This started out as a response to Manerva regarding the person who is taking gabapentin and this whole vitamin regimen and wearing compression socks (sleeves he calls them) and my thoughts on it but while it started out that way it’s grown so much deeper and morphed into gut wrenching pain and this is the abbreviated version. I don’t know what you’ll all think but I think I had to get this out and I hope it’s ok. I honestly don’t know what to do about it or even if I can do anything. Writing this, it all comes washing over me all over again. I honestly feel sick right now. What do I do? Shouldn’t I have let it go by now? Is something wrong with me? Can you please give me your thoughts?
Hi Manerva,
I think he thought he had found THE cure and we should just have to tinker with his formula and be fixed (don’t forget to thank him) while meanwhile at best he’s wasting s lot of time and money and worst is likely overdosing on some dangerous vitamins. Some vitamins that are fat soluble should NEVER be messed around with without a doctor’s or pharmacist’s input and lab work undertaken. They aren’t just supplements to be randomly taken but can kill you or make you very ill. Vitamins that are water soluble not quite as dangerous as you’re more likely to pee them out but even megadoses of them should be avoided at all cost. Not too long ago there was a study on megadosing vitamin C and the cardiovascular risks. Any fat soluble vitamin should definitely be used with care and definitely never megadosed. I think the misconception most people harbor is that they are just vitamins or just supplements but these are things that you cannot just willy nilly take in any old way, which is why doctors want you to list every medication and over the counter drug (acetaminophen, etc.), supplements, minerals and vitamins. I don’t know about the UK and others but in the US the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) doesn't regulate them like prescription medications. There are so many hacks out there trying to get your money that cannot be trusted. The only supplements I take are magnesium glycinate (best absorbed of all forms of magnesium and doesn’t cause diarrhea like magnesium citrate (in fact here in the US part of my colonoscopy preparation one time was a bottle of magnesium citrate and some stool softeners and cleaned me right out. Magnesium citrate is not meant to be used as a magnesium supplement) and vitamin D because I’m deficient and they test my levels every six months to make sure I’m in the correct range. I take the supplements that at least carry a UPC seal and come from a reliable source (there’s an organization in the US that’s Consumer Reports that puts supplements, vitamins, and everything from vacuums to microwave ovens through at least a year of testing by their scientists.
Herbal supplements are also very risky because they are not regulated and people’s best rationale for taking them is that “well they’re natural”. Well yeah sure so is cyanide, arsenic, poison mushrooms, and so much more but I’m not about to going making any tinctures of those in a big hurry. Tongue in cheek (somewhat) what I’m saying is you can’t just willy nilly start taking stuff because the internet told you it is safe.
You are so right about compression stockings. Those should be properly measured for and most often prescribed only if needed for circulatory needs unless you want to lose a limb wearing, like you pointed out, the one size fits all. In this particular case, the doctor does know best.
