Torture

[Elocinliart]

Restless legs. Restless arms. itchy joints. Bottle of wine. Sleeping pills. Still no relief. Night 4 with no sleep. Someone come kill me by ripping me limbs off one by one, right at the joint.. What an exquisitely satisfying, orgasmic way to die:

[Hidden]

Sorry this is happening.

To be bluntly honest if you have RLS and drink alcohol it will make it worse.

If you then mix that with sleeping pills it won't help the RLS, but it is dangerous.

Sleeping pills on their own won't really help your RLS.

Are you taking any RLS medication? If yes, what is it? Depending on what it is, it may be contributing to your problem. If no, then you will need to consider seeking medical help.

[Elocinliart in reply to Hidden]

I’m desperate. I can’t get my doctor to prescribe RLS meds. I’m in pain. My joints hurt so bad from popping them over and over. I just want sleep.

[Hidden in reply to Elocinliart]

I can't understand why your doctor is refusing to prescribe RLS meds.. Did they give a reason for this?

If you have a RLS diagnosis confirmed then it is their duty to prescribe something. If they're not willing they should refer you to a neurologist or sleep clinic.

Sleeping pills are inappropriate for RLS if they prescribed these.

It may be they mistakenly believe that sleeping pills can help severe RLS, when they can't.

In addition I'm not sure what you mean by "sleeping pills". This could mean a whole variety of meds, some of which actually make RLS worse. It is not uncommon for doctiors to prescribe meds for RLS that actually make it worse.

To check this, you need to actually state the name of the pills, what are they called?

Assuming you live in the USA, (since you refer to "meds"), the recommended first line meds for RLS are

First - an alpha 2 delta ligand i.e either gabapentin (Neurontin), gabapentin enacarbil (Horizant) or pregabalin (Lyrica). - Horizant is only available in the US,

Second - if the above fail to work, then a dopamine agonist, either pramipexole, ropinirole or rotigotine

Some RLS experts recommend an opiate, at least in preference to a dopamine agonist.

If your doctor refuses to do anything, then I suggest you change doctors.

There are, in the meantime, lots of things you can do to self help. Here's a link to an overview which suggests some fo these things. If you read other posts in this forum, then you will see other useful suggestions.

uptodate.com/contents/treat...

The main thing you can do for RLS is to avoid the following, all of which can either make RLS worse, or actually cause it.

- tricyclic or SSRI antidperessants

- proton pump inhibitor antacids (anything ending in "prazole")

- H2 inhibitor antacids ( e.g. ranitidine)

- Anti- nausea meds (e,g, metoclopramide, domperidone,)

- Beta blockers

- Some statins

- Alcohol

- refined sugar

[Hidden]

Hello! I'm so sorry to hear of your situation! No amount of advice from others can appease us when we're in pain (physical and emotional,) so I won't dare downplay your hurt by saying that I know what you're going through. I do wish to share this with you, though. This is my attempt at helping:

I went through a 7-month augmentation back in 2015-2016. It was Hell on Earth and I fell into deep despair of things getting any better. Ending my life was looking awfully good.

One doctor in particular (my psychiatrist) was making it worse by focusing on the psychological. He seemed to be infiltrating my whole medical team because I got psychological advice from my GP, neurologist, therapist and PT as well (not as much, but still more than I could handle (none) ). I was in immense pain and I couldn't believe my team was treating me such!! I got so fed up that I wrote my situation down (including how I was being made to feel) and shared it with my team. I don't remember how everyone reacted at the time, but I do remember getting apologies from almost everyone. Things started changing soon afterwards. I stopped seeing my PT (my psychiatrist had referred me to her as his way of helping but, since I was hurting and she could see that, we decided to end my sessions,) I ended treatment with my psychiatrist, and I started feeling more involved in my own treatment with my remaining team members. I am doing well at the moment, which I have no doubt in my mind is due in part to having control.

In short, my recommendation would be to write down everything you are going through (and how it makes you feel) and give it to your doctor to read silently in front of you. Since foctors can be stubborn this might not work, but what do you have to lose?

All the best,

Jessica

[Eryl]

By drinking a bottle of wine you possibly prolonged the agony. Many people have found that sugar and other refined carbs trigger their rls. This is because these foods increase bodily inflammation which increases the sensitivity of the nerves and increases pressure on them.

[Hidden]

Dear Elocinliart, your misery sounds almost unbearable and I know because I have been there. This will be short, two things: throw away the bottle of wine and any other alcohol ( it helps for a couple of hours but then is the recipe for a night from hell), eat yogurt and take a probiotic every day. Try this for a week and let me know the results. Best wishes.

[Stdorn]

For me alcohol makes my RLS go insane the second it starts wearing off. I also found the sleeping pill melatonin makes it Go berserk.

[Hidden]

Manerva is right, alcohol will only make things worse and its not a good drug to mix with others.

Some 'sleeping pills' are big doses of antihistamines that sedate... and make RLS much, much worse. Ordinary sleeping pills like Zopiclone/Zimovane don't treat RLS but make you tired with RLS - too tired to keep moving and keep the RLS at bay so are often counter productive,

Non drug methods at keeping it at bay include hot showers/baths and stretching.

If you can safely access them, Kratom and cannabis are useful for treating RLS, kratom is particularly good

[Hidden]

No! It's a myth that alcohol helps good sleep. It doesn't. It may initially put you to sleep but later it causes sleep problems. It particularly reduces REM sleep. Basically if anyone has problems sleeping they shouldn't drink alcohol.

In addition the alcohol can alter brain chemistry and makes RLS symptoms worse.

[Eryl in reply to Hidden]

Yes, if rarely consumed, wine will help you sleep, but in the long term it has the opposite effect unless you take increasing quantities, and that will soon drive you to insanity if not alcoholism, and seriously damage your cardiovascular system as well as your nerves.

[Hidden in reply to Eryl]

Hi. Eryl, even if rarely cosumed alcohol will affect sleep immediately.

It promotes an initial deep sleep, but thereafter it reduces REM sleep and can cause early waking. This is the same night you drink any no matter how much you normally drink.

Because it initially knocks you out, it's become a common belief that it's good for sleep. This is never the case. It's a myth.

It's similar to the myth that drinking alcohol is a good idea if you're cold. This arose because alcohol dilates peripheral blood vessels in the skin, most obviously in the face and hence people feel a warm glow.

In reality, as blood vessels dilate you lose even more heat and can go into hypothermia.

A third myth is that if someone is suffering shock, a drop of akcohol is good. Again as it dilates blood vessels, it can cause a drop in blood pressure, thus making shock worse.

If someone is cold, in shock or can't sleep, alcohol isn't advisable.

The !ong term effects of alcohol abuse are mainly due to liver damage, this in turn causes portal vein hypertension, oesophageal varices and intestinal malabsorption, particularly B vitamins.

This can lead to jaundice, ascites and neuropathy. If oesophageal varices should rupture, it happens suddenly and is usually fatal within minutes as I have witnessed.

Alcohol should really never be used to relieve symptoms such as anxiety, because if by chance it does work, (temporarily) it can lead to dependence and abuse.