RLS and a Tens Unit. has Anyone tried this? Google RLS, Tens Unit. Read. I am. I was given one by my PCP. Tried it about a hour ago, my left leg began spasming, clenching the quads, lifting up at the abductors, now my right leg's doing a harmony with it. Anna One Anna Two.
Hard to believe this is therapeutic, perhaps at the School of the Marquis de Sade. I've got reading to do, and Pramipexole to take.
Sorry but the tens unit only stimulates my RLS so I don't use it. Hope you have more success than I did. Cheers Jimeka
My experience is that TENS worsen the RLS. Why not try L-arginin instead, the latest scientist reports all talks about lack of oxygene.
I use Cialis for circulation. I have 3000 mg L Arginine too. Mg Citrate works well, too. I take 500 mg BID.
Cialis is spendy, buy it from Mumbai.
Swedish: Cialis is too strong for women, for women L-Arginine is the one to use 3000 mg size is for body builders usually called No something....Blast That's 'N' 'O,' not No, for Nitric Oxide
I was told to try Ginkgo Biloba & Butchers Broom with Horse Chestnut & Vine Leaf for arteries and vains.. Been on this for 4 months... The only effect.. Dented my wallet!
Sorry to hear that! Some of us have tried almost everything and we have spent a lot of money on stuff that did not help us at all.
And I think this will go on until the scientits found out all about this terrible desease
I'd run out of 'paper' if I was to list all the meds I've tried! Had this wonderful condition for 45 years... Teenager when it started! It just pleases itself. Stopping and starting for no reason, as we all know!
The Nobel price is waiting here in Sweden for the scientist who solves the reason for our living hell.
I have a tens use it every day. I have RLS right about beddtime and it is presented as leg spasms or muscle contractions. I take pramipexole and pit a sensor pad on each thigh. I turn it on a medium level and run it for an hour or so.
Sometimes if i wake up in the middle of the night i turn it on again and it usually allows me to go back to sleep.
Thank you, a sensor pad on each leg, not two pads on one. That could be why my trial with my Tens failed
If I were you (but you are not me) I would try to apply pads to spine with therapists permission. Any serious injury to brain, spine and nerves in legs can lead to severe RLS. That dopamine has just one too many hurdles to overcome to spread through out the CNS and quiet your leg(s). I don't see how the tens applied to the legs can help. The spine, or even the brain, maybe. Instead of morphine pumps in the spine I would love to see dopamine pumps in the spine. Wishful thinking. How's your T level? Some say having enough testosterone is a man's best defense against RLS. If your iron stores are below normal, a nightly iron tablet may help.
I've been on TRT since '96. If I miss giving myself my shot, the spasms do seem to worsen. My insurance, Oregon Medicaid, will only pay for injectable T. 2 ML every two weeks. It took me a couple of years to learn to control the roidiness.
I take a multivitamin, and a multimineral, EFA's, Vitamins B & C, and eat very healthy, + protein drinks
Hope it helps. I use mine every day and it really helps the contractions and helps me take a lower dose of meds.
RLS is neurological, so muscle contractions are not RLS. More likely to be cramps.
I am not experiencing cramps. Perhaps i described it incorrectly, but both my neurologist and sleep doctor have diagnosed rls.
