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Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a condition in which the person feels a compulsion to move the feet or legs. Some people describe a “creepy” or “crawly” sensation relieved only by movement. Others report that the sensations are painful. Doctors classify this problem as a neurological condition and call it Willis-Ekbom Disease. Sufferers are most likely to notice it when they are at rest, whether sitting quietly during the day or trying to go to sleep at night. Physicians sometimes prescribe strong medications, such as ropinirole (Requip). Many readers have written about relief with tonic water or soap in socks. Is pickle juice perfect as a home remedy for restless legs?
Is Pickle Juice Perfect for Easing Restless Legs?
Q. I usually apply body lotion to my legs before going to sleep. If my legs are restless, I will do that again during the night. One night recently, that didn’t help.
I remembered that pickle juice would help leg cramps, so thought perhaps it might help my restless legs as well. Why not have a couple of swallows? Nothing ventured, nothing gained!
The upshot: I drank some and went to sleep. It has helped two or three times since then. Maybe other people who suffer with restless leg syndrome (RLS) would also benefit.
A. Thanks so much for sharing a fascinating remedy. We think that pickle juice may stimulate TRP (transient receptor potential) channels to overcome muscle cramps. We could not find any research relating TRP channels to RLS. Nevertheless, this is an intriguing and inexpensive approach to a challenging problem.
Remedy for Restless Foot:
Q. I don’t have restless leg syndrome (RLS) or nighttime leg cramps. Rather I have “restless foot,” sometimes in the right foot, sometimes in the left. I can actually feel the energy building up in my foot when it comes on. After about a minute the energy is so great I MUST move the affected foot.
I started to drink tonic water, and it helped me to be able to get to sleep. I’ve never told my doctor about all this because he’d probably prescribe a high-cost med! I’m on a host of other drugs for high blood pressure (metoprolol and Exforge), diabetes (glimepiride), a blood thinner (Aggrenox), a cholesterol med (Tricor) and amitriptyline for diabetic nerve pain. I hope that none of these interacts with the quinine in the tonic water.
A. There is a possibility that the quinine in the tonic water could interact with your blood pressure pills, so you should talk this over with both your doctor and your pharmacist.
Also ask him about pickle juice, as another reader suggests this:
“Drinking three tablespoons of dill pickle juice is a remedy I follow, both for night cramps in my thighs and for twitchy feet. The dill pickle juice works astonishingly fast, within seconds. I keep a jar next to my bed for use only as needed because I find pickle juice perfect for this problem. It has never failed me. Football coaches use it to get a cramping quarterback back in the game right away.”
We suspect that some of the things that work for RLS might work for your twitchy foot as well. Be sure to check with your doctor about whether you are anemic; correcting the anemia frequently reverses restless legs syndrome.
RLS is occasionally caused by a blood pressure pill, nifedipine, that is related to the amlodipine in the Exforge you take. We have been unable to find a link between amlodipine and RLS, however. Nonetheless, this too might be worth discussing with your physician.
Charity
I’m a 35 yo female. I have had issues with RLS since I was a child along with severe Charlie-horse cramps. When I can’t sleep due to those issues, or even if I just can’t sleep period, I grab a pickle out of the fridge. I keep a gallon jar of pickles. I go through them quickly. They’re the only thing that works. Tonic water made me have more migraines and swells my legs so I had to find another way to help. I remembered how pickles are great for cramps. Ever since that’s what I’ve done. Sodium levels are normal. Pickles seems to help my migraines also. Not sure what it is TBH, but I’ll keep picking pickles for my bedtime snack. lol
S
I’ve never seen an adequate description of exactly how restless legs feel. I was formally diagnosed with RLS in an overnight sleep clinic, so the tormenting feeling that deprives me of sleep for the last few decades is definitely RLS. It is not a cramp. It is not an “urge” to move. It is an involuntary movement that happens when a feeling of nerve discomfort builds up and forces the kick. It feels like an electric shock that builds up slowly, then surges suddenly down the leg. It moves exactly like the kick that is caused when the doctor taps your knee with the tiny rubber hammer to check your reflexes. Except this feeling builds up in the hip or sacroiliac area and travels down the leg as if it goes down the sciatic nerve.
The feeling prior to the kick can be low-grade, but you always know when it’s there as it is building up in the hip. The buildup can be as few as a few seconds and like a kick every 20 seconds at my worst. Sometimes the buildup does not result in a kick, and I can sleep through it, but it is irritating and frustrating in itself. Sometimes the slightest itch or tickle or pinprick feeling anywhere on the foot or leg will cause the build up to release instantly into a kick. That’s my description.
