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1283286 tn?1312911966

Article on RLS

Found this article interesting as it does reference possible brain chemistry disruption as a suspected cause..Also gives suggestion for certain things a person can do or take to help relieve the symptom:


This below is from the article:

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/11/get-some-sleep-is-restless-legs-syndrome-real/?hpt=Sbin


We do not understand what causes RLS but there seems to be a dysregulation of dopamine, a naturally occurring neurotransmitter.  RLS is greatly increased in patients with Parkinson’s disease, which involves a depletion of dopamine.  It should be noted that people with RLS do not have a depletion of dopamine, just a dysregulation, and there is no evidence that they are at increased risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

Iron deficiency can also be involved because in order to synthesize dopamine it is necessary to have sufficient amounts of stored iron in the central nervous system.  Therefore, we do see an increase in prevalence of RLS in people with anemia, end stage kidney disease and in pregnant women, all conditions that involve low levels of the storage form of iron, which is known as ferritin.  There is a simple blood test that can be checked in people with RLS symptoms and if the level is below 50 ng/ml, then oral iron replacement is indicated.  In fact, it is now recommended that all patients with RLS take extra iron each day.

We also know that certain medications can cause or aggravate RLS, medications such as antidepressants, over-the-counter antihistamines and nausea medications such as metoclopramide.  Substances such as caffeine, nicotine and alcohol can also worsen the symptoms of RLS.

If symptoms are very mild or infrequent, then people can try stretching exercises before the time that the symptoms  typically start or they can try doing mentally stimulating tasks such as crossword puzzles, which can help distract them. However, if RLS symptoms occur more than twice a week, most patients want treatment.  Besides adding more iron to the diet, there are several classes of prescription medications that can be used, the most common being dopamine agonists (i.e. synthetic dopamine replacement).  It is important that physicians have experience treating RLS because older dopamine agonists such as carbidopa/levodopa must be used with caution as they can actually worsen the RLS symptoms.
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Avatar universal
I'm glad the info is useful faith_hope_love..  and Congrats on 35 days our so :))

Dav it seems your ingenuity has payed off :)) what do they say about geniuses lol we still have the monster tomato plant producing tomatoes !! it has only been in the 40s during the day and freezing at night.. although not a lot of flavor for lack of sun they are good steamed peeled and cooked with :) we also have peppers that I have been throwing in everything !
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Avatar universal
Great articles, thanks all!  I was taking Women's One a Day with extra calcium & vitamin D but once again (everytime I take a multi it seems) I get the digestive issues, constipation which I hate worse than anything.  So, now I am just taking Cal-Mag-Zinc and a B-12 sublingual.  You know, that multivitamin say's that for iron, it is only 18% of the recommended daily allowance.  I must be super sensitive.
Since money is tight right now and I can't just go buy a ton of healthy foods, I have bought cans of tuna, eggs, cottage cheese, apples, bananas and oranges and I try to have 1 serving of each of those foods daily.  Plus my protein shake and then lastly try to make sure I have something green each day.  I hope that is decent for now.  I really want my dopamine back!! ~grin~ Of course I mean I want my body to start making it again without opiates. :)  It has been about 35 days or so since my last opiate so I know this takes time.  Overall, I feel pretty durn good compared to the first time I did this years back.
Oh, glad to see black eyed peas on the list.  My mom made this huge pot of them with ham and tomatoes on New Years and I must have ate 4 bowls in 1 day..lol.  Guess my body was craving something in them.
Any advice that will help anywhere I am lacking is much appreciated too. lyn
Helpful - 0
1283286 tn?1312911966
Believe it or not, it's 25 F outside and I have 24 brocolli plants still growing with heads under a plastic pipe framed small plastic cold frame greenhouse...Picking broccoli in the middle of a snow and ice storm in the second week of january....Sometime I really wonder if I'm all glued together....:)..
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Avatar universal
Thanks Dav I was hoping you would approve :)

Magnesium rich foods..

Beans, black
Broccoli, raw
Halibut
Nuts, peanuts
Okra, frozen
Oysters
Plantain, raw
Rockfish
Scallop
Seeds, pumpkin and squash
Soy milk
Spinach, cooked
Tofu
Whole grain cereal, ready-to-eat
Whole grain cereal, cooked
Whole wheat bread
Helpful - 0
1283286 tn?1312911966
You rock girl:)..I spotted the article and saw some helpful hints for those suffering from it in their wd process and most we all here about is Hyland's which works for some but didn't do anything for me...So I posted it for refeence....You just put the icing on the cake with the above...:).
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank you for this. Although I only experience RLS in withdrawls (like right now..I swear I want to chop my legs off at the moment!!) I have a friend who deals with this on a regular basis and she's otherwise very healthy. I'll email the link to her.

RLS for me is one of the worst wd symptoms. It's awful and although I've been eating hylands restful legs all day long today my legs are just going nuts on me. Thankfully when I get through the wds it will go away but I really feel bad for people who deal with this on a normal basis. Hot baths help it a bit but as soon as I get out it starts again! Uggh. I hate it so much. That and the hot/cold stuff is bothering me a lot right now. One minute I'm sweating like a pig and the next I'm cranking up the heat in here. Wds suck so bad. Can't wait to be DONE!!
Helpful - 0
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