Cramps? My leg raises up by the abductors at the hip and quads at the knee the muscles flexed tight, tighter and Painfully tighter. Not cramping for me. Since this started after I was hit by the bus, I've thought that my legs were exercising themselves. I used to workout 3-4x weekly walking 2.25 miles to my gym, working out for at least 2 hours, doing inclined leg presses with 550+ for 6 sets of twenty repetitions, plus 45-60 minutes of cardio on a recumbent bike, then walk home. I was in great physical condition for a then 60 year old disabled man. My legs aren't falling out of shape because of RLS. the strength I had means my spasms and flexes are incredibly Painful
I have had some RLS flexing starting up in my abdominal muscles. Full spasming and flexing(cramping) there would be unbearable. I hope Not
There are still many paths for us all to try. Acupuncture, depending on the laws of your locale, Cannabis(Read up on what species to buy for RLS. You aren't buying a baggy of Pot anymore) there are specific strains of Wheed for RLS. I want to try making a solution of good Cannabis and DMSO(look it up) to get the active ingredients to the muscles topically, smoking or ingesting it gives you a new problem, you're silly stoned, frozen to your couch or chair, mumbling conspiracy theories, and eating yourself into Pigdom. Fat and paranoid, but your RLS is under control, OK Acupuncture, Bhoo, Exercise and Nutrition. Four possibilities. It's not hopeless, just unexplored. Gawd what a spiel. Dinner time
I tricked my body into "shock" when I applied them to pulse points.
I also used them in the backside where the leg connects into the
torso and applied the other opposite side more to the outside of
the leg connection and then I used it starting on low and I have to
say that it gave me weeks of relief...it was painful- almost like bee
stings so maybe I exchanged pain for misery. One of the doctors
at mayo suggested that I do use it on the same leg- both pads..
or as someone else said, one on each side of the spine.. putting
it over the most painful spots. I noticed that the nurses have the
tens on their sore spots. They said that it works for that, not so
much for RLS. All told me to try some of the rub on creams that
are used for pain before I give up on pain.. then ice, heat.. whatever
combinations work.. it is to be tried before going into the medicine
box (for pain or discomfort) That's my two cents worth.. if you
try it on rls like I did, good luck. maybe it will work for you.
Mayo Clinic, you're most fortunate. I spent a year in Mpls going to the University of MN Medical Center, several clinics there used Mayo students, young doctors to do intake for the U of M doctor. Minnesota has the best medical care available I've seen. Drab landscape, though. I'm from Oregon and spoiled by the abundance of scenery, good food, microbrew, and actually pretty fair Medical Care. Mpls, though, was something else.
I'll try your bee stinging Tens Technique
Yes i agree muscle cramps are something entirely different as I've had them also but not as often as RLS. It is a nightmare and just now i have my tens unit on with 1 pad on each thigh thanks to someones post..but its not helping at all the RLS still over riding it. I have it on full power too on mode But I'm sure they're all different settings depending on the tens. I also take 4 Pramiprozole in evening at times it helps other times no. Strange thing is when i sit at my sewing machine working on it RLS never bothers me but cant sit there always. It is neurological as i also suffer AO Atypical Ondontalgia also a Neurological complaint. Nothing helps that either..ice lollies or chewing gum or a piece of plastic as it doesnt go soft like chewing gum. Must go cant stick this no longer.
All very interesting and new to me. (the pads) However exercise does have an effect on RLS as we know . Mine is worse if I have not walked for a while each day. Also tiptoe rises in the night sometimes help my legs to settle. So it is all connected and lets not dismiss the pads if they help some people.
I dismiss nothing, if it helps with RLS. Just thinking I wonder if snake venom has been tried. Gives me the creeps thinking of it, but a dose of paralytics might.....just might....
I will look up snake venom. With the TRT are your levels "normal"? Whatever that means. I love DMSO by the way, probably the single most amazing substance on planet earth. Make sure your hands are clean when you use it and try to keep clothes and substances away from the area you have applied it to, but you probably know that. You know that every doctor in the world would call us reckless and probably refuse us as patients if they knew the lengths we've gone to in the name of self-help.
