I have read many posts about RLS and everyone seem to mention pain but all I have is a very uncomfortable tingling sensation in my lower legs to my toes. I get this now and again which makes me think their my be triggers which I haven’t looked into but what I’d like to know is ... is this Restless Leg Syndrome?
When I do have it I have to move my legs and when I get it at night I have to get up and massage my legs for a while which most of the time does help. Can be extremely uncomfortable. Does anyone else have these symptoms???
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_EndoWarrior_
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For sure alcohol can trigger mine. I love a glass of wine at night (or 2) but if I'm with friends & end up drinking more, I will have RLS that night ! Keeps me from sleeping. All I can do is either walk around, or sometimes I find if I eat a piece of banana w a little milk, this seems to help.
Quite possible. Having to move to get relief is a strong indicator.
Does anyone in your family have the same? And how old are you? If you have inherited the condition (over 60% of us do), then the symptoms can start quite early in life.
Do you find the symptoms are worse at night when you lie down?
Asked my mother and she said that she had it but then stopped. So I obviously inherited it from her then. I’m 43 and have had this since my 20s I think.
I think worse at night which is when I need to massage my legs abs feet. I get so worked up when it I get it though. Luckily I don’t have it that often. I am on Rivaroxaban (anticoagulant) and I’m sure I’m getting it more frequently too.
I had about what you describe for at least three years before severe RLS hit me-really, all of a sudden! For me, the mild RLS was triggered by coffee in mid-to-late afternoon coffee/caffeine.
I now have no more than two 1/2 decaf cups of coffee before noon.
I found a great deal of good information at rlcure.com to help alleviate the severe RLS. After two weeks on that protocol, I am taking the lowest dose (100 mg) of gabapentin and am going to try to go off it completely in two weeks. If I have to quit coffee, so be it.
My Dr has me on 300mg of Gabapentin and also I take 1/2 of a .25mg of Pramipexole. I take them at dinner time. They seem to work well for me. What are the side affects some of you are talking about caused from these 2 meds ? I do have some dizziness at times during the day. Could this be caused by them ?
I've read enough to know I don't want to be on any of these drugs as eventually they may not work and you must switch to a stronger one so 'the cure is worse than the dis-ease' as one doctor said. Look up the possibility of changing diet (no sugar, caffiene if it affects and other remedies) on rlcure.com . I did am just taking the 100 mg gabapentin at night and little or no rls since I modified my diet. Here's a utube on gabapentin 300 mg: bing.com/videos/search?q=ga...
Sounds like rls to me. I don't get pain but i get the feelings you mention. If you are thinking of going to your gp for help please read up about augmentation on this site. Some tablets give relief at first. But in the long term cause more problems than they solve. Namely pramipexole and ropinerole.
In my case it is best described as an overactive reflex....as in when tested by doctor by taping below kneecap...starts up about every 10 seconds continually....very bad infliction...hard leg stretches work sometimes ...if not I take quinine in the form of Indian tonic water by Schweppes..works every time for me...everyone is different.
I struggled when I first started seeking help for RL seeing it as 'pain' because to me 'pain' was what you feel if you hit your thumb with a hammer. Until the neurologist said to me 'is it a nice sensation' and I said no, he said do I want to keep experiencing this 'feeling' and of course I said no. he went into a long explanation about 'pain' being a very difficult thing to describe and we all feel 'pain' differently but from what I describe to him, it sounds like 'pain' to him! Not the 'hitting thumb with hammer pain' but definitely pain nonetheless.
I just wanted to address that aspect of your question. The rest has been very adequately answered by the other people. Good luck with your exploration of symptoms and diagnosis. I certainly agree about diet being a big factor for some people and would warn you about going on dopamine agonists if your doctor a) says you have RL and b) wants to give you a drug to help. Read the relevant posts about this class of drug and you'll realise that it's not a good one to start. You're very lucky finding this forum before you start your journey with RL - if that's what it is; as most of us got here after all kinds of suffering due to inappropriate medications being prescribed and increased by doctors who don't really have a full understanding of RL and the drugs to treat it. Be aware that the majority of doctors don't so you will need to understand it well (or as well as any of us do) to avoid your doctor leading you up the garden path. Good luck.
I'm not a doctor, but to me, if someone describes "pain", it's not RLS, it's some other condition. RLS is not "painful", in some way's it's worse - I'd accept mild pain as an alternative for RLS anytime! I can sleep with mild pain (in fact, I do) but not RLS, which to me means extreme discomfort and a need to move vigorously in order to "overwhelm" or "eclipse" that discomfort.
Pain can be another condition, BUT pain can be had with RLS, i have pain with my RLS and its not another condition, its part of my RLS, Its not like a pain you get if you have stomach ache or you have hurt yourself. Its a deep ache in my legs, which can be extremely painful. I used to get the creep crawly wiggling feelings in my legs, but it changed a few years ago to this pain i now get and pain going with RLS is now accepted for some people. And yes i DO get the urge to move my legs to try to get relief. I spend many a night pacing.
Yes, the same with me. No pain, only discomfort. Only instead of massage I stand on a vibro plate machine for 3 minutes. Works great for me.
A bit of a belated response from me, but yes, it very much sounds like RLS. The comments about pain are a bit of a distraction, because, as you said, you don't have any.
You DO have the very classic symptoms, the uncomfortable sensation, the urge to move and the relief you get from moving. It also sounds as if you get it at night. If you've visited the diagnostic checker already you'll see that you have all the symptoms.
Your next step is to decide what to do about it.
I suggest you complete the Restless Legs Severity Scale. I'll try to get the link for you.
If you score moderately low on it, then you might want to start trying non-pharmacological remedies. If quite severe then you might want to see a doctor for a medicine prescription. As others say, you'd best explore the ins and outs of that before committing to any medication.
This is a useful site for information about treatment
The RL I have has no pain it just give me a need to move my legs. I have tried every brand of soap and it has stopped working. I can find no cause, no different food or anything I do helps or makes the RL worse or better.
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