My boyfriend was suffering with RLS for a while and about a week ago, he had little to no sleep for 3 days. I researched online, and reach to this forum. I was scared of Requip possible side effect and alot of posting about people want to/did come off of it. I was hesitant to recommend him to try, but I was more worried about him lose his mind over this no sleep in top of house lock down.
Long story short, he started generic Requip 0.25 mg few hours before bedtime, AND Feosol, and Mg citrate. I am not sure why but I saw few people specified as Mg Citrate so I got it for him. Take as recommended OTC dosage on package.
First night seemed not worked, but 2nd night, wow he said he slept so good...
since then, we do not know which med is actually doing the trick, but keeping those 3 combos about a week now. He is sleeping fairly ok with no RLS unless those night he forget to take them.
For those who posted all their experiences, I thank you all for your information and would hope someone’s experience will help others !
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Yamama
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Glad to hear your boyfriend's getting better sleep now.
The trouble with changing 3 things at the same time is that you don't know which is working.
It's most likely the Requip that's helping him. Dopamine Agonists like Requip are known to be, more or less, immediately effective.
The iron and the magnesium, on the other hand, may work. However, they won't work immediately. They're not medicines. The iron for example, may take weeks, or months to work and may not work at all for some people.
It would be a good idea to keep taking the two minerals, particularly the iron. A good way to see if the iron is making any difference is for your boyfriend to have a blood test for "ferritin".
Certainly, if his ferritin level is below 100ug/L, it's worth continuing with the iron.
I hope he has been made aware of the consequences of taking a dopamine agonist and how to avoid them, doctors often forget to do this.
Mag Citrate is a liquid in my country and used to clean you out before a colonoscopy. Drink hald a small bottle of that stuff and within 24 hours you'll be running to the toilet.
Based on years of experience I think magnesium in any form in completely useless for RLS. But as noted, it's a great laxative, even in capsule form. Best to use orally in capsule form is mag glycinate. They say the body absorbs it better. But it's very expensive.
I also think any kind of iron supplement is useless for RLS, again, based on experience. But I do agree with Manerva in saying that your BF should have his "ferritin" checked. Most doctors know what level is best for RLS sufferers. Good luck.
Iron COMPLETELY eliminated my severe RLS - literally in a week. My original Ferritin level was 49 and I raised it to 105 in 3 months (with Ferrous Bisglycinate Chelate, also called gentle iron). Brain Iron Deficiency is a leading cause of RLS. Translating increased serum iron with increases in Brain Iron is a crap shoot. Many people have very high serum Ferritin with raging RLS. At any rate I would get an full iron panel test because excess iron can have problems also. More on iron and RLS here... hopkinsmedicine.org/neurolo...
Wow, that's great! My Ferritin level runs between 375-396. I haven't found anything to help my RLS. Narcotics come close but are so short lived that I'm not able to sleep longer than an hour at a time each night.
There is a connection between iron and RLS, which you can see from the pinned posts in this forum. I have read that there is evidence that Brain Iron Deficiency is a factor in RLS. There is also evidence that raising ferritin levels, (hence stored iron levels) to at least 100ug/L will relieve symptoms for 50% of RLS sufferers. In addition there are RLS experts who recommend it should be raised to at 300 or 400ug/L.
Based on that, it's worth anyone with RLS and a ferritin level less than 100ug/L trying to raise it.
50% may be disappointed and I'm sorry you appear to be one of them.
Unfortunately, according to what most members of this forum find, most doctors do not know what level is best. Anything above 12ug/L is considered "normal" and a lot of doctors only consider a level below 50ug/L as a problem for RLS sufferers.
Most American doctors like to keep blood levels of anything in the lower range. My doctor wants me to have therapeutic phelbotomies done to lower my iron level(s) and decrease red cells. My hematocrit runs between 55 and 52 and of course that results in high hemoglobin. Also, I have one of the two genes for hemochromatosis (high serum iron content). My brother has both genes and he absolutely must bled out periodically in order to keep his iron low. High iron content is dangerous and causes so many other problems. This this be the reason why docs don't want people on iron supplements unless they are anemic. Here's a little blurb from the Mayo Clinic about iron: "Too much iron in the body.