Magnesium I'm sure is great for cramps but it is not a "quick" fix for RLS. I'm lazy, I want a quick fix. So one person on here claimed that a teaspoon of cream of tartar in a glass of water every night puts an end to her RLS in 20 minutes. And I read on another site that mustard in water (probably the curcurmin) will do the same. I tried the cream of tartar (pure potassium) on Thanksgiving night because I had to take benedryl which always triggers RLS for me. It stopped the RLS but I was wide awake. Not energized just awake. So I took my usual iron- biglysinate and the next thing I knew it was morning. For me and probably me alone, iron not only stops my RLS but puts me to sleep. Deep sleep. The kind where you wake up and wonder what hit you. My brain must really need that iron at night. It's not a cure for me. Only works for one night. I don't have RLS every night, only occasionally, so I don't take iron every day. If I did take it every day it probably wouldn't work.
Time to look up snake venom....
Normal T levels are 600-800 ng/dl nanograms/decaliter, that's supposedly a male in his 20's. A male 15 has it squirting out his ears.
My T level is kept at 1500-2000. High, yes, but I do well at that level. It frightens my doctor but she realizes that it probably the right level for me. No, I don't roar and bellow(The Jesse Ventura response) I worked out in the same gym he did in Portland in the 60's Gawd! T-Rex. Jesse used the verboten Anabolics. If I'm known at the time that the future governor of MN was roaring at me, I would have still been freaked out. Memories
You are a riot! If you worked out in gyms in the sixties then you probably remember the 70s when men and women had to be separated and there were no free weights in the women's gym. And the instructionists (as they were called) had to wear black leotards, black hose and low heel black pumps. At least at the Chicago Health Clubs and the one I went to was originally called Vic Tanney's. The separation remained for decades afterwards but the outfits changed rather quickly. Here's the closest on venom:
mysciencework.com/news/1012...
Oh Yeah, Gotta Keep the sexes apart, Them Hormones. Now in the digitally modern world We all sweat together, and from my perspective women always have the best, most logical, most balanced exercise routines.
Whaddya mean If really worked out in weight roms in the sixties, my first weight workout was in the YMCA weight room under the sidewalk on downtown Portland. I worked out with local wrestlers, boxed with visiting boxers, squashed some of the largest roaches I've ever seen, 2-3" long, they crunched real good when you dropped a dumbell on them.
I worked out after that at the oldest gym in Portland Sam Loprinzi's, that's where I ran into Jesse Ventura. I believe he was training to put the shot, then he started wearing a curly Bozo the clown wig, or was that his hair, when began wrestling. Last time I saw him he was an 'adviser to the Sea Hawks, no wig, Arnold movies and then the Big Time Governor of Minnesota, he had and has a lot of over the back fence practical wisdom, but no knowledge of Politics. He's enjoyable. A side note, by coincidental chance I spent the night with one of his girl friends, Maggie, she gave me some shirts she'd made for him. They were very nice. Hey this is about RLS, not my ramblings. 'smore fun than RLS. Mine hasn't started up yet, I'm been eating well, protein drinks and vitamins. I was born in '45 so if I mention olde stuff, excluding Kensington Man, I was there. Y'know I think I may have met kenny once, when fishing on the Columbia. Nah, that can't be true
Good Research, Bee Venom. I know snake venom in some form is used for pain control. In Voodoo, See Frightening Movie, Serpent and the Rainbow, there are venoms, paralytics, now used as anesthesia, or ask your neighborhood surgeon, if s/he'd mind if you brought your pet Ferdelance with you into surgery, or to control your RLS hold the green monster in your lap, piss it off to bite you. Wow! an evenings Peace. Powered venoms might be available, but using them could uhm er ah...be dangerous.
