Keto & RLS

Please share your experiences, successes, and failures in using non-drug therapies for RLS/WED (methods of relief that don't involve swallowing or injecting anything), including compression, heat, light, stretches, acupuncture, etc. Also under this heading, medical interventions that don't involve the administration of a medicine to the body (eg. varicose-vein operations, deep-brain stimulation). [This forum contains Topics started prior to 2009 that deal with Non-prescription Medicines, Supplements, & Diet.]
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M@rg!&
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Joined: Fri May 15, 2020 8:58 pm

Keto & RLS

Post by M@rg!& »

I have had RLS for years. Pretty severe. I have used all the meds. They have all worked for a while but either stopped working or I had nasty side effects from them. Suffered augmentation as well. My doc directed me back to gabapentin, which i was taking earlier this year. In the meantime, because I am prediabetic, I started reducing my carbs at meals. Eventually, I started keto and severely limited all carbs. After about 6 weeks of being on keto, my RLS get better and then stopped. At first, I thought it just stopped for a night or two and then I realized it was a week, then two, then three. I was shocked and talked to my doc. She wanted to know what I was doing differently. The only thing I could think of was keto.
In mid June, I had a birthday Friends brought over pizza and cake. There were left overs I ate for days. Keto went out the window for about 1 week. The RLS came back with a vengence. I got back on the keto, and now after about 10 days the RLS is gone again. I am really beginning to believe that the carb intake causes my body to bring about RLS.
Anyone else have this reaction to carbs? I am wondering if it is all carbs, or just sugar or flour (wheat)? i will have to do more trial and error to see how far I can push the carb eating without going into RLS mode again.
Thanks for any input you might have.

ViewsAskew
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Re: Keto & RLS

Post by ViewsAskew »

Welcome M@rg!&.

There is a post from years ago about how sugar could theoretically trigger RLS/WED. It was so long ago, I am not even sure how you'd find it in a search - do not remember any specific search words.

At any rate, there was someone who - for some reason - ended up following a low-carb diet and it really helped them.

I have a friend who swears that the ONLY time he gets RLS/WED is when he eats sweets. He eats quite clean and teaches martial arts - he is in awesome shape. His daughter, now a teen, has always had a massive sweet tooth. When she was younger, he'd indulge once in awhile when they would have something. Until he realized about the RLS/WED. Now he just avoids it all the time.

There seems to be a subset of people that find dietary intake is quite related to their symptoms. Others of us find much less of one (or none at all). Still so many things we do not know about the disease to be sure why that is, as far as I know. Check out the other posts in the None-prescription and diet section - there are several about diet there.
Ann - Take what you need, leave the rest

Managing Your RLS

Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation, and are not medical advice.

badnights
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Re: Keto & RLS

Post by badnights »

Hi M@rg!&
Like you, I don't know if it was the reduced carbs, the elimated gluten & dairy, the added vegetables, or the added fat, but my diet changes led to a serious reduction of symptoms (sadly they did not go away entirely). I started in Feb 2014 by eliminating gltuen, then my doc suggested dairy too so I eliminated that as well, and started a low-carb hi-fat diet; by January 2015 I was in a ketogenic state (adapted to burning fats as the primary fuel). I stayed strict keto for about 3 months, but was unable to recover from intense workouts in a reasonable time (it was taking me 3- 6 hours) so I added carbs back - at first sparingly and only after working out, but now more. (and recently my WED/RLS got worse .... hmmmm).

That's amazing and hope-instilling that you solved it that way!
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight
Click for info on WED/RLS AUGMENTATION & IRON
I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.

peanut1
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Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2011 8:06 am

Re: Keto & RLS

Post by peanut1 »

I was on the keto diet for a year and recently got off. I can only do Keto or paleo diet or I will get about 0 hours a night sleep with meds.

stjohnh
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Location: Palo Alto, California

Re: Keto & RLS

Post by stjohnh »

I did keto for a few months about 2-3 years ago. Seemed to help at first, but improvement did not persist.
Blessings,
Holland

Frunobulax
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Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:41 pm

Re: Keto & RLS

Post by Frunobulax »

M@rg!& wrote:
Sat Jul 04, 2020 3:58 am
Anyone else have this reaction to carbs? I am wondering if it is all carbs, or just sugar or flour (wheat)? i will have to do more trial and error to see how far I can push the carb eating without going into RLS mode again.
Keto has done a lot for me. viewtopic.php?p=99988#p99988

While the exact mechanism for RLS symptoms is unknown of course, there is a solid connection between RLS and carbohydrates (that might explain RLS symptoms from carbs for some of us).