Iron overload is usually caused by an inherited condition called hemochromatosis. Excess iron can poison organs, which can lead to conditions such as cancer, irregular heartbeat, and cirrhosis of the liver. Symptoms are related to conditions that arise from iron overload such as diabetes, darkening of the skin, abnormal heart rhythm, or arthritis. Iron can be dropped to safe levels by regularly removing blood from the body."
I think we need to be careful about pushing people to in turn push their doctors to get them on iron supplements. In this country you can just go buy them over the counter. It's just too dangerous as noted in scholarly medical articles.
You are quite right, someone with haemochromocytosis can get too much iron in the blood. Iron supplements in that case are not advisable.
However, haemochromocytosis is due to the failure of the normal mechanism that regulates the absorption of iron. It's an abnormal condition.
Peop!e who don't have the condition cannot get too much iron by taking an oral supplement. If they have enough iron in the blood, the regulatory mechanism, hepcidin, prevents any more being absorbed.
Saying someone who does NOT have haemochromocytosis should not take an oral iron supplement because your doctor says YOU shouldn't is liking someone who has diabetes saying everyone should take insulin.
This is a misunderstanding. In addition, it' s brain iron that needs to be increased for someone with RLS NOT blood iron.
Conclusion it is NOT dangerous for people who have no blood disorder to take iron. For someone with RLS, it is recommended. Perhaps youneed to read the information about this which is available in this forum.
Happy to hear he has found relief. Magnesium citrate works immediately for me to eliminate or reduce my RLS symptoms. I have wrote about it many times on this forum. I use it “as needed”... meaning I only take the magnesium citrate after I have gone to bed and am experiencing RLS. With rare exception, the RLS will subside within 5 minutes of me taking the magnesium citrate with about 4 oz of water. It has truly changed my life.
Are you truly speaking of magnesium citrate, the liquid laxative? That's what it's used and sold for here in the U.S. It comes in liquid form. I keep two bottles just in case I get clogged up. If I were to take the entire 290 ml bottle at or after dinner I would be up all night running to the toilet. Hence, I'd probably have no idea whether it was helping with my RLS as I'd be way too busy trying to avoid a mess.
I have used magnesium in every form I can find it including in creams/lotions and spray on oils. It does absolute nothing for my RLS, even when I use them all, every day, for months on end. But as noted, I never have a problem with constipation.
Mg citrate, first that all (liquid)what I know, til I found at walgreen in capsule form. In their brand line, green bottle. Not Nature made, not Nature Bounty. Green bottle.
Yes, it is magnesium citrate. According to the label it is “a highly absorbable blend of citric acid and magnesium carbonate”. The product I use, Natural Calm, suggests a serving size of two teaspoons that provides 325 mg of magnesium. I find one teaspoon of the powder mixed in approx 4 oz of water is all I need to alleviate my RLS. There has been occasions (perhaps 10% of the time) I didn’t get relief after taking. I’m not sure what the variable is. The other 90% of the time the RLS will be gone almost immediately. After taking, I will still feel a slight tingling feeling in my legs but it isn’t the typical RLS. It isn’t annoying and I have no urge to move. I welcome the feeling; it is a sign my RLS has been successfully stopped. Prior to taking my legs will jerk involuntarily if I don’t move them purposefully to relieve the RLS crawling sensation that builds in intensity until movement occurs.
Well that's very interesting. I didn't know it could be found in powder form. My 296 ml bottle of liquid is 1.745 g of mag citrate. I'm going to do the math and figure out how many ml equals 325 mg and then give it a try.
I have used oral mag glycinate up to 2,400 mg without help. At that point I get diarrhea. So I ought to be able to avoid running off to the toilet with only 25% of the bottle (approx). Thanks for the additional info.