I’m not a person who believes doctors know everything because quite frankly they do not and when they don’t understand a disease like restless legs syndrome they can be more dangerous than not. Case in point my PCP (primarily care physician) new zip, nada, nothing about refractory restless legs syndrome, which I have and my last sleep specialist was one of the early docs to pick up on the need for an opioid, especially after we went through all the usual meds of dopamine agonists, gabapentin, in my case it was neurontin (which I know can be a lifesaver for some but left me feeling suicidal), drugs for epilepsy, drugs for Parkinson’s besides the dopamine agonists, Vicodin and so on until he hit on some research about methadone and finally I had hope again. I took this for over 13 years only at 10 mg until we went through the lovely opioid crisis here in the US and I had been forced out of the clinic I had been seen at for 15 years and told by the practice manager I was noncompliant because I was having some difficulty with social phobia (and had informed them of this and was seeing both my psychiatrist and a cognitive behavioral therapist but see because of the opioid crisis and methadone I was somehow a liability they just wanted to get rid of). They ever so nicely gave me a month of methadone knowing full well I’d never find a neurologist in a months time and when I tried to address this with the practice manager she told me it was my primary care physician’s job to take care of me. What I didn’t realize at the time, but they should of was, they were committing medical abandonment of me. Anyway, sorry to ramble and hijack this thread plus I’ve told my horror story. My doctor basically told me I was “fixated on methadone “ but through this group I found what I thought was my miracle savior who wasn’t afraid of methadone. Another long story short and A LOT of money we couldn’t afford later, thanks to inept care by my PCP and a doctor (who I’m not sure deserves to be called that because she betrayed her Hippocratic Oath of do no harm and almost, and I don’t say this to be dramatic, killed me by abruptly taking me off 8 mg (yes I know unbelievable dose) of ropinerole and putting me up 0.1 mg of clonidine (blood pressure med sometimes also used for addicts) morning and night and get this 25 mg of tramadol one time at bedtime only. That did not go well as you might imagine and she quickly put me back on 8 mg of ropinerole. I stopped the clonidine and tramadol myself after writing an emergency email to Dr. Buchfurher who explained how dangerous clonidine is (which I unfortunately got to experience myself when she had me increase, it even though I was on a blood pressure medication and I told her that several times, my blood pressure became dangerously low (surprise!!!) which I stopped and wrote my email and Dr. B. also said the tramadol used in that manner was absolutely useless. I wrote to her and told her I had emailed Dr. B. and had also written to Dr. Winkleman and I sent her the link to the Mayo Proceedings on the Proper Use of Opioid Therapy in RLS and Dr. Winkleman gave me his phone number if she wanted to talk. She had the audacity to tell me she well knew them both and the proper protocol!!!! Uh yeah, so how’d I end up on 8 mg of ropinerole (1 mg is the highest recommended dose). At this point she said she couldn’t give me methadone due to my sleep apnea (my score said I have minimal 8 AHI and 5 AHI is normal) and my MENTAL DISORDERS! What! I have anxiety and depression (which both run in my family and I’m well treated) and for a very short time a minor social phobia. My PCP turns out called her and told her the neurologist I had never even met had said all through my chart it was discussed I had not refractory restless legs syndrome but a psychosomatic disorder! So now (I don’t even know if this is legal) these two supposed doctors (one who called herself a RLS specialist, hah!) are saying because of the methadone I’m an addict, I’m crazy and I don’t know what else). Thankfully, this crazy witch to not get myself kicked off here thought I should be seen by her colleague a neurologist who specializes in yes restless legs syndrome! All in all I lost a year and a half of my life, took medication that could have killed me, greatly damaged my dopamine receptors, went 5 nights/days with not one minute of sleep, could not lie down, sit down or even stand still because my legs were so bad (Going to the bathroom was torture and my legs literally vibrated with the effort to sit still enough to pee), my husband would get up to find me broken down in tears, I would then have to watch the man I adore and seen cry only once cry, went to urgent care once and the emergency room twice because I wanted to commit suicide (I told them over and over and over again only because my legs and arms were so bad). I was drug tested, told I was an addict even though there was nothing at all in my urine with the methadone long gone), treated inhumanly, told I was crazy. I hadn’t slept so my blood pressure was sky high, I was hallucinating and my husband was scared because I wasn’t talking in a way that made any sense whatsoever. At that time I only had Mirapex to take but it wasn’t making me feel very good but I just gave up and took it because I knew it would work at least for a little bit before I augmented because I already had augmentation on every dopamine agonist I had tried 15 years ago. Finally I got in to see the neurologist who saved my life and a year and a half later I’m on methadone 10 mg once at 6:30 pm before bed. So while I do very strongly say don’t just blindly take vitamins, supplements, herbal remedies, compression socks, etc. I don’t trust all doctors either and think I’m always going to carry these scars that no one can see but are nonetheless very much a part of my experiences. I still don’t know what, or even if I can, to do about these people (I honestly can’t see them as doctors anymore) who betrayed, lied, broke their oath. I tried to complain to what they call here in the US “Patient Relations” but she got mad at ME and didn’t want to hear from me again. She basically told me since this person didn’t chart the phone call she made to my PCP it didn’t happen. My word against the good person..... what do I do with the pain, lies, betrayal, poor care (and that’s putting it at best), patient abandonment, lost life.
