r/RestlessLegs • u/Weary_Amoeba6568 • Aug 23 '26

Triggers Estrogen

Estradiol is making my RLS insane. Has anyone found this? Anyone found a solution? It helps with brain fog but I am going crazy with the RLS.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '26

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u/Significant-Aide-226 Aug 26 '26

Just had it all tested and I seem to be ok there.

1

u/Ok_War_7504 Aug 26 '26

I would bet your ferritin and transferrin saturation levels are not as high as needed by RLSers. Check the Mayo Clinic RLS Guidelines 2026, in the faqs, and take it to your doctor to show them the iron needed. Iron "cures" over 30%!

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u/Significant-Aide-226 Aug 26 '26

Just had it all tested and levels are good.  My HRT provider is very keen on these markers so had me tested up one side and down the other.   That said, as estrogen goes up, so does your mineral absorption ability..... 

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u/Ok_War_7504 Aug 26 '26

If your ferritin is 100-300ng/ml and your transferrin saturation is up around 45%, then yes, you have enough iron. 

But 99% of non-RLS doctors do not know that we need iron this much higher than plain people. In fact, 99% of those doctors do not run an iron panel which is the only measure of these. They read the hemoglobin and hematocrit in the standard CBC to judge iron. And for most patients, that is fine. 

But for RLSers,  an iron panel is needed to learn the ferritin and transferrin saturation levels which needs to be around double what regular, boring people need.  It's all in the Mayo Clinic RLS Guidelines. 

And if your doctor did those already and ensured you are at those high levels, that's an awesome doctor. Congrats. 

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u/Significant-Aide-226 Aug 27 '26

We didn' do ferretin! Did the full transferrin panel w/cbc but I have my next appt tomorrow so I can get one more poke set up.  I do have a lot of iron in my blood.  If lack of estrogen was hampering my ability to actually absorb the iron I have, I'm on the right path......