The top three foods to avoid are chocolate, sugary sodas, and fried foods. Additionally, you will also want to avoid any foods or beverages that contain caffeine, since this can stimulate your nerves and make your symptoms more severe. These include coffee, tea, energy drinks, and chocolate.
Diet for Restless Leg Syndrome
Incorporate a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet with an emphasis on dark leafy greens. Eat a variety of iron-rich foods like lean meat. Include seeds, tree nuts, and legumes in your diet.
massaging your legs. taking a hot bath in the evening. applying a hot compress to your leg muscles. doing activities that distract your mind, such as reading or watching television.
Try A Tonic
Drinking a 6-ounce glass of tonic water each night before bed might calm your restless legs. Tonic water contains quinine, which stops repeated muscle contractions. Some people say even a sip or two before bed helps.
Did you know that research shows that ripened bananas are found to contain magnesium, potassium, and a natural form of dopamine? These substances work together and may be a significant help in relieving your restless leg syndrome (RLS) symptoms.
Magnesium supplementation is often suggested for restless legs syndrome (RLS) or period limb movement disorder (PLMD) based on anecdotal evidence that it relieves symptoms and because it is also commonly recommended for leg cramps.
Conclusion. Taking magnesium and vitamin B6 supplements can reduce the severity of symptoms of RLS/WED patients and improve their sleep quality.
have iron deficiency anaemia – low levels of iron in the blood can lead to a fall in dopamine, triggering restless legs syndrome.
The recommended daily amount of elemental magnesium in a supplement form is between 200 to 400 mg daily for adults. Taking it at bedtime should benefit sleep.
Suspected Root Causes of Primary RLS
The consistent factors related to primary RLS are iron deficiency (specifically its concentration in the brain), a malfunction of dopamine production, release, and impact, and subtle variations in several genes.
Since the symptoms of the syndrome appear or worsen in resting and immobility times, these symptoms may improve by moving. Therefore, moderate exercise can be helpful (2). Exercises like walking, massaging, stretching, swimming, and stationary cycle can help relieve symptoms (12).
Many patients find the symptoms are worse when you're resting, such as sitting or lying down. Also, many patients find the symptoms are partially or temporarily relieved by activity, such as walking or stretching.
If nerve cells become damaged, the amount of dopamine in the brain is reduced, which causes muscle spasms and involuntary movements. Dopamine levels naturally fall towards the end of the day, which may explain why the symptoms of restless legs syndrome are often worse in the evening and during the night.
The top three foods to avoid are chocolate, sugary sodas, and fried foods. Additionally, you will also want to avoid any foods or beverages that contain caffeine, since this can stimulate your nerves and make your symptoms more severe. These include coffee, tea, energy drinks, and chocolate.
drinking more water. Dehydration may cause the urge to move the legs, so some people find drinking a glass of water stops the urges for a short while. soaking your feet in hot water just prior to going to sleep. wearing compression stockings or tights in bed.
Although there's no cure for restless legs syndrome, medications and lifestyle changes can help minimize symptoms and increase restful sleep. Cutting back on caffeine, alcohol and tobacco may help. Taking a hot bath, massaging the legs or using a heating pad or ice pack can also relieve symptoms.
Restless legs syndrome is not life threatening, but severe cases can disrupt sleep (causing insomnia) and trigger anxiety and depression. The charity Restless Leg Syndrome UK (RLS-UK) provides information and support for people affected by restless legs syndrome.
Medications for RLS
Over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen can be helpful in somepeople with RLS. The medications most commonly prescribed for restless legs syndrome are dopaminergic agents and gabapentin.
Stretches for RLS
Slightly bend your right knee and step your left leg back a foot or two, positioning its heel and foot flat on the floor. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Now bend your left knee while still keeping its heel and foot flat on the floor. For a deeper stretch, move your foot back a bit farther.
These sensations can last for an hour or longer, slowly increasing in severity. While the sensations are most often bilateral, some patients experience them only on one side of the body. The most common time for RLS to occur is at night when the person lies down to sleep.
Rachel Salas, MD, an assistant professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, says that stress and anxiety are big restless legs triggers. Stress reduction techniques like deep breathing or yoga may help.
Magnesium deficiency is diagnosed via a blood test and sometimes a urine test. Your doctor may order the blood test if you have symptoms such as weakness, irritability, abnormal heart rhythm, nausea and/or diarrhoea, or if you have abnormal calcium or potassium levels.
How long does it take for magnesium to work for sleep? The benefits of magnesium are often associated with long-term use, so it's important to take your supplement consistently. We recommend daily use for at least three months to see the full effects on sleep.
001, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.3–7.9). After adjusting for all other significant factors in the multivariate logistic model, vitamin D was significantly associated with RLS (OR 3.1, P < . 002, 95% CI 1.51–6.38).