Restless leg after high-intensity workouts
 

Hi!
I struggle with restless legs the nights after I've done a high-intensity workout, compared to my regular baseline. Doing threshold or longer low-intensity rides seems mostly fine, but as soon as I push for harder peaking stuff, I have trouble sleeping at night. Don't have restless legs otherwise.
No other known health problems, no restless legs otherwise and a (what I would think) mostly balanced nutrition.
Anyone any insights?

Thanks!

I'm not sure what you mean by "restless legs", but I find I don't get leg cramps as long as I maintain a semi regular regimen of magnesium and potassium supplements, and a banana for a snack during my rides. Soaking in the hot tub afterwards is very pleasant, though I'm not sure what practical effect it has.

an uncontrollable urge to move your legs, usually because of an uncomfortable sensation. It typically happens in the evening or nighttime hours when you're sitting or lying down. Moving eases the unpleasant feeling temporarily.

Yeah, I get that too. After harder workout rides and runs I'll take a few supplements:

• Magnesium (mag lactate works best for me, but others are okay). Helps with twitchy muscles and even some spasms.
• Melatonin to help sleep. The body produces it naturally, but less efficiently as we age. Dosage varies, partly due to physical differences, partly because it's unregulated and concentration varies a lot. With some brands 1-5 mg is plenty; with others, it may take 20 mg or more to get the same effect.
• GABA, an amino acid that helps calm the nerves -- I don't mean "calm the nerves" in the psychological sense, although some folks find it helps reduce anxiety. I mean it literally seems to desensitize the nervous system. If I take too much I'll feel sluggish for a day or two. I bought some 500 mg capsules recently and those are way too strong for me. I'd do better with 50-100 mg. On the plus side it's almost as effective as my prescription muscle relaxers. (GABA is chemically related to prescription gabapentin, but not a replacement or substitute for the prescription med.)
• Vitamin D (actually a hormone) may help some folks recover from hard workouts. I take about 5,000 IU a day since my thyroid/parathyroid was removed, which messed up my body's vitamin D, calcium and bone density. Most normally healthy and active folks probably get enough vitamin D from a normal diet, maybe a multivitamin, and regular exposure to sunlight.

Soaking in a hot bath with Epsom salts helps too. (But don't take Epsom salts orally unless you're in the mood for flushing out your bowels -- it's a potent laxative, fast and nearly explosive. Stay very near a toilet after taking Epsom salts as directed for a laxative effect. So don't drink the bathwater.)

Thanks! What dosage to you do for magnesium?

I switch between 100 mg mag glycinate, and 84 mg mag lactate. Depends on what's in the house and whether I've remembered to reorder the mag lactate.

Don't forget light compression leggings, keeping your legs and feet warm, and Hylands Leg Cramp Tablets. More than 30% of the general population will respond to Quinine Sulfate found in the Cinchona Bark of Hylands.

For many years, like 25, I had restless leg but it was actually restless foot. And major insomnia which had me taking multiple OTC sleep aids every night which started really screwing me up. A year and a half ago I discovered kava and it's changed my life. I drink kava in the early evening before dinner and now I sleep like I did when I was a kid and restless leg is gone.

A shot of Jack does it for me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinine

My wife had quinine prescribed for bad night leg cramps. Her doctor advised her to stop after the FDA warning came out. The cramps gradually went away as she got into better riding condition.

I go through this Quinine sulfate analysis often. The FDA cannot approve a medication for a condition that does not work in at least 70% of the general population. For leg cramp Quinine Sulfate only helps about a third of the population. The FDA and the WHO have recently recommended against Quinine Sulfate in the treatment of Malaria because other licensed medications are available.

The biggest danger of Quinine Sulfate is in prolonged QT interval and that is a reasonable fear. There are many people who take blood pressure and anti-arrhythmic medications and these people could be effected by large does of Quinine Sulfate. The list of medications that effect QT interval is long, https://www.cpsbc.ca/files/pdf/Metha...olongation.pdf
Certainly allot of the money making FDA approved drugs should not have to compete for a drug grandfathered into the formulary without modern proof of efficacy and safety, even though its been around for over a hundred years.

I am not in a position to argue with the FDA that's for sure. Even after they dropped the ball on the use of Hydroxycloroquine and Ivermectin in the treatment of Covid19.

So where are we at? Hylands Leg Cramp Formula is a Homeopathic Over The Counter medication that has Cinchona Bark in it. Cinchona Bark is what you make Quinine Sulfate from. So if you are not on medications that prolong your QT interval and you are lucky enough to be in that 30% of the general population that gets relief of leg cramps from Cinchona Bark, you should be able to use Hylands effectively.

As for the FDA, WHO, and other Big Pharm participators, that's for another thread that I certainly don't want to get into...