Leg Vibrating Device for RLS

[Grndm4747]

I heard a leg vibrating device will work for RLS. Has anyone tried this?

[Madlegs1]

Search " Relaxis" and" Restific"

I think those are the correct spellings for two devices some people have tried out.

Good luck.

[Narcis]

I have tried Relaxis with no effect and is very expensive.

[Hidden in reply to Narcis]

How long did you try it. I did two 30-minute sessions every night for maybe 4 mo. And my RL was gone. I set if on level 8 I think. Get more advise from Carl. Don’t give up! Claudine. aka cfall

[CoMtWo]

I got a Relaxis pad in 2015, shortly after FDA approval. I was lucky enough to be able to do a one-month trial for $50 as I recall, which didn't commit me to the full purchase. At that time I was up to 400 mg of Gabapentin (started with 200 3 hours before bed, the rest at bedtime), plus 0.75 to 1.0 mg of Pramipexole DI-HCL (started with 1st dose 3 hrs pre-bed, the rest taken at bedtime), plus the occasional Ambien (which after using 2-3 nights in a row stops working so I'd have to not use it for a month or so to "reset" my body chemestry) and the nights when I wasn't using Ambien (most nights didn't use it) I then had 0.5 mg of Klonopin. And still I "danced" and rarely got more than 2-3 hours of consistent sleep.

I started up the pad's use in September and by December I was able to stop the Klonopin, stop the Ambien (which rarely worked anyway), and reduce my dosages of Gabapentin to 200 mg and to 0.5 mg of the Pramipexole. I was then able to "wean" myself off the Relaxis pad for 2-3 months at at time and only go back on it when my nightime RLS re-activates even with the maintenance med dosages. Then I'll use the pad about 2-3 weeks fairly consistently and things calm down to be OK with my "maintenance" levels of the two drugs.

While I've still a sleep issue, since my mind is way too busy thinking way too much, only about once every few months do my legs cause me to do the walk-around for an hour or two. And when that happens, before grabbing the Relaxis pad in the middle of the night (and waking up my husband when I do that middle-of-the-night machine turn on), I've found that rolling my legs, front and back on a foam roller, will reduce the irritation such that I've been able to get back to sleep (that doesn't always work, of course).

Only if the walk-around begins for a 2nd night do I get back on the pad, starting it up at bedtime.

Using the pad can drive folks crazy - if I don't really need to be on it, it makes my skin feel as if someone is tickling me all over my body. But if I DO need it, it calms the need to move and doesn't cause ticklishness. It is definitely something that you really need to try to work through to gain a tolerance for the tickles - so if you do get one, start it up at a low vibration, then in a few days, begin to up the vibration until your body gets used to that and tolerates it without driving you mad. Then stay on it consistently for several months and see if you're able to reduce your meds. Then see if you can reduce the vibration and finally try some nights off of it - and see how long that works before needing to use it again.

The Relaxis marketing folks I'd spoken to initially after my RLS/Apnea doc had suggested I try the machine, said that some people are able to get fully off their RLS meds, but most find they can, at the least, reduce them. And the latter is what I found happened with me. I've always been a rotten sleeper - come from a family of true insomniacs - so having RLS on top of obstructive sleep apnea was really causing major health issues. I think at this point, knowing my trusty Relaxis pad is near the bed to use if/as needed, I may have figured out a way to at least get 5+ hours of sleep/night (when using my CPAP machine for the apnea), and some nights, even more. It's not been a cure for my RLS, but rather enables me to not "up" my RLS meds to the high levels and full variety I'd used before 2015's purchase of the device.

When I bought it back in 2015, I recall it cost me over $1,000 - not covered by insurance. I think the company has reduced the price since then - they've cut out using middlemen (Durable Medical Equipment Companies) and sell direct to users. They'd found out (as I did), that the DME folks are rarely trained to help users adjust to the machine's impact on their nervous system whereas the manufacturer's marketing folks seem to be more oriented to do that. The man I spoke to when I'd had some problems and no help from my DME folks through which I'd purchased it, was very informative/helpful.

Here's a link to a National Center for Biotechnology Information review of the pad's efficacy: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl.... I pretty much agree about the pad's ability to improve my sleep - and since my symptoms tend to be really rough by bedtime, I feel it also helped decrease the intensity of my symptoms (a personal finding different from that reported by the article).

Here's a link to the Relaxis website: myrelaxis.com/

And NO, I've not been paid by Relaxis or even got any sort of discount on the pad's purchase. Rather, I was just able to take advantage of their trial use offer shortly after the pads came on the market.

Good Luck.

[Belsheart]

There is a one month trial period... money back if it doesn't work. I just ordered mine. More words eaten... as iused to be appalled by the expense. Now I'm so desperate, i went for it

[Hidden]

I used the Relaxis pad and it stopped my severe RL within 5 mo. Go on Google for :myRelaxis.com. Claudine