I am for the most part a glass half full person, but I struggle to stay positive in the face if rls. I had it as a child only it wasn't recognized back then. My Grandmother used to rub my legs every night to help me go to sleep, God bless her. It went away and didn't reappear until I was in my forties, about twenty years ago. I'm 69 now and as I get older, it gets worse. I try everything reasonable that I hear about and some things that make no sense . A Doctor told me sleeping with a bar of soap would keep it at bay, he swore to this. It didn't. Most meds I try work for awhile, I always know it's a short term solution I guess the point to my whine is that I deal with this every day as do many others and I am feeling rather hopeless at the moment. Any ideas?
A bar of soap: I am for the most part a... - Restless Legs Syn...
A bar of soap
Try reading up on Kratom:
sagewisdom.org/kratomguide....
if you can get it cannabis can be useful.
Hope you get some relief.
I'm in UK and I'm going to order kratom, as I am fed up with the meds the doc gives me. I'll let you know how it goes.
I tended to take, (I now take Neupro patch and Targenact together to keep things at bay), a dose of about 7gs at 6pm which for me gave me about 5/6 hours RLS free through the worst time of the day and enabled me to be relaxed with my family. There is someone else on here who gets good relief taking 1-2 gs at various times during the day, it wont work for me like that.
Remember that with any substance things can be misused and abused. The good thing about the opioids prescribed by the G.P. is that the G.P. can keep a good eye to make sure you don't misuse, when doing things on your own you need to be extra careful.
Kratom is much less problematic than Oxycontin or Tramadol but needs to be watched anyway. If you stick with a particular method of dosing and watch that you aren't getting a buzz, you only want to treat the symptoms not lie about stoned.
There is lots of information out there, make sure and read plenty and I can offer some help too.There are a variety of strains and are meant to be different but I have tried four and can notice no difference. Avoid any concentrates as they do not have the full spectrum of goodness!
Good luck with getting relief and keep me up-to-date with how you are getting on.
I am a 53 year old female and Kratom has been the answer for me. I order it in powder form and put it in little gel capsules. Although some people claim they can get a good "high" off of it, this has not been my experience at all, and I would guess that you'd have to take quite a bit of it for that to happen. The reason I tried it is because of the many times I've been prescribed hydrocodone for surgery recoveries (breast cancer) and I realized that when I was on that medication it was the only time I had no RLS. In fact, when I would be prescribed hydrocodone, I would actually suffer through the pain in order to save some of the medication for RLS later on when I couldn't take the RLS anymore! I would only take 1/2 of a pill and that did the trick! Even though it would have been a legitimate need, I knew I wouldn't be able to find a doctor to prescribe that for me forever, so I found this natural, "hydrocodone-like" Kratom through research and because of recommendations on this site. It is a blessing to know that I am going to be able to sleep at night and not be awakened by RLS! It's relatively inexpensive and requires no doctor visits. Again, I've never felt "high" at all, and there are no side effects. No daytime sleepiness or morning grogginess! Might want to do some research on it. Blessings to you and prayers that you find a solution for you. 
Exactly my experience, never got a buzz but the relief from RLS beats any high.
Hi,it would help if you could say which meds you have already tried and what you are taking now
I'm taking ropinirole and gabapentin, I remember taking clonazepam in the past, but I'm not sure what else. It's been yrs.
What dose of ropinerole?Is it no longer working?
2 MG 4 x a day
Vintage me,that is a VERY high dose,the new recommended dose is 2mg a day absolute tips .prefferably 1mg.I am concerned by the amount you are on.The fact that your symptoms are getting worse leads me to believe you are experiencing augmentation.Have you gradually been upping the dose?
Yes, I have been upping the dose, with my Doctor's permission of course. This drug is very regulated, if I were to take more than prescribed I wouldn't be able to get more until the following month. May be I am taking too much and need a lower dose. or a different med. I see my Dr. in Feb. ,but I think I might try to see him sooner.Thank you, I'm going to do a little searching and reading tonight.
Hi,i wasnt meaning to imply that you are taking more than you have been prescribed but that the doctor has prescribed too high a dose.Doctors are often unaware of augmentatuon so just keep upping the dose which helps for a while then symptoms get bad again.Usually once augmentatuin occurs the only way is to stop the dopamine agonist.This results in severe withdrawal RLS and a strong pain med is needed to help.If you put augmentaruon into the search box info will come up.Good luck
If you put the words "brilliant article"into the search box it will bring up an article by one of the worlds leading RLS experts.Hope that helps
My restless legs and cramps started sometime in the past year-and-a-half. But I did have it when I was about 9 or 10 years of age, and it used to bring me to tears. Maybe I over-exercised for my age, at that time, or didn't have enough of some certain vitamin or mineral. It was a mystery to me (and my parents) back then, and it is a mystery to me, now, that I have this symptom again.
The only thing that changed in my life was that I took Celexa (citalopram) according to my doctors prescription, for about 2-3 years. I stopped the medication, abruptly, in the summer of 2014. It caused terrible cramps, spasms, and stomach and psychic and mental distress for three-four horrible weeks. The medication should have been titrated down over a period of months. I would not recommend this abrupt stop to Celexa to anyone. I am in my early seventies, and it almost did me in. I believe that this medication might have altered something neurologically in my dopamine receptors. It could be that, or it could be that my diet is lacking in some vital nutrients, although I try to eat a healthful, well-rounded diet. It could be both factors, in tandem. It is a mystery to me.