Sometimes I think my RLS has to do with high histamine levels, though, ironically, antihistamine Benadryl will make it far worse. I’m currently experimenting with natural antihistamines NAC, ginger, and vitamin C to see if I can sleep better because my jumpy legs often transform into calm legs with a bout of wide awake insomnia. And I can’t sleep in the daytime no matter how tired I am. I think that may point to histamine excess.
I am also experimenting with vitamin B6 (P 5 P form) to overcome the excess histamine as my possible root cause. I’m having to take it slowly because I find that B6 puts my NP thyroid pills into overdose mode! (Palpitations, anxiety, hot, more insomnia than usual.) So there’s a little more complexity there as well. I have suffered so much with RLS that I have tapered off of my NP thyroid just so I can try the B6 instead —because I truly think I am on the right track this time. Perhaps the hypothyroid was a result of low B6 as well! Because I definitely become HYPERthyroid when attempting to take B6 while on the NP thyroid. Also, I have not experienced the usual crash from getting off of thyroid this time!
Sorry for the length, but I feel that it’s important for finding an RLS cure that we have as much information on the problem as possible. Maybe there are some good clues in my letter. Any comments from the pharmacist? Thank you so much and bless you both for your work!
Candace
RLS is a chronic progressive neurological disease which is not to be confused with muscle cramps. Please get proper information on this disease from the Restless Leg Foundation (www.rls.org). It provides support groups, correct information about the disease, and support for research.
Luanne J A
FL - Florida
I get restless leg at night usually after eating a meal. Usually when I eat hotdogs and sweet pickles. My theory is that sodium is the culprit.Pickles are so high in salt and so are hotdogs.
I often have a craving for cucumbers which I slice and eat with different vinegars. I’m thinking that cukes have a lot of water content (and I do not drink enough water) and that vinegar counteracts the effects of sodium.
The comments about checking iron, vitamin D, electrolytes, and magnesium and calcium are considerations for me. How does the bar of soap method work?
I believe natural products are enough to cure restless leg.
Thanks for the advice.
fbl
Marcia O, have you tried different brands of the vitamin D? If you have then I’d suggest you get a complete workup to check not only your electrolytes but also your minerals and vitamin K as well. Something is not right. Do you take digestive enzymes? Maybe you aren’t assimilating stuff?
It took a HUGE amount of supplemental D, even with sunning, to get my D number up. I have a gut feeling it has something to so with my genetic makeup. I’m Mosaic Turners and have about 1/3 of my chromosomes single X and am missing one whole chromosome.
I wonder if you have some genetic aberrations going on? The web site “23 and me” has some good offers recently for genetic testing or it may be covered under your insurance plan…assuming you still have one.
Marcia O.
Surprising Vitamin D after-effects. My physician recommends taking 2,000 mg/day. When I take more than 1,000mg three days a week, my face slowly becomes numb starting with the chin carefully moving upward until, in about a week or two, my entire face feels numb. When lowering the dose back to the 3,000mg per week, the numbness leaves slowly in about a week or so, then stabilizes. I have repeated raising and lowering the dose as a test with the same effect. I have attempting keeping the dose high trying to ignore the numbness hoping it will go away, but the numbness remains becoming more intense. My Vitamin D tests are too low at around 11, moving up from 4 of a few years ago though have been taking the 3,000mg a week for over two years. I am out in the sun often from April to October with a good tan to prove it. Neither my physician or myself have read about this side-effect of Vitamin D. Anyone else???
Brigitte C.
Homeopathic MagPhos for occasional jumpy legs, and if that doesn’t do it, 500mg of Magnesium in the evening 10 minutes before bedtime. Has worked for years with my husband and I. Living in a hot climate (Tucson) and then hot summers when sweating causes Mg to be lost…the muscles begin to twitch, heart included. No symptoms for us since supplementation with Mg. Before taking drugs, do the research and find what could be removed/added from your daily diet to stay healthy…research is so easy now with this site and many others…
DL
Personally, I would zero in on diet, hydration and electrolyte imbalances. Magnesium, potassium, calcium and vitamin D, if adequate through diet, should help. Since childhood, I suffered from RLS from time to time and regular magnesium supplementation mostly eliminated it. Eating more fruits and vegetables and drinking more plain water, along with reducing caffeine and sodium, makes a difference too.
Ann B. in MS
This is CORRECT!!!! I have learned, after years of painful, charlie-horses in my legs at night, that pickle juice will stop them, almost immediately! I found that the dill pickles and juice work better than sweet… not sure just why.
