Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Hi,

I recently stumbled upon golden root https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodiola_rosea. It seems to be a traditional russian medicine against depression and other dopamine related problems. It is supposed to be quite effective in cases where the dopamine system gets disturbed, for example for people trying to quit smoking who experience depressions.

In a german pharma wiki there is a bit about it. It inhibits CYP3A4 and can therefore increase the effectiveness of medication that is metabolized by CYP3A4 (e.g. Oxycodone and other opioids, some benzodiazepines and some SSRIs). In Switzerland it is approved as treatment of stress related syndroms, and is under consideration as antidepressant. Unfortunately there are some dubious activities marketing golden root as potency pills.

In essence, it sounds as it should have some effect on RLS, be it positive or negative. (Most likely it can work either way, as it's usually the case with such supplements.) Has anybody tried it here? I'm considering to give it a go, but I guess I should consult my neurologist first as I use Oxycodone.

Best, F.

I've heard of it, but never tried it. Sounds like it should have an impact, as you say.

Also heard of it but never tried it. I think I still have a couple of bookmarks to sites that sell it. Don't know why I never tried it; too many other things I guess. I am still using D-Ribose religiously but can't be sure if it helps ~)

I gave it a try. Having some experience with RLS remedies, I waited some time before reporting back here...

Summary: Golden root seems to help noticably with my depressions, and to enhance my sleep quality a bit.

The details: My current situation is/was that the urge to move is pretty well controlled by my opioids (Oxycodone), but my nights are still not refreshing. Sometimes I can sleep 9-10 hours and I'll still be deadly tired. (As I sleep with an APAP mask, sleep apnea can be ruled out.) I'm also battling depressions - it's open to interpretation if which is cause and which is effect here.

I started Golden root about 4-5 weeks ago, with 200mg a day in the morning first. I didn't feel any change and went to 2x200mg after one week. Since then I feel a gradual and noticable mood improvement: I have more energy, and feel less agressive and stressed. Sleep quality doesn't seem to be affected much, but my metrics (I do measure my leg movements in sleep) show that my leg movements while sleeping are reduced a bit (average of about 10 movements per hour, down from about 15 I had before). I did have a few nights where I felt to sleep very lightly (waking up a lot) after starting with the evening dose, but this has settled down, and my metrics do not confirm unusually high activity in those nights. Now I'm up to 3x200mg, which was my target dosage, but don't see much of a difference to 2x200 so I'll probably go back to 2x200mg.

Of course, there are fluctuations in both RLS and depression, and since there was no clear night-and-day difference I can't be sure if the Golden root is indeed causing the change. But I do feel better since starting it - and I couldn't say this about the antidepressants I had (RLS-friendly Trazodone and Agomelatin), so I will assume for now that it is beneficial and use Golden root for a prolonged timespan
Let's see what happens, and I'll definately make a reversal test by tapering it after some time.

Right now, I would put it on the list of supplements worth evaluating for RLS, at least if you belong to the large group of RLS sufferers that also experience some depressions. It would be very interesting to hear if it helps other people, too.

If you are similar to me, you'll take any improvements, however they come! Especially in mood.

Absolutely. And if it's placebo effect, I'll take this as well
Mind you, I don't think it is. I tried like a gazillion different things, and only 4 (including golden root) made a difference so far - I've been taking the other three religiously for years now.

Frunobulax wrote:and only 4 (including golden root) made a difference so far - I've been taking the other three religiously for years now

Looked back over some of your old posts but I gave up; what are the other three?

Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12 and folic acid. All required for homocysteine metabolism. Been taking a bit magnesium too, but I'm not sure if that has any effect on my RLS, I'm taking it mainly because I bought something like 300 tablets in a bargain offer and will continue to use them until they're gone

thanks! I'm taking 50 mg B6, 400 micro-g folic acid, and (when I Can remember it) sublingual B12 as methylcobalamin 5 mg, all in the morning. Are those doses in line with yours?

Pretty much. I take 400mg folic acid daily, 100mg B6 3-4 every other day, and B12 a 2mg dose (sublingual) twice a week. I tried higher doses but they didn't do anything for me.

Looking back, I thought I should give some long-term feedback. Golden root has done some very good things for me. I was experiencing some depressions at the time, and RLS-friendly antidepressants did nothing there. Golden root however had some fairly significant effect, the depressions were gone after 3-4 months and I had a lot more energy overall.
I quit it after a year or so (slowly reducing the dosage), with no negative effects. The depressions have not returned.

Frunobulax wrote:Looking back, I thought I should give some long-term feedback. Golden root has done some very good things for me. I was experiencing some depressions at the time, and RLS-friendly antidepressants did nothing there. Golden root however had some fairly significant effect, the depressions were gone after 3-4 months and I had a lot more energy overall.
I quit it after a year or so (slowly reducing the dosage), with no negative effects. The depressions have not returned.

:thumbup: