Lately, just to add insult to injury, I've been able to drop off to sleep just to be awakened by twitching legs. Now THAT is totally annoying not to mention ridiculous in my opinion, but such is the nature of life I suppose.
Long before the advent of the pharmaceutical companies coming up with a pill and developing RLS as a "disease", my mother had told me about using Potassium to curb the problem. I found that helped. There are lots of foods that are rich in Potassium that you can eat, but if you don't eat these foods, or just can't for whatever reason (for instance-bananas seem to have the opposite effect on me than the "binding" they are commonly known for), then use a commercial supplement as I do. I take one every day. For the most part it helps.
Here is a list of foods rich in potassium:
- raisins
- prunes
- apricots
- dates
- strawberries
- bananas
- watermelon
- cantaloupe
- citrus fruits
- beets
- greens
- spinach
- tomatoes
- mushrooms
- soy products
- veggie burgers
- peas
- beans
- turkey
- fish
- beef
- salmon
- cod
Now in my mid-fifties, I find that the one tablet per day isn't always enough. I don't want to increase how much I take, so I have also found that stretching my legs and then doing about a dozen leg lifts with each leg is what works. Unfortunately that means getting out of bed to do that, and when all you want to do is sleep.............well you can just imagine how thrilling that is.......LOL
For those times that you know you will be in a confined situation and getting up and stretching/walking/running just isn't an option, you might try eating some cherries. It doesn't seem to matter if they are fresh, frozen or canned. Sour cherries are best but the sweet ones work also. Just eat about 10 a day for a couple of days before that long confinement and you should be able to get through it without the agonizing torment that is "restless legs".
My mother suffers with very painful legs, not so much restless, just painful when she does too much walking or standing (and the woman LOVES to walk). She's the one who told me about the cherries, and told me about the book she found it in years ago. It is amazing how many problems can be taken care of with simple everyday foods, especially garlic. The book is called Miracle Medicine Foods by Rex Adams. I highly recommend this book. It is currently out of print, but can still be purchased at very reasonable rates through Amazon.com's marketplace. The book is chock full of wonderful information about what different goods people have used for all kinds of issues from asthma, arthritis, back problems, eye problems, diabetes, etc...........the list is endless.
I used the rating to choose the seller I purchased from and suggest the same for you. I have had no problems at all with the sellers I have purchased from at Amazon.com.
That is not to say you shouldn't seek out a doctor's advice and/or diagnosis, but before jumping to fill that prescription he/she wants to give you, why not discuss with them trying a nutritional/natural treatment first. Go to your doctor armed with the information so you can discuss it confidently with him/her. I think in most cases you'll find your doctor willing to give it a try and to monitor how you are doing. This way, you can avoid the myraid of side effects that just about every drug they give you has.
If you really want to live healthier, try using natural remedies as much as possible. I'm sure even your doctor would agree with that. Modern medicine can, and does when allowed, work very well together with nature's medicine, and being natural does not mean you toss modern medicine out the window, it just means you educate yourself to all the possibilities so you can make a truly informative decision when talking with your doctor.
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