Has anyone tried this. I hear there is a Medical Doctor in Totnes who does Acupunture for RLS .. I plan to visit when I can find a phone number?
My RSL has spread to hips and hurt badly when I am walking (during the day!) also calf pain in both legs very very painful,that's day and night, has anyone experienced this?
I had to come off all medication, I have tried the lot over three years due to frightening side affects.
Hi sorry to hear that you are having problems ,if you look back at some of the older posts you will find some of us have tried acupuncture with me I went for six weeks and it was no help at all ,some people I believe have more success I really hope it's a fix you ,,,good luck
Thanks for your reply, my doc is arranging through physio department..
Morning and Welcome i have used acupuncture MANY TIMES IT IS Way of making things easier for a bit. Helped R Knee emensley when I was standing all day in my shop.
Go carefully do find one that you have heard about by word of mouth and remember we do not use name on here nor pack drill whether is good or bad.
Bon Chance
Ginsing xx
Volunteer administrator
Thanks, as per my reply to Mopsey above, my doc has arranged through the physio dept..
so sorry automatic reaction to put signature line in you are so right I am from Fibromyalgia forum . So once again sorry if I upset any one . Have a good day!
Hello Ginsing, from one volunteer to another. 
Kaarina
i dont think anyone was upset. I was just pointing out, as members might think you were attached to this forum.
I would just like to point out that Ginsing is not a Volunteer Admin on this forum. She maybe be one on another HealthUnlocked forum.
Good luck with the acupuncture, i tried it a few years ago and it did nothing for my RLS.
Thanks.. Maybe it nay help me, who knows..I have run out if ideas what to do!
Hi Devon-Lady, I wish you all the best with the acupuncture. If you have been recommended for referral by your GP and you do not have to pay then there is every reason to go. It may work and even if it does not, you may well benefit for a little while or even a few hours so no harm in trying. Please let us know how you go on.
As is often repeated on this forum, what may work for one person will do nothing for another persons symptoms.
Hi sorry you are having probs and havnt found anything to help you yet, are you sure it's rls as you say your legs hurt all day and night,most of us have trouble going to bed or sitting,I have had acupuncture and after spending a lot of money it didn't work ,I hope you have better luck
Hi, I have used it but it didn't help. Hope it does for you.
My sister has used acapuncture for a mild RLS and it was successful. Good luck!
That's good news, I had an assessment this morning so not actually started treatment yet!
yes mopsy. I too tried acupuncture it didn't work for me. It can be an expensive experiment. But some on the forum have had success with it. Give it a go. You might be one of the lucky ones.
Acupuncture was never part of traditional Chinese medicine. It was an invention of the leaders of Communist China. It does provide a brief placebo effect. Before I learned that it had no basis in science or traditional Chinese medicine, I tried it for RLS. Lying down in a dark room and having a compassionate believer in the procedure I found I relaxed and had great hope for success. As I drove back home I was sure my symptoms had greatly lessened, and usually for a night or two I would feel a little better. Then the symptoms came back. I continued for several months of treatment. Did the same with a chiropractor with same results. I found some improvement after bringing ferritin levels up from 45 to 120 with an oral supplement. More improvement when I switched to a plant based whole food diet. More improvement when I started a simple yoga/stretching program. Some improvement when I cut refined sugars from my diet. Gabapentin helped for a year, then became less effective. I use it from time to time. As long as I only take it for a short period of time it is helpful, then becomes less effective. I'm giving the Restiffic Wrap a trial now. Starting 3rd week. Will report later.
Very interesting.. Especially the. Sugar .. I am thinking if trying to cut sugar from my diet?? Tomorrow...
Well, there's an article on acupuncture on Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupu... - which says (I haven't included the references, of which there are many):
"Acupuncture is believed to have originated around 100 BC in China, around the time The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine (Huangdi Neijing) was published, though some experts suggest it could have been practiced earlier. Over time, conflicting claims and belief systems emerged about the effect of lunar, celestial and earthly cycles, yin and yang energies, and a body's "rhythm" on the effectiveness of treatment. Acupuncture grew and diminished in popularity in China repeatedly, depending on the country's political leadership and the favor of rationalism or Western medicine. Acupuncture spread first to Korea in the 6th century AD, then to Japan through medical missionaries, and then to Europe, starting with France. In the 20th century, as it spread to the United States and Western countries, the spiritual elements of acupuncture that conflict with Western beliefs were abandoned in favor of tapping needles into nerves."
But the article does say the scientific evidence of its efficacy is ambiguous. One of the problems with any sort of treatment is knowing whether the intervention has alleviated the symptoms, or they improved for other reasons. Bit like various vitamin supplements. A chemist recommended a calcium supplement for my cramps. So I bought a bottle, took one a day for a week and noticed no change. Gave up for a few days, and lo and behold, had no cramp episodes. They came back of course. So how can I find out whether the calcium involved in any of this? The thing is, one tends to associate symptom alleviation with a specific intervention (herb, vitamin supplement, massage, other therapy), usually the latest in a series, that might or might not have had anything to do with the perceived alleviation. On a personal basis it's usually impossible to say.
One interesting thing I noticed the other day when I used a manual massage machine to loosen up my thighs and legs, it produced the same nervy, creepy sensations in the muscles that I get when rls is on the rampage. That might be worth investigating further.
Desperate for some relief 
Clenching Syndrome? (like teeth clenching, but with leg muscles instead of jaw muscles)
In my belief this is what caused my RLS!
buprenorphine 10mcg patches and nightmares
