restless legs

[mags123]

hi i have restless legs all over my body seen my doctor was told nothing can be done .then spoke to the nurse she told me to take more salt didnt work it has got so bad not just my legs but now my hole body .get very little sleep. not only in bed i get it most of the day . just need some help if any .thanks

[Hidden]

Hi mags, where do you live, here in the UK, or another country. Because which ever country you do live in, then you have a stupid doctor, and the nurse is even more stupid, and she shouldnt have even told you to take more salt, SHE is not the doctor, and probably just read some where that salt helps which it doesnt, and too much salt is not even healthy for our bodies.!!

Either you go back to the same doctor and tell them there are medications which can be used for RLS, or try seeing another doctor who will not dismiss RLS as nothing can be done.

Two website for you to look at which gives treatments used for RLS. rls-uk.org and rlshelp.org Can i ask how long your have been suffering for with RLS, are you taking any meds from your doctor for any other ailment or taking any OTC med. Has your doctor given you any meds to try for RLS before, if so what were they. Lots of questions but sometimes it can help us to know a little more about you so we can see if we can help.

[Kaarina Administrator]

Hi mags

I know that unfortunately doctors do not know much about RLS but I have never heard anything like it. The doctor and nurse should be sacked! They are a menace!

If you are in the UK, please go back either to this doctor or another. Before you go, visit rls-uk.org and print out relevant pages and pass them over to the doctor. May be a good idea to give that nurse some information as well! Also please give the website address to the doctor because there is a section entitled For Professionals.

There is also a helpline: 01634 260483 Line open Mondays and Thursdays: 9am - 11am.

Leave a message if the line is busy inbetween those hours and you will be called back.

Knowledge is power, Mags. After reading up about it you will know your doctor can do more for you so hold your head up high and go back.

Please let us know how you go on.

Kaarina

[Hidden]

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

Sodium will cause a release of dopamine. So technically, taken at the right time, in the right amount, it should help. Technically so will sugar. So will fat. So will all drugs of addiction, including quinine and cannabis. That "release" of dopamine will stop the symptoms of RLS. Then these dopamine releasing substances will come back to bite you, maybe even the more natural substances such as potassium and chili pepper. By the way, if you don't think chili peppers are addicting and cause a release of dopamine try taking them away from a person of mexican heritage that has grown up on it. Eventually many of these substances (especially the dopamine agonists) will deplete your receptors and ours are bad to begin with. It will take ever more of that dopamine releasing substance, be it food or cocaine or cannabis, to relieve your RLS.

We know exactly what causes RLS. Genetically bad dopamine receptors caused by low levels of brain iron. Google ways to improve your dopamine receptors. Under-eating, even if you are obese, will cause an uptick in your receptors, according to experiments done on mice. Under-eating is the reverse of taking foods and substances of pleasure that cause a release of dopamine. So here we are under-eating...under-eating all of those dopamine releasing foods. Now there's a shortage of dopamine because we're hungry and not getting our happy foods. The signal is sent to the brain "hey rev up those receptors, we need more dopamine." That's a good thing for all people, but a great thing for people with RLS. Revved up receptors that is.

I've seen a lot of people on here talking about getting relief after discontinuing sugar, flour, dairy and on and on. And other restrictive diets. Is it the specific diet that is working to relieve the symptoms of RLS or the smaller intake of food that comes with restrictive diets? When the diet stops working is it because they have managed to find enough acceptable foods (high calorie rice flour muffins) such that now they are once again on a restrictive, but high caloric diet?

If you have all over RLS all of the time then is it possible you are taking drugs that are making it worse such as statins, metformin, anti-depressants or estrogen? These drugs drastically reduce our already low output of dopamine. How's the health of your spine? It's hard for dopamine to get to your legs and arms if your spine is messed up. One thing with RLS is the smallest thing can set it off and the smallest thing can also stop it - a little marijuana for example, but I wouldn't go there, not when there's sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron and chili peppers to try first. Unlike degenerative diseases, that are all downhill, RLS is a day to day battle with many potential victories out there.

Don't let any doctor or anyone anywhere tell you no one knows what causes RLS and that there is no way to stop it. And the way to do research is to never google RLS. Google salt and dopamine release or chili and dopamine release or magnesium and dopamine release. I read that magnesium is necessary for the production of dopamine but does nothing for the release of dopamine and maybe just the opposite. Had I googled RLS and salt I would have found nothing. Or RLS and chili peppers would have produced a big zero. Or maybe someone out there would have reported relief, but if I want to know what's going on with these substances and the brain then I need more than anecdotal evidence. Going on a treasure hunt will also cause a burst of dopamine - when you find what you are looking for

[nightdancer in reply to Hidden]

I would like to see these tests run on humans, 4 years ago this was done on rats and mice.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Erm, you are wrong, the truth is NO one knows the cause of RLS. I take it you have done all that you have posted about and now you are RLS free..! ?

[nightdancer]

YOU need another doctor. ANY doctor who says nothing can be done is either lazy or stupid.

[Mikeman1019]

There are no known cures for it. I take Oxy and that completely eliminates the symptoms. I was amazed when I type Restless Leg Syndrome into an amazon search engine. Give it a try

[Mikeman1019]

Time for a new Dr I'd say. If your Dr isn't aware of the ongoing disease, which I just learned has a name - he or she isn't much of a Dr. Do a amazon search for RLS (spelled out) and perhaps recommend that your Dr look at it as well. I use Oxy to eliminate my symptoms.

[Pete-1 in reply to Mikeman1019]

Hello Mikema,

Please can you tell us what oxy is?

[Mikeman1019 in reply to Pete-1]

My apologies for the delayed response, and additionally for using an abbreviation in regards to medicine. It's Oxycodon. Hope this helps

[Pete-1 in reply to Mikeman1019]

Thank you.

[nightdancer in reply to Mikeman1019]

If I had a doctor that needed to do a search for RLS, I would NOT send him or her to Amazon. Send him/her to a respected RLS site like rlshelp.org or the RLS-UK Foundation web site. There are several reasons I would use the US Foundation last, but it may help to solidify the idea, at LEAST, that RLS is a real thing. But, if you send a skeptical doctor to Amazon, he/she will be even MORE skeptical after looking at all of that stuff, of which many are crap. To steer people in another direction, look for the RLS BOOKS on Amazon. The very best book, and all of my doctors have a copy, is the 2nd Edition of Clinical Management for Restless Legs Syndrome, by Dr. Mark Buchfuhrer and 4 other RLS experts and active doctors and researchers. I cannot tell you how grateful they ALL were to get that book for Christmas! I can tell my GP uses hers, it is all dog eared and highlighted, etc. There is also the other version of his book written more for the layperson,. but I prefer the Clinical one. It leaves no question unanswered.

[nightdancer]

Watch out for the products on Amazon, and really check them out. there is a lot of stuff listed for RLS, but that does not mean they work. Do your homework.

[nightdancer in reply to nightdancer]

Mikema, are you in the US or the UK?? Oxycodone is great for RLS, but usually it is only called "oxy" in the US, so I am guessing you are in the US? the only meds that work for my RLS are also narcotics. Not one med meant for RLS works for me. Of course, there really is not a med made specifically for RLS. They "borrow" other meds for other conditions, so we need a lot more research in that category.

[Pete-1]

What medication have you tried?

[nightdancer]

As far as statins go, here is a short read. Statins CAN cause wicked muscle damage to your legs, and does not cause RLS as far as we know, but no one REALLY knows for sure. This is not my only reference. Hope the link works. IT is a simple, easy to understand one. huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/... Just another side of the discussion.