I have Graves Disease, only diagnosed 6 months ago, however for years I have
suffered from 'Restless Legs ' .
Because of my thyroid problem , I took advice on this site and started to take
supplements ... B12 and D3 and Vit.E are three of those I take now... and I thought it may be of interest to some fellow sufferers that my 'restless legs ' ... are no longer a problem for me ... It may be worth trying , as long as you check with your GP , of course.
Written by
madge1979
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Thank you for that post. I too have RLS since I was carrying my 1st baby, 27 years ago. It's a nightmare but thankfully I don't have the level of pain that some members on the RLS forum suffer from.
I have an underactive thyroid and B12 deficiency and believe there is a connection.
I'm glad that you have found relief with the Vitamins you are taking. Long may it continue.
Have you posted on the RLS forum? I'm sure they would be interested.
Thank you Madge for sharing this, I too have restless leg & it drives me crazy. I'm also hypo & due to see the endocrinologist next month, I will add this to the arms length list of symptoms I suffer from. I'm planning with the help of the wonderful people on here to act as soon as I can with supplements, so fingers crossed it works for me too.
Rennixon, RLS is strongly linked to low brain iron. Work to get your serum ferritin up, definitely above 60, try for higher,the Johns Hopkins unit on rls takes patients up to 100.
Take your B12 up too and personally I'd try some antioxidants as well. Vit C up to tolerance, for example.
Thank you, I will add this to my list. I want to get the endo appointment out of the way & have bloods done so that I know the levels & then start supplementing any deficiencies. Booked in for bloods so we will see what comes back
What is your serum ferritin madge, and did you have a period in the past when the rls began when it might have been low? Only asking from interest in the subject.
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Also D3 seems to have a connection with iron absorption. The other piece of research on rls, which is an area less covered than the iron research, showed high levels of glutamate in rls, which could also link to less brain iron, ie, inflammation in the brain might trigger excess glutamate, the brain blood barrier would then likely keep the iron admitted to the brain low because it would increase the inflammation.
I'm trying to work out which of your supplements might help here... D3 is also necessary for the body to make a major antioxidant, and E I think is an anti oxidant itself... what other supplements are you taking?
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OK, I think it may be the treatment for Graves itself, not the supplements, which has cured your RLS. Study by EK Tan et al, 2004' RLS in thyroid disorder, eight per cent or 12 of 146 thyroid patients newly diag had RLS, interestingly 11 of these had Graves, four of these had their RLS go away completely with treatment, the others saw some improvement.
So not necessarily the supplements, though some may have helped. Very interesting....
ok but could you explain why treatment for the graves is discounted? I am not being hostile, just very interested in the subject. Found an in interesting study which suggests that a minority of those with graves also have antibodies to lactoferrin, which could explain the minority in graves with rls. not that anyone will have got funding to look at that, I suspect.
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