An older lady told me about it and now, I, too, keep some by my bed at night. I just wish I could find a way to AVOID them!!! I got off statin drugs, as my Dr. and I thought that could be the cause… and have been on Wel-Chol for about a year… but still have them from time-to-time!
I exercise 3-4 days a week, so it’s not a circulation problem. I’ve also found that, when I take 2 of the “Arthritis-Strength Tylenols” at bedtime, I don’t have them as often. They work better than 3 Advils… which as an anti-inflammatory, are supposed to have a “muscle-relaxing” effect. I’m gonna’ take whatever works!
KH
where can you just buy pickle juice for leg cramps or do you just use the juice in the pickle jar? Also any other suggestions would be appreciated.
fbl
Rose, I had a number of rather serious problems with my spine from a fall down 26 steps. I suffered for many years and was pretty much bed bound for most of the week. Had few lucid days.
In 2002 I was referred to a Pettibon Chiropractor. I was not very hopeful as I’d been through several Orthopedic physicians, Physiotherapists, chiropractors and acupuncturists in the previous 14 years.
With the treatments and physical therapy exercises done in the office and at home, I was driving in less than two months and ready to go back to work within three years-completely pain free.
My disks are pumped up, no bulges or calcification are left. Nobody would believe the before and after X rays. My Dr. also does amazing things for scoliosis patients as well. Yes, it requires a lot of work, which of course is not fun.
RMB
what abut ginger candy or ginger root capsules for RLS?
RMB
RMB DO YOU HAVE TO USE A SPECIAL BRAND TO SOAP BETWEEN YOUR SHEETS?
I never had RLS until about 3 weeks ago. I developed sciatica and was on a nerve calming med for it which helped. I also have spinal stenosis on the same side as the sciatica. The med helped the sciatica, but even before that I began with what seems to be RLS according to all the symptoms you give. I cannot sleep at night and am feeling extremely sleep deprived, Will the gin flavored raisins help the RLS and also my arthritic hands and back? I should mention I had a back fusion a few years ago due to degenerating discs because of OA in my spine. What is the bar of soap used for and does it have to be a certain brand? Will that help.? I really could use your advice. Also I’ve heard something about Bing cherries and cherry juice. What does that do and what are the amounts needed?
Thank you for any help you can give me.
Rose
CC
for years I have put a bar of soap at the bottom of mybed, inside my sheets … and it works for restless leg syndrome….
Susan P
I tried drinking pickle juice and it didn’t help my cramping legs or feet.
A friend told me to use plain yellow mustard and that did help but caused stomach distress.
My husband remembered that you said it was the turmeric in these products that did the job and one day bought me a can of turmeric spice at the grocery store. I stir a full teaspoon into an 8 oz container of flavored yogurt and Voila! no more cramping at all!
Dr. Oz had two cardiologists saying that it protects ones veins and arteries from inflammation as well on a show on 12/11/12, so that is even better. It is turmeric for me from now on!
fbl
Your writer is typical of what I’ve seen with people on Medicare. I did volunteer work for many years and it was truly amazing to see the huge number of meds people were taking.
When I got the list (I did volunteer work from home because of my disability) I would go down the list and check for medications that shouldn’t be taken together. I’d check on some Internet sites then I would call our local pharmacy for confirmation of my research.
When I got back with the volunteer I gave them all the info and told them to suggest to the person that they have their family Dr. review their meds.
The person writing above needs to have their meds reviewed. Unless their cholesterol is over 300 they should not be on medication for it. If they remove only that one drug their cramping will probably go away. Possibly even the neuropathy as well.
A low carbohydrate diet and a good supplement might eliminate the need for the diabetes drug. Cayenne, nattokinase and ginkgo biloba might be enough to eliminate the blood thinner as well.
A check by a Pettibon Chiropractor of the C7 vertebrae may be all that is needed for the blood pressure. Half of my Dr.’s patients with high blood pressure are now completely off their meds after manipulating this neck vertebrae. My own blood pressure came down almost 40 points! No, I was NOT on medication because of rather serious side effects for every one tried. Now my Bp is fine!
cal
I think you should warn people about the high sodium content of pickle juice….because of the possible elevation of blood pressure.
Sunny M.
You mention that RLS may be connected to anemia. This was certainly true for me. I became severely anemic earlier this year, the cause still unknown. Your soap-under-the-sheets trick helped, but did not solve the problem. I also had angina-like symptoms and fatigue. Blood tests showed that my hemoglobin was 6.8, and I also had immature and mal-formed red blood cells. A transfusion of 2 units of blood resolved all those symptoms. My hemoglobin is now back to normal (13.8) and the RLS is gone. I am supplementing with an OTC tonic which has iron and B vitamins.