Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

There is a very interesting discussion about gluten on the British RLS board: https://healthunlocked.com/rlsuk/posts/ ... connection

We've long known that celiac causes low iron and low iron causes RLS. I often suggest to our members who have gut and other issues that cannot be easily pinned to something else to have a test!

As far as I know, there isn't any research to show any other connection other than the low iron. This study was done in 2011: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22368967

As mentioned in one of my previous threads, foods with histamine will cause my RLS to flare. This makes me sensitive to wheat products -- not because of the gluten, but because of the histamines. Bleached flour is high in histamines because of the bleaching process. Yeast is also high in histamines. Sourdough bread contains a fermented product which is high in histamines. Bread with seeds in it may be high in histamines. As a result, there are many wheat products that will be a problem for me, but not because of the gluten.

I should also mention that histamines are linked to gut issues ....

I’ve tried going gluten free and I’ve seen no difference in my symptoms. In fact some of my best sleeps have been after a dinner of wheat pasta. My doctor told me that many of her patients can eat wheat products imported from Italy as the wheat is not the same as in the US. I looked and my pasta happens to be from Italy so maybe that’s why. But I do think I have a problem with histamine. I’ve been trying to track down what foods cause me problems and I’ve zeroed in on vinegar, sour cream, yogurt, and sourdough. Histamine seems to be the thing connecting them all. I miss mustard and ketchup so much it’s ridiculous. There are just certain foods that they make delicious and now the whole thing is ruined for me, like hotdogs and cheeseburgers, oh how I miss you. Anyway, my symptoms show up during sleep and I’m still not sure if histamine makes my PLMs worse, or if it simply makes me more aware of my PLMs. I’ve been experimenting with taking DAO supplements with each meal, and drinking nettle tea and sleep has improved but I’m not sure if it’s other things I’m doing. I’ll have to stop and see if they have actually been helping.

yawny wrote:I’ve been trying to track down what foods cause me problems and I’ve zeroed in on vinegar, sour cream, yogurt, and sourdough. Histamine seems to be the thing connecting them all. I miss mustard and ketchup so much it’s ridiculous. There are just certain foods that they make delicious and now the whole thing is ruined for me, like hotdogs and cheeseburgers, oh how I miss you.

I hear what you say. I have a whole whack of foods I can't eat now, and I miss all of them. On the other hand, I now lead a very virtuous life in terms of food I've been able to tolerate small amounts of Dijon mustard, which might work a bit better for you since it doesn't include vinegar.

I haven't tried DAO supplements yet -- did a quick bit of research and found this article by Dr. Jonenja, who's quite well respected in the field: https://www.histamine-sensitivity.com/dao-what-you-need-to-know-08-16.html It sounds like it's worth giving a try. I have studied up on foods that assist in the production of DAO, and I'm trying to include more of them in my diet, along with antihistamine/anti-inflammatory foods.