Restless legs

[Ravinder84]

I have got restless legs. Any advice on how to control this?

[gypsy49]

near on impossible well to me anyway but everyones different and different meds work for different people i hope you find yours someone will be about to offer some help im sure ,

[Madlegs1]

As answered below.

I suggest you spend some time reading through the last few weeks posts here, to get a flavour of different remedies that people try.

Two other useful sites are

rls-uk.org

and

rlshelp.org

The second has a comprehensive list of medications and hundreds of pages of Q nA. Just look at the last twenty or so. Some of the earlier ones are out of date.

Good luck in your quest.

[Parminter]

Start reading everything you can find. Be prepared to spend time on it.

Is it familial (did a parent have it) or has it followed on from kidney problems or pregnancy or surgery?

How old are you? If it is familial and you are still quite young then strong and long stretches of the calf-muscles and thighs before bed might do it.

If it is familial it will probably start to interfere with your quality of life some time in the future - then medication will be needed. But try to go the natural way first.

Because of general medical ignorance this is often a DIY disease - accept that early on.

If you see a doctor he will very likely advise pramipexole or some other dopamine agonist - insist on seeing a full list of side-effects before you agree. It is magic, but dangerous magic.

And insist upon a ferritin test. This disease is closely associated with a lack of iron in the parts of the brain that govern dopamine. If ferritin levels are below 75 or 100, you may need more iron. But as iron can be problematic, this must be overseen by a doctor and testing.

RLS/WED is not a condition of the legs, it is a neurological condition with roots in the brain.

[Hidden]

Hi, I'm not clear if you think you have RLS or you have been diagnosed by a doctor. I'm also not clear how severe it is.

If it's been diagnosed by a doctor they should have first made sure it's not something else. If it's severe then, in the UK, you would probably have been referred to a neurologist for diagnosis.

Whichever health professional diagnosed it should have suggested treatment of other measures.

Unfortunately, even specialist neurologists aren't particularly helpful when it comes to RLS so it is largely as Parminter says, Do It Yourself.

If it's mild then you will be able to find various non-pharmaceutical remedies. If possible you should avoid starting on medicines as long as you can.

Because.

Unfortunately, although it varies from person to person, there is no long term medical treatment for RLS that is entirely effective for any length of time or without side effects.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't use medicines at all of it's really necessary, you need to be aware that you may find that taking a particular one ceases to be effective after a while.

For example, in the UK, the first choice of medicine is a Dopamine Agonist. When you first take this, it's wonderful, it works straight away, complete relief. For many however after a while it may even start to make things worse. This is fine as long as you know. While it works, it works. Just not forever.

So just to reinforce what Parminter says, do some research on this site and don't start any medication without being aware of it's side effects and consequences.

[davidofqwerty]

I was diagnosed with RLS when I was 20. And I've had the extreme version of it which was also in my arms and neck. I'm now 40 and do not suffer from it any more because of a tablet called subutex which is used for heroin withdrawal in addicts. I started taking them 3 years ago and am currently taking 16mg per day. Within 35 minutes of taking it for the first time the RLS completely disappeared. I stopped taking them after 18 months and within 48hrs of stopping them the RLS returned with vengence, so 2 days later i started taking them again and again within 35 mins it completely stopped again and I'm still taking them today. I honestly believe the subutex saved my life.

[Wendy1]

Try taking Magnesium Citrate and Iron Bisglycinate which has helped me.

Good luck!