Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

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.
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xristina47
Posts: 34
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2010 10:20 am
Location: France

Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by xristina47 »

I have often found that when RLS is troublesome in the middle of the night, eating a small bowl of oats with a few raisins and a splash of milk plus drinking a soothing herbal tea helps RLS and Periodic Leg Movements to subside, after which I can often go back to bed and fall asleep. My Dad, (passed away sadly), who suffered in the extreme from RLS, also used to eat a very bland, low sugar biscuit during his sleep-impaired nights. Knowing how focussed he was on doing everything to control his condition, I doubt he ate those biscuits just for their comfort value. Maybe, like me he found that a bit of carbohydrate resulted in drowsiness and helped him to go back to bed and get some sleep? Does anyone else find the same thing?

What could be the explanation if there is something in this? Thinking about the Hypoxia theory, would the carbohydrate intake cause an increase in blood oxygen to the brain? :?:

Skippy
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 4:14 pm

Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by Skippy »

I often eat when I have rls. I think it may just be that it takes your mind off it, so for a while there is relief.

ViewsAskew
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Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by ViewsAskew »

I have no idea!
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.

stjohnh
Posts: 1284
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 3:13 pm
Location: Palo Alto, California

Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by stjohnh »

Hmmmm... lots of possibilities. In the research section is an article cited in which the researchers found that people with RLS have a much higher incidence of nocturnal eating disorder. http://bb.rls.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4749&p=72485&hilit=eating#p72485 Until I read that I assumed that it had been my bad habit to have nighttime snacks. Over the past week I've been starting on a ketogenic diet, that's actually the exact opposite of eating a carb. Up until starting with ketogenic diet I had break through leg symptoms a couple of nights a week although not badly. Since starting the ketogenic diet I've had no breakthrough symptoms at all.
Blessings,
Holland

debbluebird
Posts: 2386
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 3:27 pm

Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by debbluebird »

For me, the eating doesn't make any difference with my RLS/PLM. If I'm up at night, I usually don't eat now. I just wait about the same amount of time, whether I eat or not. I think I used to eat at night, just for something to do. Plus, the Mirapex made me hungry.

sleepdancer2
Posts: 222
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2014 7:46 am

Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by sleepdancer2 »

@debbluebird I'm curious about you saying "the Mirapex made me hungry". Did it make you want to eat to the point it was like a compulsive behavior? When I was on it I would get up during the night and cook. A snack just wasn't enough. It is a known possible side effect.

http://www.pdf.org/en/science_news/rele ... 1358187216
My Augmentation Sleep Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE7WA_5c73c

ViewsAskew
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Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by ViewsAskew »

I gained 30 pounds on pramipexole the first time. This time, it's been better, but I still have a general feeling all day that I want to eat...even when I am not hungry.
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.

stjohnh
Posts: 1284
Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2016 3:13 pm
Location: Palo Alto, California

Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by stjohnh »

I gained 10# on Mirapex. I'm losing some of it now on Neupro patches.
Blessings,
Holland

Polar Bear
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Joined: Tue Dec 26, 2006 4:34 pm
Location: United Kingdom

Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by Polar Bear »

I gained 14 lbs pretty much through nocturnal eating. Boredom/chocci biscuit/ packet gone !!
One bowl of cereal.... of course not, 2 or 3 !!
Glad to say that I've got on top of the nocturnal habit which had gone on for about 2 years and I'm down about 4lbs. It is a very great temptation during the night - comfort/boredom eating I thought, I didn't consider that it was a compulsion..... perhaps too close to it to see it.
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

debbluebird
Posts: 2386
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 3:27 pm

Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by debbluebird »

sleepdancer2 wrote:@debbluebird I'm curious about you saying "the Mirapex made me hungry". Did it make you want to eat to the point it was like a compulsive behavior? When I was on it I would get up during the night and cook. A snack just wasn't enough. It is a known possible side effect.

http://www.pdf.org/en/science_news/rele ... 1358187216



I was always hungry. It would take a lot or me to feel full. I gained 80 pounds. I can really see the difference now. At the time I didn't know what was happening. I just thought it was my bad choices. I'm 50 ponds lighter now, and still trying to lose.

Polar Bear
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Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by Polar Bear »

Well done on losing 50lbs. What an achievement !
Betty
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/a ... 0/fulltext
Opinions presented by Discussion Board Moderators are personal in nature and do not, in any way, represent the opinion of the RLS Foundation

ViewsAskew
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Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 6:37 am
Location: Los Angeles

Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by ViewsAskew »

Polar Bear wrote:Well done on losing 50lbs. What an achievement !

Indeed!!!!
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.

debbluebird
Posts: 2386
Joined: Mon May 21, 2012 3:27 pm

Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by debbluebird »

I still want to lose more. 50 more to get back where I was before mirapex. Very slow process. I have 10 pound goals at a time.

badnights
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Re: Midnight Carbohydrate Snack

Post by badnights »

I just about choke when I hear these pramipexole stories. Argh. Congratulations all of you on getting rid of its weight.

I also eat at night but I eat fatty snacks. I have convinced myself it helps with the symptoms. The response isn't consistent though, so it's probably just be the moving around and a powerful placebo effect.

Holland, I was on a keto diet for a few months on the advice of my GP. I started off on the second level of the Wahls diet (Terry Wahls, an MD with MS) , which is low carb but not keto, and during that time I was able to reduce my daily hydromorph contin dose from 18-21 mg to 9-12. That was over about 8 months i think. Then I went to the third level, which is ketogenic, but unfortunately it was around the time I started at a HIIT gym (high intensity interval training). I was sooo burnt. I was just utterly exhausted after every workout. There was nothing left of me, and it took 4-5 hours to recover. Because I'm generally exhausted all the time anyway, it took me a while to put 2 and 2 together, and even when I did, I really wanted to give the ketogenic diet a chance, so I stayed on it about 4 months. I got tested my blood ketones tested once, I was mildly ketogenic.

Ultimately, I was more addicted to the gym than to the idea that the keto diet might help my WED, so I added carbs back in. I'm still pretty wasted after some workouts but mostly it's much better than before. I have found I have to be careful what carbs I eat, though - my symptoms went nuts after 3 weeks on a grain-heavy diet and it took a long time to get them back under control, until I cut out the grains again. I am not really sure what caused it, though, way too many variables. Rice and quinoa seem to be ok, sweet potatoes good, lentils and beans OK. And on days when I don't exercise (which aren't many - which fact might be causing the problems I'm having - another story) I eat less carbs. Sugar I still avoid, except dates in some of my fatty snacks.

I hope you continue to post about how your keto experiment is going as you continue with it.
Beth - Wishing you a restful sleep tonight
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I am a volunteer moderator. My posts are not medical advice. My posts do not reflect RLS Foundation opinion.

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