Rls and exercise.

[Lambretta175]

Is there any relationship between RLS symptons and how much exercise you do.I have been an rls sufferer for 5years and suffer from augmentation but recently retired.I thought because I walked a lot at work the symptons seemed to be worse after a busy day.Now I'm retired,I try to keep active by doing long walks but depending how long I walk seems to aggrivate the symptons on nightimes.Is there any corrolation between them or is it just varying degrees of rls?I recently had a telephonic consultation with a gp (different one to which I was under)she has reduced my Ropinirole from 2mg to 1mg and increased my gabapentin from 100mg to 300mg after I told her my symptons were getting worse and tablets not doing anything.

[Hidden]

The simple answer is some exercise will help with RLS, particularly stretches. Too much exercise however will aggravate it. So the solution is moderation.

Ropinirole and gabapentin in combination can work, but if you're suffering augmentation then the gabapentin wotn' be very effective.

You won't really know if gabapentin is working until you at least reduce the augmentation. Furthermore you still can't be 100% certain the gabapentin is working until you entirely stop ropinirole altogether.

Gabapentin will also not work if you are having ropinirole withdrawal effects.

You must not stop ropinirole cold turkey, this is dangerous. It must be reduced gradually.

Furthermore, reducing and stopping it can cause severe withdrawal effects which can be minmised by reducing the dose gradually and slowly.

If your doctor reduced your ropinirole from 2mg to 1mg, I can only say that your doctor is profoundly ignorant, this reduction is far too much and could cause you harm.

If you have recently reduced from 2mg to 1mg you may find that your RLS symptoms get worse and that you have increased diffculty in sleeping. You may also find yourself becoming anxious and depressed. These are withdrawal symptoms.

In order to minimise withdrawals it is better to reduce the dose in steps of no more than 0.5mg and better still 0.25mg. There should be at least two weeks between each reduction and better still, up to 4 weeks. You may have to cut tablets to get these doses.

Did your doctor not warn you about DAWS (Dopamine Agonist Withdrawal Syndrome)?

If your doctor should dispute the need for slowly reducing ropinirole, bere is some information you can refer them to.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Here is some information about DAWS

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/236...

If you are currently experiencing withdrawal problems, I suggest you put the dose back up to 1.5mg, then reduce it slowly from there.

In additon, quite right that the dose of gabapentin should be increased as the dose of ropinirole is reduced.

If you are suffering aighmentation, it would overall be best to wean off ropinirole entirely SLOWLY over a few months. If gabapebntin is to be effective you may need at least 900mg a day.

Hopefully your doctor has also carried out blood tests for iron deficiency

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

[Lambretta175 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Manerva.Having followed this group for a while I took it upon myself to contact the gp surgery as my symptons were getting worse.The gp I spoke to,I didn't know and I requested a reduction in Ropinirole and increase in Gabapentin from this forum.She sounded unaware about how I should move forward after explaining what was happening.It was my prompting that made her change my dosages.It's obviously the scenario again of gp's not being fully conversant with RLS.Unfortunately she phoned me while driving and in a poor reception area.I am going to increase my Ropinirole to 1.5 as all throuh this rls problem I still have not been told of side effects,augmentation and never even asked about my ferritin levels or suggest test for it.I have never been recommended to see a nuerologist or sleep clinics.I do have to report back after this month to see if there was any change.Once again thank you Manerva for your replies and recommendations.

[Joolsg in reply to Lambretta175]

Ditto everything Manerva has advised. Aerobic exercise is best done early in the day and in moderation. Weight training, particularly leg weights, and squats will help RLS as dopamine is stored in muscle ( which declines as we age). If reducing ropinirole, go as slowly as possible.

[Lambretta175 in reply to Joolsg]

Thank you for reply.

[Crazy_fig in reply to Joolsg]

Hi. Thankyou for your post. I am intrigued on this theory that weight training is more muscle mass may help reduce rls symptoms. Anecdotally I feel this is the case for me so now gyms have reopened will relook at this idea for me. I wondered if you had any research or info re dopamine in muscle? Thanks. Alisa

[Lambretta175 in reply to Crazy_fig]

Only what I read on here.Most info is only found on here as you can relate to other peoples experiences.At the gp's you only know about your personnel struggles and dont hear of anybody elses as examples.Keep reading on here to find out more about rls.

[Ranjits]

Yes dear don’t do any exercise in eve that makes rls worst in night avoid any exercise in eve do it in morning Try to relax in eve

[Bean49]

I recently came off ropinorol in stages ie. every one or two weeks I reduced the ropininorol and added a gabapentin. I had no problem at all with my legs until I came off the ropinorol altogether. I am now on three 300mg gabapentin.

Sometimes I have a trouble free night, sometimes I wake up with my legs twitching. If I rub magnesium spray on this sometimes helps and I can just go back to sleep. When I can't sleep I lie down on the floor downstairs wrapped in a duvet and for some reason I tend to have a good sleep then (floor's always good!). In the evenings I don't tend to have any problem now which is great, although I am a knitter and that has always helped considerably.

As for the exercise, I go to the gym 3 times a week doing a couple of classes each time and have no ill effects.

[Hidden]

[erased]

[Lambretta175 in reply to Hidden]

Thaks for reply.