I’m really sorry all for high jacking this thread. I thought I was past it but it’s almost like PTSD.
I’m so, so very sorry.
Sus
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No need to apologise so much N-m-a, once is enough. I'm not sure if you will get any advice back from members of this site, but if having a rant, letting off steam etc helps, even for a short time, that's absolutely fine with me. I'm so sorry you've had such a bad and traumatic experience and I wish you all the best for the future.
Thanks YodaDog! Rant kind of helps but kind of leaves me empty too. Like the rant isn’t going where it needs to, if that makes sense. I do have a very hopeful future now with my current doctor. He’s quite awesome and I wish since he’s at the same place I’d found him first. I guess all’s well that ends well. I made it to him and I’m still here to tell my tale.
It is such a shame that this is a continuing theme on here. Seems like doctors could learn but some of them, sad to say, don’t get it and don’t care. I’ve told this story on here before but sometimes it just will rear its ugly head again and I have to get rid of it. Thanks for listening
Sus
Rant away, its allowed and encouraged. So sorry you have had to go through doctors etc who havent listened and just made you feel so bad. I dont know how or if you can bring them to account. But good you now have the right treatment.
I really would like to bring them to account but that’s the thing, I don’t know if that’s even possible. For all the stories out there how horrible it is for doctors getting sued all the time it’s not the reality. It’s pretty hard really to sue a doctor. I don’t care about money or anything like that but I think some kind of probation and education would be good. I’d really like an apology specifically from the doctor who started the whole lie and I know it’s a lie because I have all my records plus the guy there that was my doctor was not one to mince words. If he thought I had a psychosomatic problem he never would have prescribed methadone and he would have said so to my face. He was very blunt and to the point and not in a bad way to deliberately hurt you but just being honest.
Anyway, I’m very grateful for the doctor I do have now. It’s just hard to know these doctors lied and got away with it plus greatly endangered my life and kept me from proper treatment. I’m trying to let it go......
I now remember reading your story before on here, but thats ok, not everyone will have. You have been given some good advise from some members as usual. If you can find a way with help to "let it go" I really wish you all the good luck i can send you that you can find a way to get some peace from your awful experience, so that when it does rear up again in your head, it doesnt affect you so much. x
Hi Sus,
I hope you found the rant cathartic and found some relief from writing it. I could sense the depth of your feeling from your words and the way you wrote.
You are listened to here.
If you want to gain some kind of justice for what happened to you, I'm not sure what help's available in the US. I hear that there is a growing number of "patient advocates". There are a few things here in the UK which I'm aware of, and have used. They're not always satisfactory though.
Perhaps however, it might be better just to let it go, if you can. You may hopefully, have learned a few things from your experience and hence may be able to avoid any repetition.
Thanks so much Manerva! I’ve found everyone here to be so incredible even when we’re all going through our own challenges. I keep thinking I have let it go, you know and then it just pops up out of nowhere. What really troubles me is that the one doctor out and out lied, knew she was lying, deliberately didn’t document so it would be my word against hers and just gets away with it with no consequences. I’m not a vindictive person and I think an apology would go a long way to helping but I won’t even get that. It helps to rant but, I don’t know if this makes sense, it’s always there with no way to lay it to rest. No resolution will ever come. There’s got to be a way for me to let it go...... I don’t know. I want to be the better person. I know I am the better person so why does it haunt me? I have a truly awesome doctor now who actually trained with Dr. Buchfurher and I’m so grateful. While I was going through hell I didn’t think I’d ever get through to the other side but I did and for that right there I can never thank him enough for seeing the real me behind the lies. Anyway, thank you Manerva, your a shining light through the darkness. I’m glad to have met you and everyone else here. I’m glad I’ve been able to now help others. I just need to figure out what to do with this awful experience that while it’s behind me is still ever present. Why can’t I just move on and let it go? It’s not like she or the other two doctors care....
