Fighting Exhaustion with RL

[Hgaguk89]

My legs are bouncing all day and all night. Hence I am exhausted all day from all the wasted energy, and I never get anything done. What can i do?

[LotteM]

Are you getting any treatment? Otherwise you may find yourself in a vicious circle, as tiredness/exhaustion makes the RLS worse. Even with fairly successful treatment I find I am still tired most of the day almost everyday. As well as somewhat restless. A less recognised part of the syndrome, I suspect.

[Hgaguk89 in reply to LotteM]

I've tried a few different meds , but I'm worried about augmentation so avoid

[LotteM in reply to Hgaguk89]

It’s up to you what you think is worse. Personally, I monitor my reactions to my meds and their effectiveness closely. If their effectiveness reduces during 1-2weeks I try to switch to another med and not increase the dose. Effectively, I rotate between several meds. Some last longer (oxycodon ER), others for a shorter amount of time (tramadol, ropinirol). All these meds are for me effective at their lowest dose.

[Tennwalker1 in reply to LotteM]

Hi LotteM,

I would like to switch back and forth from oxy to tramadol, but my doc won't prescribe both at one time. May I ask how did you manage that?

[LotteM in reply to Tennwalker1]

Well, it started out when the tramadol had stopped working. I explained that I suspected that and I tried by not taking the tramadol, which made no difference. I asked for codeine (30mg), but my gp thought a low dose of oxycodon (5mg) would be better with a lower chance of side effects owing to the lower dose.

I switched back to tramadol a few days ago on my owm initiative; I still had a few left. Again I explained that now the oxy stopped working, that I needed a drug holiday to reset my sensitivity to oxycodon and that I already tried whether the tramadol worked again. It did. She prescribed me a month of tramadol after which I can try to switch back to oxy.

[Tennwalker1 in reply to LotteM]

Ok, good going for you. Praying you will be able to find the right drugs you can live a pain free life on. Keep trying.

[Tennwalker1 in reply to Tennwalker1]

Two different doctors. Oops.

[Hidden]

Hello. Yep, I was where you are with bad RLS and extreme exhaustion a few years back. Although my RLS is much better overall my sleep quality is poor because of my PLMD, so I'm still exhausted much of the time. Then, during the times when I am actually pretty awake (mentally), I can only accomplish a few tasks a day before I exhaust myself and "drop".

Do you want tips on how to stay awake during the day, how to deal with the RL at night, or both? I have various methods I use for both situations, which I am happy to share with you. Let me find my list and I'll be back.

[Hgaguk89 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Jess, it would be nice to hear your list

[involuntarydancer]

You can almost certainly improve on your current situation. Lottem is correct - exhaustion exacerbates rls and a starting point is to get the symptoms under control with medication. Augmentation is a real fear but it is not normally immediate and is generally only associated with the dopamine agonist drugs (with a very few also augmenting on tramadol).

Once you get symptoms under control you can focus on cutting back the drugs so that you find a balance between being on the lowest possible dose - possibly oscillating between different drugs, titrations up on one and down on another to avoid dependence/habituation - and a level of rls you find acceptable. Your life at the moment does not sound acceptable.

Raising iron levels, if serum ferritin is low, can help and also reduces risk of augmentation. Look at some of the tips that turn up regularly on here - magnesium, yoga stretches, very diverting activities, glucosamine, a new one today of 5mg folic acid, I find a tablet of nicotine gum can help when symptoms come on as can a cup of coffee.

It is an extremely tricky condition to treat and considerable experimentation is required.

[involuntarydancer]

Also emptying the bladder/bowels (if required) can help alleviate symptoms.

[Hidden]

Adding to others replies. other 'switch off' activities to try to get back to sleep - hot bath. i sometimes have several a night.

and if you have the luxury of being retired I try to get some sleep for a couple of hours after say 8am when the restlessness tends to have worn off, and/or a snooze after lunch. these all add up and help the fatigue a bit and make it easier to function.

also look at diet. i haven't done any of the more severe diets as some have, which may be a mistake on my part but i'm sure sugar for me is a trigger which is a common one, also for me probably vanilla, probably yoghurt, some cheeses, especially brie. i get rls every night several times but if i don't avoid the triggers it's even worse

[Lizzie15]

I wasn't sleeping due to restless legs gp put me on Roprole very low dose to start with and gradually increased it and hay pressto I sti!l sometimes have trouble getting to sleep but not as bad as before and once asleep I sleep like a baby and feel refreshed in the morning which helps me cope in the day

[Hidden]

Can you find something on here to try? This is my list. My general experience («general» as in «works some of the time») is in parentheses.

-knee high compression stockings (the tightness these provide help calm my movements)

-hand-held heated massager (works well in calming my legs)

-I have a jet spray option on my shower head that I put right up to every inch of my legs (works well and feels really good)

-rubber massage ball with rubber spikes (does great at soothing knots)

-Lidocaine Plus pain relieving liquid. This is a roll-on designed to desensitize the nerves ( works quite well)

-«Relaxing Leg Cream» by Magnilife. This can be bought at Walgreens (if in States) or on Amazon. (Gives a soothing feeling when massaged in. I have to generously apply this if I am to feel my legs calm down)

-Magnesium Oil. (This does wonders for pain and has the added benefit of calming the legs)

-Soaking in warm water ( I swear I can feel the blood start to flow again!)

-3 exercises in particular found halfway down this site:

healthline.com/health/restl...

(I love these!)

-type «Rife Frequencies RLS» into Youtube, put your earphones on, and enjoy (or try). These are like binaural beats, so they aren’t the prettiest sounds, but I swear I have some success with my legs calming down! There is a science behind Rife Frequencies that says that different bodily afflictions respond to different music frequencies. This is why you need to find the RLS-specific ones.

For calming the nerves I use Dr. Hauschka’s Moor Lavender Soothing Body Oil. When I find myself getting extra stressed and irritated due to being tired I rub some on my neck and behind my ears. It works really quickly! I do the same thing with Rosemay Oil to help wake me up inside.

Hope this helps!

Take care,

[robert1957]

Please research magnesium

deficiency and symptoms of magnesium deficiency good luck