Good to see a response has been achieved. Iron supplements.... is good for people who have iron deficiency, which you can find out through your GP via blood tests. If iron deficiency is corrected, the original symptoms of RLS may resolve.... so it’s to your benefit to try to aim for this... this avoiding medications in the long term...
Hi, you're right, but "iron deficiency" shouldn't be confused with "brain iron deficiency". "iron deficiency is a general term, but is usually interpreted as meaning iron deficiency anaemia, i.e. a lack of iron in red blood cells. It's true that in cases of iron deficiency anaemia, secondary RLS can occur and correcting the anaemia may correct the RLS.
However, brain iron deficiency, (as found in idiopathic RLS) can exist even in the absence of iron deficiency anaemia and because of this, it is a person's ferritin level that is significant, not their haemaglobin level.
Furthermore whereas for someone who does NOT have idiopathic RLS, a ferritin level of less than 100ug/L can present no problem as long as they don't have iron deficiency anaemia, for someone with RLS a ferritin level below 100ug/L can cause a problem even if they do NOT have anaemia.
This is one of the differences between idiopathic RLS and secondary RLS.
Additionally, it is easier to correct iron deficiency anaemia than it is to raise the ferritin level, this is because the absorption of iron taken orally is regulated not by blood iron levels, not brain iron levels
My boyfriend had Dr appt, so he asked Dr if Trazodone was making RLS worse before he stopped taking it. (It was so bad, did not know what was causing it, so he stopped taking it before he started requip. ) Going back story, even though without any meds, he was getting no sleep for 3 to 4 nights thats when he decided to call dr for help to get Requip.
After started Requip/FeSo4/Mg citrate combo, RLS drastically reduced, but he does wake up around 3 am and about an hour He cannot go back to sleep. He wanted to have straight sleep Night instead of waking up every night for an hour to hour and half.
At appt, he was told by his Dr, Trazodone would not cause that, and may be it is EPS instead of RLS. And rather Trazodone was used to help RLS before so Dr did not believe Trazodone cause RLS.
Just to experiment, (he wanted to know if requip is really helping, and Trazodone was making RLS or EPS what ever it is.. worse) Last night he purposely took Trazodone only trying to get sleep
About 10 minutes into bed, it was 5 out of 10 bad already, he went ahead and took Requip/FeSo4/Mg citrate.
1 hr into bed, he was still having hard time, moving around, hitting leg, kicking...
I left after that hoping he got some sleep.
I think Trazodone does make it RLS or may be EPS (some EPS are described as urge to move...i saw. )
Trazodone is unlikely to relieve RLS symptoms, although it can help someone sleep, if they don't have RLS. Additionally, unlike other antidepressants, it's reputed to be RLS safe, i.e. doesn't make RLS worse.
It's still most likely that of all that your boyfriend's taking, if anything is working, it's the Requip. Also, if it does work for his symptoms, then it's likely that it is RLS he has.
I don't know what EPS is!
If you're not sure whether he actually has RLS or not, then you can check by comparing his symptoms to the RLS diagnostic criteria. If there's a 100% match, then there's a high probability he has RLS. If there's not a 100% match, then he probably doesn't.
The problem he's having with sleep is a little more complex. RLS symptoms can prevent someone falling asleep, but also even without symptoms, RLS can cause early waking. Additionally, dopamine agonists, like Requip can cause early waking.
I would say that the dose of Requip he's taking is quite small. That's good if it's working, but it may not affect his sleep, one way or the other.
Insomnia can also be caused by other factors.
I'm afraid that although dopamine agonists (e.g. Requip) can be quickly effective for RLS, as I wrote previously, they are going out of favour. Nothing to worry about in the short term, but anyone being prescribed one needs to be made aware of the longer term risks, i.e. loss of efficacy and augmentation.
There is now more support for prescribing an alpha 2 delta ligand for RLS. These can help promote sleep and relieve anxiety as well as treating RLS without causing augmentation. They aren't however as iimmediately effective.
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