Here you can share your experiences with substances that are ingested, inhaled, or otherwise consumed for the purpose of relieving RLS, other than prescription medications. For example, herbal remedies, nutritional supplements, diet, kratom, and marijuana (for now) should be discussed here. Tell others of successes, failures, side effects, and any known research on these substances. [Posts on these subjects created prior to 2009 are in the Physical Treatments forum.]
Important: Posts and information in this section are based on personal experiences and recommendations; they should not be considered a substitute for the advice of a healthcare provider.
Was talking with a friend tonight and we started talking meds and supplements and such and she mentioned that her son's neurologist recently recommended that he start taking vitamin D. The believe that he is pre-MS and are doing what they can to delay onset and apparently vitamin D is thought to help.
She mentioned that this doc talked about how we, Canadians, don't get nearly enough vitamin D and how it can have a huge impact on various neurological disorders. Apparently there is supposed to be research coming out that will make vitamin D the new vitamin B.
I am hearing all of this third hand, but wanted to pass it along in case it has any merit. I have not had an opportunity to do any research of my own but I don't recall vit D being mentioned much. I will be sure to post whatever I find, but with school being what it is right now I don't anticipate it being anytime soon.
Most of us in the northern US have the same issue with vitamin D. We just don't get enough sunlight for our bodies to produce enough. I've heard that supplementing helps with SAD (seasonal affective disorder) so I've been taking 1000mg a day for a while. It's either the supplement or lying out in the sun on a zero degree day.
There's an interesting blurb about vitamin D at this site. I didn't realize that it helps with pain. But it does seem like since I started taking 1000 mg a day, that my RLS has shifted from being extremely painful to just the regular old "creepy crawly" kind of RLS.
The link is mostly about opioids, but if you scroll down a bit, there is an article about vitamin D and pain treatment.
