Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I suffered with RLS for 20 years until randomly trying Vitamin B1 (thiamine), and the symptoms disappeared THAT NIGHT.

Every once in a while I feel a little tingle, but it's nothing like the torture I experienced all those years. I mean, I now sleep like a baby each and every night, with at least a 99% reduction in symptoms.

In retrospect, it makes some sense. I work out a lot (distance running and biking), and I enjoy consuming a beer or three. Both these things can apparently lead to thiamine deficiency, and I suspect alcohol consumption in my case is reducing the absorption of B1 through the intestinal tract.

I have only tried fat-soluble benfotiamine 300mg to date, not water-soluble B1.

Hopefully this information will benefit other sufferers. Like you I tried so many remedies over the years: magnesium, potassium, iron, B12, weighted blankets, even the ridiculous bar of ivory soap in the bedsheets. I have to say it's a little anti-climactic to find a cure in such a pedestrian vitamin!

There are several vitamin and mineral deficiencies that can either trigger RLS or contribute to either a worsening of RLS symptoms or RLS-like symptoms. I am glad that Vitamin B1 is providing you with relief and hope that it continues to do so for a very long time.

I just popped my first benfotiamine thiamine supplement. What caught my eye was our workout routine and alcohol consumption seem to be similar (although I'm slowing down at 63) and I'm willing to invest $20 in a shot in the dark. I've tried everything else so why not. Fingers crossed. Rick

I work out a lot (distance running and biking)

I am just curious about your distance running. What sort of distance do you do? I ran competitively for 25 yrs for distances from 800m to marathons. I gave it up 2 yrs ago, but my doctor recently told me that I needed to start again. After 2 yrs off, it has been tough, especially since I recently moved from 4500 ft to a location at 6000 ft of elevation on the side of a mountain.

Rustsmith wrote:

I work out a lot (distance running and biking)

I am just curious about your distance running. What sort of distance do you do? I ran competitively for 25 yrs for distances from 800m to marathons. I gave it up 2 yrs ago, but my doctor recently told me that I needed to start again. After 2 yrs off, it has been tough, especially since I recently moved from 4500 ft to a location at 6000 ft of elevation on the side of a mountain.

These days, a good week is maybe 25 miles total. I've never raced competitively, but used to run marathons, slowly. As you know, it's like having a second job, and I just can't commit the time these days. Fortunately we're at low altitude and it's pancake-flat here. I tried to run last year when I was in Salt Lake City, and it wasn't pretty!

Stainless wrote:I just popped my first benfotiamine thiamine supplement. What caught my eye was our workout routine and alcohol consumption seem to be similar (although I'm slowing down at 63) and I'm willing to invest $20 in a shot in the dark. I've tried everything else so why not. Fingers crossed. Rick

Good luck, and let us know how it goes. Honestly this whole thing has made me question whether I need to cut down on the beer. If it's causing an actual vitamin deficiency, that seems like mother nature's way of telling you to pump the brakes!

Fortunately we're at low altitude and it's pancake-flat here.

In some ways I envy you with pancake flat and low altitude. Most of my running years were spent near sea level and on flat courses. I started competition when I lived in New Orleans where a 6 foot incline constituted a hill. Then five years ago we moved to Colorado. I was in great shape and had been running lots of 10 mile races. Five days after we go here I ran a half marathon. I did great for the first 10 miles and then suddenly my head felt like it was going to explode. I had to walk most of the final 5K to keep from passing out. But a year later I ran a full marathon on much of the same course. I was only running to finish my final full marathon (#30) and just missed a Boston Qualifier by about 20 seconds. I wouldn't have gone, but I wish I had realized that I was that close on my final race.

And you are correct, training for a full marathon is just like working a second job for about six months (assuming you are in shape when you start).

I've tried the benfotiamine thiamine supplement a couple of times now without immediate relief. With all the other vitamins and drugs I take I have not found a time in my routine to stay with it. It seems a little rough on the stomach.

Along the other line, I used to run and averaged 15 miles a week for 30 years. I was lucky and it was part of my job in order to stay in shape to pass a quarterly test. Eventually plantar neuritis slowed me down and I eventually got used to an elliptical in an air conditioned gym. The trick on an elliptical is to get lost in your playlist, otherwise totally boring.

Stainless wrote:The trick on an elliptical is to get lost in your playlist, otherwise totally boring.

THIS ^^^^^^! Sooooooooo boring. But, I feel the same on an indoor anything - bike, elliptical, etc.