Dear Sus, like the others I hear you. And I was and continue to be appalled. I also read about how you want to let go and focus on the now and time to come. With such an intolerable experience, that is not an easy task as you well describe. Would it help to get a short course of psychological help? In clinical terms is has been a clean and clearcut trauma. I am not very knowledgeable about all the different treatments available, but I was thinking of EMDR, which may well suit your experience. Worth looking into the psychological approach? To be able to let go and move on. And trauma it was. Definitely.
I have thought about some talk therapy and also of some cognitive behavioral therapy that can help me learn the ways to deal with these feelings in a constructive manner. I’m not giving up 🙂. Never.
I appreciate it's difficult to let go. I have my own traumas that haunt me. I think I've put them to rest and then something happens and then they pop up again.
My experience is that when these things happen, it leaves me feeling as if I'm not worth anything, that I don't count for anything, That decisions are made about me without considering what I'm experiencing. Then I'm angry and I want to make them realise that I am somebody, that everyone is somebody.
I'm lucky that I've managed to get involved in various things which have enabled me to improve things to some extent. I have also on occasion been successful in pursuing some of what I have felt were personal injustices.
However, there are some things that I havent been able deal with. It can leave me feeling, yet again, powerless.
As Lotte says, some psychological therapy may help. Simple "talking therapy" (counselling), has helped me to at least regain a sense of self worth. With some things, it's never going to fully take the sense of injustice but it can help to feel better about yourself.
I'm not sure what EMDR is, that might be suitable, but as I say, talking through it with a skilled "person centred" counsellor is an easily accessible option.
Thank you for your perspective. I’m sorry you’ve been made to feel that way as well. Maybe we should just remember these are just people and maybe not even that good of people but you Manerva you are definitely worthwhile and are a good and beautiful person. You’ve helped many on here. I know me for one. I think these people try to belittle others because they are narcissistic in every sense of the word. No one is as good as they are but that’s just false. You Manerva will always be better than them because you uplift people, not tear them down. Remember
Dear Sus, Like all the others I have read your story with horror. I decided to post a reply to you as I underwent something very similar. I will not bother you with the ins and outs - just to say that two of the GPs in my practice told lies about my treatment. I had been given a drug which made my heart race which was an unusual side effect. Instead of accepting this had happened they "diagnosed" me as having generalised anxiety disorder. I am a very balanced person and certainly did not suffer this. There then followed other instances of verbal abuse. Two doctors told direct lies to back each other up.
My husband and I decided to take it to the patient advocate who thought we had a case for the medical ombudsman. However, we had a meeting with three GPs in the practice and the practice manager. We were not allowed to record the meeting and the practice manager "took minutes". When the minutes materialised it was so different from what was actually said it was unbelievable. Direct lies were told in order to cover the two doctors involved.
At that stage I had had enough and decided not to take it any further. It had taken over my husband and my life. At best even if the outcome had been in my favour the only thing I would have received would have been an apology. I decided that an apology from liars was worth absolutely nothing. I also decided that I was going to leave it all in the past and start living my life with my husband without all the trauma. I moved to another practice and have never looked back. Yes I would have liked to have taken these two dishonest people apart and show them for what they were, but ultimately a return to a calm life to enjoy with my husband was the best way forward.
Even if you got an apology I am sure that you, like me, would not think an apology from dishonest and really cruel people would mean anything. Forget them - they still have to go through the rest of their lives and I believe it will come back to haunt them in good measure.
You are honest and can hold up your head. They are beneath you wasting your thoughts on them.
All good wishes to you and may you find peace as I did.