An effective treatment for RLS remains to be found. As I've said If there is No known cause, them treatments or cures are not likely to be found. Home treatments whether with prescription meds, vitamins/minerals, midnight mountain climbing(Tens) are hit or miss. Interesting for this forum, but not much more. I need to query the medical databases, NIH, one for Phase III Trials, name escapes, me, Medscape. So many people have it, an effective treatment might be as profitable as the PDE5's have been for ED, Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, and now Sendra(for fast finishers) The annual expenditures for those drugs is just shy of a Quadrillion Bucks. The first three are circulatory medicines, primarily. Cialis, regularly, helps with my RLS. I get it at a discount, through a Federal Low-Income Program, about a $1 a tab, instead of $25 a tab. Granddads sexlife is spendy, wine, women and PDE5's
Does the cause really matter if we know the dynamics? Our brains are anemic, but not our bodies. Our dopamine receptors need iron to be strong...the way Popeye needs spinach. Our brains are poor managers of iron or can't call any up from our stores, it's like the iron bank won't give our brains a line of credit. Poor dopamine receptors means the transport of dopamine through out our bodies leaves much to be desired. So Cialis, a PDE5 helps you. Love it, thanks, yet another pieces of the puzzle put in place. Can't wait for a grand baby but my son is only 16. My money goes to calculus tutors 
Circulation improvement is essential for any illness. the PDE5's are gered in strength for males, Women cannot use them except for Lady Viagra, and Lady Cialis.
If you are a woman, I recommend L-Arginine, in a an effective dose of 3000 mg caplets in Body Builder NOS Nitric Oxide Stimulant, buy Protein powder too, healthy muscles never hurt anyone. I highly recommend Puritans Pride for supplement
purchases, Buy 1 Get 2 Free Buy 2 Get 3 o4 Free, on almost all products
Sir Guess, you should love this article from Peak Testosterone.
peaktestosterone.com/Natura...
I take TRT not for ED, but because I've had so many medical traumas that my T level ws lowered to below the useful point Testosterone is for much mo' than sex, mental alertness, muscle function and building True without it sex doesn't happen in Women and in Men. Sex is an Essential Human Function. Hadn't read that about dopamine, Thnx. Women with Early Onset Menopause take sublingual T, very small doses, 5g or less, processed in the liver, injected deep intramuscularly such I use goes into the system much slower, and would give your girlfriend or wife a beard or hairy chest, FYI. T promotes cell growth such as you had when younger and is a cancer risk. I take my chances. I feel so much better. I am severely disabled, and think its worth the risk for me
Is cannabis legal where you live? Spend some time reading on RLS and Cannabis, soak some in melted butter then mix with DMSO rub it on the main muscles that fire when your RLS is jumping, lick spread some butter on toast points and relax
Certain species , strains of Wheed are very effective for RLS. Read up on it. There's been a lot of research going on during the Dark Ages of The Drug Wars. You'll be amazed
I agree about the exercise. I try to walk or use my step bench 60 to 90 minutes per day ata moderate pace and my rls is much better on those days.
stair climbing Smart. Yes Doctor's do kinda freak out at the quirky things people try as cures.
Not related, There are quite a few Emergency Room reports on things people insert in their rectums to make themselves happy They're always a Fun read. Uhm my mind's waking up time for RLS and bed. If you can find it there's Russian Medical Report on Exploding Heads..don't think too much
I understood about 1% of all of this but if you say so.. lol.
=) . =D
1%? I must have been in a very obtuse frame of mind.
I built a tens unit for my own use and posted about how I did it years ago. The link is provided below if anyone has an interest. It they remove the link just type in "Using TENS for RLS" on Google and it will be at the top.
It always worked well for me and there were no side effects of any kind. Only had to use it some nights before going to bed. Left it on all night and slept like a baby with it running.
About a year and a half ago I decided I needed to lose weight. Was not really heavy. Maybe weighed 155 or so. Got down to 135 and stayed there. Gave up sugar as much as possible. No table sugar at all. Drink almond milk rather than cows. No sweets, no ice cream, no drinks other than coffee and seltzer water. Eat a large salad for dinner most nights. I know boring right. Actually, it is just the opposite. The food craving goes away. More energy and no laggy feeling.
My point? I also left the RLS with the extra weight. Have not had to use my TENS unit since and do not have any RLS issues any more, period
For what it's worth.
RLS
Transcutaneous electrical stimulation unit
Significant RLS improvement!
TENS machines
