rls

[extremenightwalker]

i have for sometime now had rls, and after many years of trials of this and that to ease it, i have linked it to bowel movements, or rather the lack of.

[justcrazer]

I have RLS all so in my arms and never have a problem with bowels lets see how others reply.

[Hidden]

Extreme, your RLS seems exceptionally...extreme. Could you please provide us with a list of any other illnesses you suffer from and more importantly any and all prescription and non-prescription drugs as well as supplements. Benedryl, antacids and melatonin all give me restless body.

During my three days of no sleep about two or three years back, when I was unwittingly taking the above drugs I found on the Internet to just take one iron tablet at night before bed whether your anemic or not. It worked that night and every night until I found out what was triggering my RLS. Through trial and error I found that the only way it works for me is if the iron is iron bisglycinate which is a bio-available form. I have to take it on a pretty empty stomach and the effects last about six hours, maybe longer. There are others on here that take a liquid form of iron and combine it with vitamin c or orange juice and have had good success.

Good luck and don't forget to tell us what drugs u take. Group X

[extremenightwalker in reply to Hidden]

I have an underactive thyroid so i take levothyroxine 150mg, and lyrica 75mg in the morning 75mg at night for RLS. simvastatin for high cholesterol. Clonazapam 2x 500mg to aid sleep. bloods checked regular for anemia and diabetes etc. my anemia is or seems to be under control now.

my doctor won't provide or allow me to take iron in tablet form as she says it damages the kidneys, i was rudely told to eat it naturally. i eat iron enriched foods anyway regularly.

i have had RLS for so long now i have tried many drugs, pramipexole mirapex rivotril.

my body jerks are like electric charges raging through my arms legs and back. the onset being a bubbling feeling running through my body and limbs, others have described it as creepy crawlies, mine feels like my bloods bubbling, then the kicks or cycle motions begins in my legs. sometime a bolt of what feels like electric shocks curl my fingers rigid, cause my shoulders to lock together but my legs keep on kicking to the point if i do sleep eventually they ache all the next day.

my waking hours tend o be around 19 hours a day sometimes longer, it is not uncommon for me to go 3/4 days with only a few hours sleep.

i feel like a zombie pacing the room, rocking swaying and hardly being able to rest. my memory is extremely poor now, i can get confused and replace words in a sentence that make no sense at all. by this i mean i will call the fridge a shed, or once i could not think what a cucumber was called when asking the greengrocer for veg, i said the long green thing you slice up. cucumber just wouldn't come into my head.

i was on rivotril for nearly 15 years and the doctors here were appalled by this as its so addictive and by then unlicensed it took 9 months to wean me off them.

basically on a day to day basis i feel like a zombie sleep deprivation can really mess up many areas of your life.

i do suffer also from ocular migraines but don't take anything for this, i just sit it out and wait for my sight in my left eye to return.

doctors treat the muscles spasms but not the secondary complaints of RLS.

for years i was told there was nothing i could take, until one day i was put on rivotril, i but mostly and actually told by one doctor to learn to live with it.

[Hidden in reply to extremenightwalker]

Well, here's at least one article where they actually give iron supplements to patients in kidney failure. You would think that if iron damages kidneys then it wouldn't be prescribed to those in kidney failure.

Try the iron, get a new doctor.

kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudise...

[Hidden]

Ok, let's work on you a little bit. Hopefully others on here who have thyroid problems will chime in. I do not have thyroid issues but I have a friend who does and takes an expensive, but allegedly better form of thyroid hormone called Armour something? It's real rather than synthetic hormone I believe. A lot of your symptoms including constipation and chills could easily be from the underactive thyroid and hopefully tweaking the thyroid meds might help those symptoms?

As far as your muscle aches and RLS and memory loss, those symptoms might be caused by the Simvastin. Please look at a discussion a few down from here and you will see just how bad statins can be for your muscles and your RLS and memory. Hopefully Jmwe29 will chime in here and tell you more about statins.

As far as your anemia and iron goes, iron "fortified" foods are no different than iron supplements and the iron they use to fortify foods is usually the cheapest, hardest to digest form out there. I'm not a doctor or a scientist, but not all iron supplements are created equal. I have to do research on iron supplements and kidney function. Never heard of it being harmful to kidneys. Plus I would think that iron is processed through the liver more than the kidneys. Anyways, I'm sure the doctor is talking about taking iron everyday (or 3x a day as is usually prescribed for anemia) for a long period of time. Everyone on here is going to jump down my throat for this one, but I would still do a two night trial of the best iron you can afford (not ferrous sulphate) on an empty stomach with a little vitamin c. I am only advising this against your doctor's recommendation because it sounds like you're suffering and need a quick fix.

Last, but not least, work on your gut. When in doubt eat a diet of vegetables, some fruit and animal proteins (preferably raw/sushi (reliable source) or lightly cooked fish. Or some seeds such as pumpkin or sunflower. Avoid all grains, dairy, and sugar and tea and coffee and soft drinks. It sounds so impossible, but you need to heal. I would eat my vegetables mostly raw and I will even eat only one food item at a time. So at 9am I will eat a pear. By 10am I am hungry and will eat a carrot or fennel or celery. Then at noon some raw broccoli. Then a handful of seeds and for dinner some fish. Treats are things like rice with the fish or white tea midday, unsweetened. When I eat like this I do not get heartburn or bloating or constipation. But I don't eat like this all of the time so I take a product called "zinc carnosine" for when I cheat. It is used in Japan to treat ulcers but seems to work well for my IBS in general. In terms of your constipation, you may see improvement in a few days but in terms of your overall health it may take weeks and months.

Many people on here will swear by magnesium...a good form of magnesium for muscles, nerves and constipation.

Remember, if you have RLS, no antihistamines, antacids or anti-depressants, unless you know they are "RLS friendly." No melatonin or 5HTP either. I have also heard that estrogen (called HRT or hormone replacement therapy) can worsen RLS. Same may be true for diuretics.

Some people on here, including myself, will swear by potassium. I took potassium bitartrate (also called cream of tartar-1/2 teaspoon) on two occasions and both times it got rid of the RLS but was somewhat stimulating, unlike the iron bis-glycinate which not only gets rid of the RLS but seems to be sleep inducing as well.

Good luck, keep us posted.

[Hidden]

I've heard it said before by others on here and if you really pay attention to it.. sure enough. =)

[restlessinlondon]

I remember that when I gave up dairy to help my RLS (which it did) I also found it helped my constipation. Hope you get some relief soon, your symptoms sound awful.

[Michelle1974]

Hi I'm Michelle74

I am new to this site as you will probably realise.

My RLS started in my pregnancies. I never really noticed it again until I was very ill and put on Morphine,the majority of my RLS is due to my medications.

I remember being in hospital once it had kept me awake and irritable all night.

I could just cry when I get it as no position helps and I have even tried holding my legs still but I just end up with cramp then.

Around six or seven years ago I went into Boots chemist in town ,not looking for any RLS remedies at all.

I went to a reduced basket and they had about 20 tins of this leg relaxing moose/ gel.

It was reduced to £4 instead of £20 so I bought two tins,tried it and it was heaven ,it came out crackling and bubbling and it was deep blue it may have been l'oreal make. You squirted on your legs and massaged it in before bed. I think it was Advertised for tired aching legs. I can not recall the name,it will come to me around 04.30 am while I writhering round the bed. As for medication I take Quinine Sulphate.

What other meds are available? Does anyone take anything different ?

Thanks for reading this

Michelle

X