. I can definitely say that sleep makes a big difference in my condition on any given day. It's a long complicated story but after seeing several doctors (including an endocrinologist who ran every test known to man) I was pronounced in perfect health. Unfortunately my symptoms were hard to ignore, especially in light of the fact that before all this I was a marathon runner and in great shape for a 55+ year old guy. My internet searching pointed me towards adrenal fatigue (which made sense in light of a divorce and other stressors I had dealt with last year) so I went the alternative medicine route. I also ordered up some saliva cortisol tests that corroborated the AF diagnosis. My improvement has been painfully slow, as the books predict, but I am slowly improving with occasional setbacks (a clean diet is CRITICAL and really do need to stay away from the coffee and alcohol).

I would advise your friend to do a little more analysis before trying to treat symptoms with random supplements. Yes, potassium, B-12, magnesium could all help, but there are some conditions that could be made worse with those supplements.