I keep looking online for answers as we all seem to do. I tried the bar of soap, in fact I tried two bars. It may have helped when the pain was not too great. I do not want to take any medication for my restless, tingling, painful legs. The pain sometimes feels like I have been stretched out on the proverbial "rack of Torquemada" (the tormentor of the Spanish Inquisition) where they would stretch and tear the muscles of the victims, which was an agonizing torment. Other times it is not so bad. I feel really terrible for people who have muscular diseases, such as Muscular Dystrophy. I hope and pray that a cure will soon be found for this, and similar, illnesses
I made some magnesium "oil" by boiling Epsom salts in water. I spray this on my legs when they ache, and it seems to work. You can order a spray called "Ancient Minerals" online, which is supposed to work, in the same way, for restless, aching legs. I have not tried this yet. Also, there is something called "Magnesium Fizz-Plus" by Nature's Blend, which is a white powder that you stir into a small glass of water. It seems to help me. You need to eat with this as magnesium gives you loose movements, if you know what I mean. I take a woman's multi-vitamin, and I also have a drink of orange juice into which I stir a green powder, called Amazing Grass "Green Superfood" that has lots of healthy ingredients (I order this on the Internet), including spirulina. It could be that our foods, the meats and vegetables, eggs and milk, etc. in a supposedly healthy diet, are depleted as a result of the engineering being done to the seeds, animal diets and the spraying of chemicals on our farmlands. When I do take all of my vitamins and supplements, and eat a healthy diet, that my symptoms are not so irritating. This RLS really does interfere with the normal sleep cycle, and it can cause fogginess the next day. This is a serious condition. I used to think that restless leg syndrome was a mental condition in the mind of the suffering patient, until I got it myself and realized that it is really devastating condition. I am certain that we are all hoping and praying that an explanation of the reasons for the condition and a cure will be in the future.
Thisi is my first post so here goes. My brother has had this for aT least seven years and where it has been so severe he has had no sleep at all for days. He is 49 and has the transdermal patches and has these with beta blockers. This also caused him to be very depressed. He came to live with me a few months ago and so I've seen first hand what a terrible illness this is. We tried excluding caffeine and dairy from his diet and magnesium and zinc supplements and he only drank green tea. This gave some relief but as you all know the anxiety is nearly as bad as the actual RLS and it is like watching someone being tortured. Not to be beat I went to a friend who is a qualified homeopath and she tried Causticum. This worked and he has had Somme excellent quality nights sleep. We also had an appointment with an acupuncturist. After this his knees really ached - but in a good way!! He said it felt as though he had been exercising and all the tension had been let out (he described his legs before as being 'pumped up). So far, and I know it's early days, but he has had no symptoms at all for three weeks which for him is a first and the change in him is wonderful to see, with the tension, anxiety and depression gradually lifting. Please don't give up looking and I hope this is of some small help xx
vintage-me,
Good morning. I suffer as you except I did not have it as a child. I also have it 24/7. It is debilitating. I have tried gabapentin. mirapex, and finally have settled on Requip. This I have used for years. It does not work too well anymore and there are times when I just have to keep standing for most of the day. I tried the Neupro patch but was allergic to the tape. Dr. may now try Neupro pills. I am sorry if I did not help you, but I want you to know that some people share your journey. Hopefully, someone can help you and lessen your symptoms.
Thank- you for sharing your experience. I find it helps very much to know you aren't alone . Finding this forum has been a blessing, it's the first time I've heard from others who suffer from it. I'm seeing a new to me Dr. in Feb.Maybe he will have something to offer.
The soap theory didn't work for me. Aren't you on any medications? There is such a variety that you can choose till you find the one that works for you, but a word of caution, study each med carefully before you get hooked on opiates. Others here can instruct you very well. Good luck.
I'm on ropinerole, but rls is getting worse and I sometimes have it in my arms. When it's in your legs you can stand, I haven't found a solution for my arms.
Hi vintage, I take TRAMADOL 2x daily 50 mg tabs. One at 5:30 pm and the other at 11:30 pm, it works great for me. I only have RLS in one leg, I don't know how the other stopped, but I also get it in the arms if I don't take my meds right on time. The trick is to keep ahead of an attack so if you have an idea a what time you usually get it, schedule your meds ahead. I also haven't found a solution for the arms to get some relief, I just move them around like some lunatic, in circular motions, stretching as far as possible and just anything I can do till the meds kick in. I can't help you here, I don't think anyone has a solution for the arms, or I haven't heard of any and there ARE a few with this as well.
Someone posted a little while ago about a magnesium spray called GOODNIGHT magnesium spray, I got it, had to order it, I only used it two times when I felt my legs getting a little restless even though I had taken my meds, it worked to my surprise, but I don't know if it would be effective in a full blown attack. Check into it, doesn't hurt. Hmmm, I haven't tried it on my arms, I definitely will and see if then it might help. Let me know if you ever get it.
I so wosh I could tell you there is a cure or a practice or a medicine which would make rls stop but from where I sit (when possible) there isn't. I take Horizant and feels its helps a lot but must take Percocet at night starting around 8:00 PM. But feel that these times are so much better than a couple of months ago. I was experiencing problems as early as 11:00 AM in my arms, hands not to mention my legs. I did find out from this site and the one on Facebook that I was having augmentation from Mirapex which I had been taking for about 15 years. Since I stopped that I have been doing much better. Good luck with yours. I think we just have to deal with the rls the best we can. I know that there is a unit and doctor at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. who is doing research on rls and has a good grasp on its symptoms and treatments. I have an appointment with a sleep specialist near the end of the month and if he appears to have little to no knowledge about rls then will try to get into to see this doctor at John Hopkins.
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