Restless Legs Natural Relief

Tingling, creepy, crawling, wiggling, bugs-under-your-skin feelings?  This is what restless legs can feel like.

It’s really quite annoying because it usually kicks in just when you start to relax or fall asleep.

Dr. Andrew Weil is an alternative M.D. and he suggested there is no cure in an article but he had several suggestions.  I do, too.  I’ll share mine in a bit.

Dr. Weil said:

1.  Stop smoking.  Smoking impairs blood flow to the legs.

2.  Avoid caffeine and alcohol.  They can both make symptoms worse.

3.  Take a calcium/magnesium supplement at bedtime.  He suggested 500 mg of calcium citrate and 250 to 500 mg of magnesium to calm muscles.

4.  Exercise, stretch or massage your legs.  He said this helps most people who have mild restless legs symptoms.

5.  Take a hot bath to relax your legs. ~~~~~End of Dr. Weil

* My mother drank mineral water to settle her legs.  The minerals would have been the reason it helped.  Calcium and magnesium are minerals.

Here’s my own personal restless legs story:

I started taking a liquid mineral supplement many years ago.  About 6 or 7 months later I had a mild bout of restless legs and I thought:  “Hmm.  I haven’t had this in a long time!”

I sat down and actually made a list of several different health issues or complaints that I was either no longer experiencing or, like this restless legs episode, was barely experiencing.  Several!  I wasn’t missing a single one of them, either!

Of course, when something doesn’t bother us, we don’t think about it.  We only notice things when they are causing us discomfort of some sort, right?

The thing is, it appears that most of us are deficient in both minerals and vitamins.  Your body needs certain nutrients to be healthy.

Magnesium is a big player in muscle health.  There are several types available and they’re not particularly expensive.  Citrate and glycinate seem to be the two that are most easily absorbed, according to my sources.  I take 4 capsules a day.

If you don’t give your body what it needs and wants, you will have symptoms.  Your symptoms could include restless legs.  Mine did.

That little episode of creepy, crawly legs was over 20 years ago and I haven’t experienced it since.

Some people expect an instant response from supplements but that’s not often the case.  It may take months to get the relief you seek.

That’s why I told you it took me about 7 months.  Actually, it may have been much less than that but it took that little episode for me to realize the restless legs had been gone.

You can also talk with your doctor about a variety of medications that are available.  Me?  I’d much prefer the natural way and skip the side effects whenever possible.

And I don’t think we need just a nightly dose of minerals when we have symptoms.  Rather, I suspect we need continual supplementation or an extremely, extremely healthy diet (or both) to avoid, prevent and treat such things as restless leg syndrome.