Favorite Home Remedies: Dozens of amazing treatments for over 45 common health conditions. With drug costs through the roof, why not give a home remedy a try? Only $12.95 +s/h
Guide to Home Remedies: Learn to make your own low-cost remedies at home for only $2
Print this page
Email a friend
Was this information helpful?
(0 votes)What do you think? Click "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to vote!
If you have more to say, post a comment below!
Q. I have severe restless leg syndrome (RLS), but it has been controlled with diazepam. Recently the doctor diagnosed me with an underactive thyroid condition and prescribed levothyroxine. It really made my RLS worse.
He suggested that I stop the thyroid medicine for three weeks to see what happened. It took a full week to get my RLS back under control. I am worried now about him insisting I take levothyroxine for my thyroid condition. Is there anything else I can take instead? I absolutely cannot live with my severe RLS. It affects my whole body, not just my legs, and even affects me mentally.
A. We discovered a case report in the medical literature (Movement Disorders, Nov. 2004) that parallels your experience. The person was deficient in iron and thyroid supplementation made the creepy crawly sensations and limb movements worse.
Perhaps your doctor can check your iron levels to see if you need a supplement. Untreated hypothyroidism is associated with a number of uncomfortable symptoms, including mental sluggishness, depression or confusion. It can cause high cholesterol, constipation, fatigue, swollen hands or feet and weakness, among other problems.
We are sending you our Guides to Thyroid and Leg Pain so that you can learn more about thyroid testing and treatment as well as many non-drug approaches for RLS.
I,too,have RLS, but is nicely controlled by a comb.of 300mgNeurontin and a Klonipin which gives a good night's sleep. Had thyroid removed and take Synthroid with no effect at all on the RLS.Tried all the non-drug approaches, nothing worked.I am in excellent health and 82 years old.
Ruth
My restless legs are caused by eating anything in the legume family (soy, peanuts, alfalfa sprouts, etc) and certain other foods such as spinach. I think it has something to do with gout. My mother was diagnosed with gout and she was given a list of foods to avoid, and beans and spinach were on the list. I have never been diagnosed with gout, but it may be because I have avoided those foods causing restless legs like the plague. Hope this helps at least one person with the problem.
I have Hypothyroidism and RLS also, and have had a difficult time trying to get the RLS under control. I am not deficient in iron, and am interested in the non-drug approach to RLS.
I know this is a bit late, just found the posting. Checking ferritin levels - not iron levels - is a standard procedure for the work up in possible RLS. Though the normal (from the labs) range for ferritin is extremely wide (eg, 20 - 320 ng/ml) it has been found that is the ferritin levels are less than 50, this may contribute to RLS (secondary RLS is the Dx). Have your provider re-check ferritin levels and if low or low normal starting iron will help.
p.s., with the newer approved drugs for RLS why are people still using Klonipin and other benzodiazepines???
I have been hypothyroid for 5 years, and the thyroid medications cause pains in my legs, feet, and sometimes arms. It inhibits my walking ability and swells my knees and feet. At night, my legs ache like crazy when elevated in bed. Any cures for hypothyroid medicine intolerance?
I had restless leg syndrome for quite some time. Happened to pull a muscle in my back and went to see a Chiropractor. From the very 1st treatment the restless leg syndrome was gone.
I had RLS for about twelve years. I recently stopped using soya milk and other products since I had heard the isoflavones might be neurotoxic and I have ME.
The ME is not significantly different, but my RLS began to get better almost immediately. Now three weeks later it has almost entirely disappeared. I also realized that the RLS began not long after I started using soya milk back in the late nineties, I didn't make the link before, I thought it was a consequence of the ME.
My mother also has a mild case of gout.
I shall not be eating any products again as this was clearly a trigger for my RLS and I don't want it to start again.
My problem is restless foot syndrome and it is driving me crazy, preventing sleep unless I take a sleeping tablet, which I prefer to avoid. I have only just this last week found that it can be part and parcel of under-active thyroid for which I have been taking Oroxine for several years.
I understand that inadequate minerals and potassium can be a cause of RLS, but that too much of the essential salts can be a problem for the thyroid as far as toxins go.
I am really looking for an answer here.