First, thank you so, so much for the heartfelt message. I cannot begin to tell you how much that truly means to me. I wish I could hug you! It’s so incredibly scary that these kind of doctors are out there at that during your meeting you yourself weren’t allowed to record it but they could release “their” warped version. That breaks my heart. I wonder (not that it matters now as you choose to move on) if a lawyer would have been beneficial during your meeting. I mean they’re obviously going to back up their establishment and having your own representation would have helped protect your own interests. I’m not sure that much would have come out of it either or will for me if I were to choose to pursue this but what does trouble me is these people are violating an oath they took to do no harm and some are doing tremendous harm. I’m sure you and I are not the only ones who this has happened to and it’s just so truly troubling that people’s delicate psychological states (I’m strong enough I’m not letting them determine what happens to me even though my doctor felt she needed to tell me she thinks I’m a good person. Yes, I know that but I can’t say that about her) who are very fragile and something like this can break them mentally, emotionally, etc and those are the people I fear for. You know? Personally I believe these people (not healers) are narcissistic and feel superior to their patients. I’m just not sure what the answer is to that. I do feel I can let it go and move on to a happy life with an excellent doctor and my wonderful husband but my only concern is those who can’t because they lack the strength and maybe even the support as you and I have good support........ Thank you though for this. You’re a beautiful person!
Dear Sus, Sorry for the delay in replying but I have had some health problems in the last month. Glad to say on the mend now.
We did have a patient advocate in to the meeting with us. However, afterwards she said it would be just our word against the practice and would not stand up. I feel the patient advocate was very weak in her responses and the opposing side were well aware of this. Anyhow its all in the past. Like you I tried to take this matter up not just for myself but to try to help others who might not be able to speak up for themselves.
I had my lovely husband at that time and he was so supportive. Unfortunately he died very suddenly in 2017 and I miss him so much. Its like being just half a person now as we shared so much. I am lucky to have had a wonderful marriage of 49 years with great menories.
As you say our cases are not alone and this type of thing is happening all the time and one feels so inadequate to try to deal with it.
Lovely to correspond with you and wishing you all good things for the future
Sus, while the injustices and false charges and actions taken against me did not threaten my life, as what you experienced did, I write to tell you I understand how powerless and helpless you feel when serious wrong has been done to you but there is nothing you can do to get justice--not even on a personal level, not to mention a professional level. The only way I could finally come to terms with what happened to me was to "rethink" my reaction to what happened. I would rethink how I felt about the persons who did the injustice toward me. I would remember that I am flawed, also--have been guilty of some big blunders in my life--but have found forgiveness in Jesus Christ. I have forced myself to pray for my "enemies" because if they won't even apologize to me for what they did--it's too late now for them to do anything except apologize--then I doubt they have asked forgiveness for themselves from God, so where does that leave them? In far worse condition than you currently are in--and in light of eternity, in worse condition than you ever were in. Thank God He brought you through a terrible time, but He still is working on them. Maybe a guilty conscience troubles them, hopefully causing them to "consider their ways." Jesus loves them as much as He loves you. Pray that Jesus' heart isn't broken by their refusal to come to Him for forgiveness for what they did to you. My own feeling of powerlessness has greatly eased since I have rethought my situation in these terms. (Sus, I don't know if you're Christian or not. For those of you reading this who aren't Christian, please accept that some of us are and that we receive comfort from one another with such words. Thank you so much for understanding.)