Some people react to sugar (and fructose is what makes it sweet, as opposed to glucose which is the main ingredient in most other carbs). Glucose (pizza) is converted to fructose in our body via the polyol pathway, and there is evidence that this happens at a significant rate for some people with insulin resistance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCQmfRMwHfA, about 24 minutes into the video). So yes, it is possible that eating any carbs may cause the symptoms for you that other people associate with sugar or fructose.

Even more RLS patients get symptoms from drinking alcohol. Now ethanol and fructose are metabolized in the same way, except that alcohol is metabolized in the central nervous system and fructose is not, therefore only alcohol gives a buzz (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM). If you're into metabolic science, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3649103/ is a must read.

srgraves01
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Re: Keto & RLS

Post by srgraves01 »

I was on keto for about 4 months in 2014. I did not take any meds during that time and my RLS was under control. But after 4 months it stopped working. I started it again in December of 2019 and have been doing it since then. My RLS is worse now and it did not totally control my symptoms this time. But it has still helped.

Steve

Frunobulax
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Re: Keto & RLS

Post by Frunobulax »

srgraves01 wrote:
Mon Aug 10, 2020 7:19 am
I was on keto for about 4 months in 2014. I did not take any meds during that time and my RLS was under control. But after 4 months it stopped working. I started it again in December of 2019 and have been doing it since then. My RLS is worse now and it did not totally control my symptoms this time. But it has still helped.
My RLS symptoms flare up whenever I lose weight, for example when I fast for more than 24 hours. Badly, I will have RLS symptoms even if I increase my medication. Therefore keto and the associated weight loss could actually worsen things, for a while. But since going low carb 18 months ago I have cut my RLS medication in half. I'm also eating low oxalate, low omega-6, both of which could be responsible for the improvement too.

I suspect that whatever is in my lipid cells (that are known to store environmental toxins, but also fats like omega-6 that are unhealthy, dose-dependent) causes or exacarbates my RLS. If that theory is true, then keto might be my long-term answer because it's the only thing that allows me to lose weight, and I've already lost roughly half of the excess weight (40 pounds down, 40 to go).

badnights
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Re: Keto & RLS

Post by badnights »

Now ethanol and fructose are metabolized in the same way, except that alcohol is metabolized in the central nervous system and fructose is not, therefore only alcohol gives a buzz

Not quite, for those of you who are interested in details. Alcohol is metabolized primarily in the liver, with small amounts being metabolized by other organs, including the brain, so I guess there is a component of CNS metabolism, but that is not why it causes intoxication. Intoxication results from the way alcohol messes with neurotransmitters in the brain.
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight
Click for info on WED/RLS AUGMENTATION & IRON
I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.

Frunobulax
Posts: 431
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:41 pm

Re: Keto & RLS

Post by Frunobulax »

badnights wrote:
Sun Aug 16, 2020 11:51 pm
Now ethanol and fructose are metabolized in the same way, except that alcohol is metabolized in the central nervous system and fructose is not, therefore only alcohol gives a buzz

Not quite, for those of you who are interested in details. Alcohol is metabolized primarily in the liver, with small amounts being metabolized by other organs, including the brain, so I guess there is a component of CNS metabolism, but that is not why it causes intoxication. Intoxication results from the way alcohol messes with neurotransmitters in the brain.
Fructose is also metabolized primarily in the liver, and converted to fat. That's why people have "non-alcoholic" fatty liver, from too much fructose.

Glucose and fructose also have a dopaminergic component, if consumed in refined form (high glycemic index, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK1zePxBJu4). They activate the addiction centers in our brain.

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