Using CBD for Relief From Restless Legs
Living with restless legs can be difficult. As many as 10% of people will experience restless legs throughout their lives, and the cause of the symptom can be correlated to a wide variety of conditions. The most common complaint posed by people with restless legs is difficulty sleeping. Discomfort and restlessness often keep people up all night, making it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep.
People seeking natural solutions to diminish their symptoms often turn to CBD. Although CBD may be a valuable part of an overall treatment strategy for the sign of restless legs, it shouldn’t be used as the sole treatment for restless legs.
What is Restless Leg Syndrome?
Restless leg syndrome is a condition that causes an uncontrollable urge to move the legs. Many people with restless leg syndrome find that they experience symptoms during periods where they’re sedentary.
Laying down to sleep, sitting all day at an office job, or a long flight may worsen these urges. People typically find relief with movement, like walking, bouncing, or kicking their legs.
Most people describe the sensation as crawling, throbbing, itching, or electrical pulses that travel throughout the entire leg. It doesn’t typically manifest as a muscle cramp or soreness that may occur due to an injury or dehydration.
Some people with restless leg syndrome have difficulty describing the unique sensation they experience at the onset of restlessness.
In some cases, the symptoms of restless leg syndrome can be reduced or fully alleviated by making healthy and positive lifestyle changes. In other cases, restless leg syndrome is a symptom that manifests as the result of an underlying health condition. Treating that underlying condition can reduce instances of RLS symptoms.
What Causes Restless Leg Syndrome?
Restless leg syndrome can occur independently of other conditions. In many cases, it occurs in conjunction with other ailments requiring a medical professional’s intervention to manage or treat.
Nutritional Deficiencies
Your body needs several essential vitamins and minerals to promote proper nerve and muscle function. Many people experience restless legs as a symptom of iron deficiency.
Magnesium deficiency can sometimes cause muscle twitching. In fact, dehydration or electrolyte deficiencies can also produce effects similar to restless leg syndrome.
Before you start taking supplements or change your diet, talk to your doctor. You need to be medically evaluated for nutritional deficiencies to address them adequately.
Sometimes, changing your diet will allow you to obtain more of what you need to keep yourself healthy. In certain situations, your doctor may recommend using a supplement or even suggest IV infusions or injections.
Diabetes
Properly managed diabetes doesn’t often cause discomfort or life-disrupting symptoms.
Poorly-managed diabetes can have a severely negative impact on the health of the nervous system. Conditions like neuropathy and restless legs can occur as a result of the cumulative damage caused by diabetes.
People with diabetes need to be under constant care from a medical professional.
Following doctor advice regarding careful blood sugar monitoring, dietary and lifestyle changes, as weight management can minimize or even reverse many of the symptoms of diabetes.
Neurological Disorders
Neurological disorders and multiple sclerosis can disrupt or skew messaging between the brain and the body. Strange sensations in the extremities are common side effects of both conditions.
When restless leg syndrome manifests as a symptom of a neurological disorder, the source of the issue is not ordinarily within the body. It’s within the brain.
Treating and protecting the brain during periods of flare-up or exacerbation of the condition can help to minimize uncomfortable sensations like restlessness in the legs.
First, Talk to Your Doctor
Restless leg syndrome isn’t ordinarily a solo issue that will pass on its own. It’s almost always an indicator that the body is facing physical stress from an underlying condition. If you have restless legs, you shouldn’t attempt to soothe the restlessness at home without speaking to a doctor.
You need to be fully evaluated to determine if other conditions are present. If those conditions aren’t addressed, nothing you do to soothe the restlessness will cause it to stop permanently.
Furthermore, procrastination is detrimental to your health. The longer you go without seeing a doctor, the longer your unmanaged condition will progress without intervention.
Can CBD Help With Restless Legs?
Before you use CBD to help with restless leg symptoms, speak to your doctor. If you’re currently on any medications, CBD may potentially negatively interact with those medications. Your doctor’s advice should come first, and any complimentary wellness solutions should come second.
If your doctor believes CBD can become a part of your treatment plan, it may help to ease tension in your mind and body that contributes to feelings of restlessness.
CBD Is Different From Medical Cannabis
People with certain conditions that cause restless legs may be offered or approved for a medical cannabis use license. You do not need a medical cannabis card to purchase or use CBD. It’s available over the counter in almost every drugstore.
Depending on where you live, you might find it in the supplement aisle at your local grocery store.
Medical cannabis sometimes contains small amounts of CBD, but its main focus is THC. THC is a psychoactive cannabinoid that can change the perception of discomfort and cause feelings of fatigue.
People who have trouble sleeping due to a medical condition often benefit from these feelings of fatigue. The changes in perception of discomfort when coupled with feelings of fatigue often make it easier for medical cannabis patients to fall asleep at night.
These benefits also come with side effects like dry eyes, increased hunger, increased thirst, and cognitive impairment. Many people would prefer to avoid these side effects at all costs. This is what makes CBD a more valuable option for certain people looking to treat wellness concerns.
CBD is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid that works to support homeostasis within the body. Many people find that CBD produces an overall feeling of calmness that gently helps to support sleep and ease feelings of tension. CBD doesn’t cause the same side effects that THC does.
Does CBD Always Come From Cannabis Plants?
Most of the time, CBD products are derived from hemp plants. Hemp plants are cannabis plants that contain only trace amounts of THC at 0.3% by weight of the plant. Levels of THC this low aren’t enough to cause impairment or adverse side effects, but people looking to avoid THC may still have reservations about using hemp-derived CBD.
Peels created a different kind of CBD. Our CBD is created from naturally occurring compounds in orange peels. It’s bioidentical to hemp-derived CBD, providing the same benefits without any trace amounts of THC.
How CBD Works for Restless Legs
CBD eases tension, which is a broad benefit that applies to both the mind and the body. Emotional or mental tension can contribute to physical strain.
Stress can cause muscle pain or stiffness in many people, and reducing stress can ease that tension. CBD provides support to the mind and body by producing a soothing effect that may help relieve stress symptoms.
Tension may negatively contribute to the way restless legs feel. Easing that tension and promoting better relaxation can partially subdue the effects of restless legs, although it will not treat or cure the underlying condition.
Use CBD under the supervision of a doctor in conjunction with medically recommended treatments for restless legs. Eat a balanced diet, properly hydrate your body, and make sure you’re getting enough exercise. Abide by any lifestyle changes your doctor recommends and adhere to your recommended treatment plan. Don’t use CBD instead, but use it in conjunction.
Some benefits of CBD will become noticeable within an hour of using CBD, but the most pronounced benefits come with consistent use. Using CBD daily for at least 30 days will give your body time to acclimate.
Make Peels a Part of Your Ritual
Your wellness is of the utmost importance. You deserve to feel your best every day. Designing a wellness ritual to improve the way you feel will keep you on the right track to better health and overall wellness. If you’re interested in the wellness benefits of CBD, add Peels to your daily ritual.
Sources:
Restless legs syndrome - Symptoms and causes | Mayo Clinic
Causes of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) | The Johns Hopkins Center for Restless Legs Syndrome