Thank you and bless you. I don’t practice a particular religion but I have an extremely strong and beautiful relationship with God. I know people who would mock that and say it’s not possible because I don’t attend church but I believe by living the kind of life God would want me to and treating all others regardless of their belief, color, etc, I’m living as he would want me to. I know people who faithfully attend church every weekend only to leave it and live a life very much outside of anything close to being Christian. There’s so much more than saying the words. You have to live them and take them and practice them the very best you can. My Mom doesn’t think much of my faith and once told me I’m going to hell. That’s not for her to say. It doesn’t matter what she thinks or says because I know deep in my soul of my relationship with God. I talk to God everyday. I pray to be the better person. I pray for forgiveness for what I’ve done wrong and to be strong enough not to make the same mistake again but I know I’m not made a perfect person and I will make mistakes, maybe even the same ones, and I will keep asking for that forgiveness. I do need to ask God to help them and to help me forgive them. Many, many times I have thanked God for his support to guide me through some of the horrible things that happened and I thank him for my husband who’s been through this all right by my side. I hope they can be helped and I’m still working on trying to forgive the lies and horrible betrayal. Thank you for reminding me of this. I just needed a little steering back in the right direction. Thank you again for that!
As for Methadone in your post title or topic or Heather or whatever you wish to call it, you refer to methadone addicts buy methadone is not and addicts drug of choice almost ever it's a treatment that allows people who became addicted to opiates painkillers no matter how they got addicted to them. Methadone is used just like an antidepressant it makes life manageable and you can do everything a normal person can and if you have never being addicted to opiates like me when I went through cancer not once but twice in two years and had surgeries and was prescribed Percocet that was opiate addiction and abuse but please don't call methadone treatment an addiction because that is not what it's for or is at all. You need to educate yourself on the topic and I think it was aimed at probably one of my posts because I discussed my methadone withdrawal as an issue that caused my r l s and I try to tell people what works for me and the reason you're only getting one or two answers parroted back to you is because there are only one or two things that Do anything to help with the r l s. As for Trazodone I'm not a hundred percent sure here because I'm going off memory but I believe when I was on it the full print out you can get from your Pharmacy states that it can cos r l s as a side effect and it is not a great sleep medication anyway because it makes you drowsy and you feel groggy and weird the next day most people say and I felt myself. If you need sleep medication the best you can get is benzodiazepines and the long-acting ones are also great for anxiety and I know Valium and clonazepam which is Klonopin in the United States are the longest acting and they can last for up to three days in some people as they have the longest half life meaning they do not Peak and start reaching the halfway point where they start to come out of you and lose effectiveness at 50% all total dosage initially taken. I tell people and I haven't seen other people say they've tried it but a TENS machine is a miracle worker and also has a second bonus because it is not a medication so you will not get the side effects of anything from it and you will not suffer withdrawal or odd feelings like nervousness which trazodone can also cause. A lot of doctors don't like to prescribe benzodiazepines as they are addictive and they also state that the effectiveness is only maybe for two weeks and doctors books state only in rare cases should somebody be kept on a benzodiazepine as a long-term treatment for anxiety and sleep but I got lucky and my doctor understands that they do work for longer than 2 weeks and I've been on them for severe anxiety and panic attacks and social situation anxieties and things like that meaning one other reason I take it long-term is because I have bad Tremors constantly and that's why I have to voice text and that causes typos sometimes but I'm not steady enough to type on my phone. If you have any questions please ask and be direct with what you're asking and I won't give you BS only the stuff I know and I will tell you if it's fact or if it's just something I found out all my own. Please don't call methadone and addicts drug of choice because addicts do not like using methadone as it is a 24-hour opiate and it prevents you from getting high while it's in you so if you're an addict it will mess up your Buzz causing you to need double or triple the dose of pills that cost 20 to $30 on the street each here in Canada because we do not come across real heroine often and injecting Dilaudid is more potent than heroin anyway. Methadone is even more potent than heroin or Dilaudid if it's injected sniffed or eaten add a High Enough dosage. Methadone is the last thing an opiate addict would want in their system because they cannot get high until it comes out. Unless they wish to spend a lot of money for the high needed to override the methadone dosage. Once you have being on methadone for about a month you do not get any Buzz or high from it you just have your opiate receptors in the brain plugged or filled with opiate and then. Is what prevents you from using or needing to keep injecting your dope every 4 hours so you don't get sick. If you have never being on methadone or tried quitting an opiate after years of abuse you would see yourself that it's damn near impossible to do anything other than lay in bed in agony with r l s constantly. I tried to get off it but have being on it for 25 years now and my dosage of 320 mg daily which is insane for even the heaviest heroin user I have destroyed my brain and need to be on it for life because when I stop I can't live life I just planned suicide and wish for death and puke and can't eat and go through hot and cold chills and sweats and severe anxiety and everything else, it's unbelievable to anybody unless they experience it and they will see why methadone is an option for people to live life normally. The tens if you haven't heard of it is like the doctor ho's commercial and it's a device which you put sticky patches on your muscles and the electronic Pockets you plug it into with wires running to the patches cause your muscles to tense and relax tense and relax tense and relax constantly and you can adjust the strength and speed these pulses of electricity which cause your muscles to contract and relax and that is what helps me or I should say helped me when I was trying to get off methadone and was suffering severe r l s and was out of my mind and had my Suicide planned and even everything I needed all in one spot hidden in the house. Are LS is not a joke and I tried Gabapentin and Lyrica and Valium and looked into dopamine inhibitors but none of them worked. And the dopamine inhibitors I was told are not for this type of thing and they are rarely prescribed here where I live because once you stop them the r l s will return and you will need to be on it for life just like methadone. So as you called people out for doing the same thing and giving you the same answers and you did it by passive aggressively acting like you were just stating it was a problem I am giving you positive answers and told you why you only get one or two answers parroted back to you by everyone because there are only one or two things that really work. I think that was kind of the wrong way to go about what your post was and I believe you should have stuck to the r l s topic and left out methadone addicts and the people only telling you the same thing over and over when you did not consider maybe there is only two things that work and you may have offended the people who tried to help you like myself, other than I wasn't offended just found it childish the way you wrote what you were wanting to know but the majority of your post why is passive aggressive shots people and their suggestions. Why is it because their suggestions did not work for you? And why do you believe methadone is methadone addicts or if you're on methadone and you're a methadone addict? I'm curious to know because it's a medication and I wouldn't call you an antidepressant addict if you took pills for depression methadone is a medication used to treat severe sickness and withdrawal also Valium and save lives of heavy drinkers because it's used to help them stop the drinking and avoid the DTs and hallucinations and no sleep and the severe anxiety that goes along with stopping a depressant. Does that mean I'm a benzo addict because I take valium? There are over 25 benzodiazepines and they all lost for different lengths of time and work for different things better than others and some work for things better than the ones they currently maybe on. Xanax and Valium are two drugs that everybody has heard of and automatically assume anybody taking them is doing so to get high and they only do it because they like the feeling but they don't understand it just got a bad name because of media and the way it was marketed but really it's a life-saving drug when compared to barbiturates which were very dangerous and used for these types of disorders before benzodiazepines were discovered. 3 barbiturates could kill someone but taking three valium or three Xanax will not kill anybody unless they are taking it on top of other depressants AKA stacking like taking it while heavily intoxicated with alcohol and using other depressant medications or legal drugs which marijuana is legal here in Canada and it on top of alcohol and barbiturates they all three would act as depressants and can slow your breathing or even you can choke on your own vomit in your sleep and die that way because you do not awaken from all the depressants you've taken. Sorry for my long post but I wanted to address everything you wrote in your post and I swear the tens machine will allow you to fall asleep and most have timers so they will turn off on their own and they will prevent you from having to get up or kick and flail your legs or walk around every minute or two. It sounds funny that a little machine like the tens works better than most medications and has zero side effects. It's true try it and write me back and I bet you will say it's a godsend when trying to fall asleep. Once you're asleep your RLS should not awaken you but I cannot guarantee it because if you are a light sleeper with severe r l s it may awaken you I'm not a doctor or 100% sure but I guarantee it will help you fall asleep and get to sleep.
A machine that helps with RLS the topic in this group if someone does not know of it
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RLS back after a week 
