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[Hellsbells12345]

New here! I get extremely restless achy heavy legs in the evenings particularly if I am tired. The only thing I have found that eases it is going to my bed and lying down. Is this a circulation thing more than restless legs I wonder?

[Madlegs1]

Almost definitely not RLS, thankfully!!

The primary diagnosis for RLS is that when you are resting the jitters come at you, and are only relieved by getting up and moving.

The urge to move is overwhelming.

As you suspect, it may be a circulation problem.

Good luck.

[Hellsbells12345 in reply to Madlegs1]

Thanks for answering, it is when I rest it starts but seems to ease off if I lie down flat.

[Elffindoe]

As Madlegs says it's unlikely this is RLS.

If it were the restlessness would get worse when you lie down, NOT better.

[Allyp69]

My RLS used to go away completely when I lay down or went to bed but over the last few years it has got worse, even in bed. Mine started when I was anaemic when pregnant. I'm 74 now and have been taking gentle iron tablets, one 30 mg daily plus Fluroxibe iron supplement ...for the past week with good results ..I inherited RLS from my mother. I have never taken any prescribed meds for RLS.

[Hidden in reply to Allyp69]

Yay!!! I Luuuuuuuuuuv success, especially with iron - it validates the fact that I get complete relief from my nightly RLS by taking one or two capsules of ferrous bis-glycinate about an hour before bed on an empty stomach. At this point there's about a dozen other people on here, that I know of, who get relief from this nifty little trick. Maybe if you took it that way and at that time you would achieve 100% relief? The relief lasts one night (for me) and must be repeated nightly. Maybe one day this site will post a banner at the top that this nightly treatment should be tried first - it could save people a lot of anguish and of course doctors should know that this possibility exists. It doesn't seem to work as well for people on DAs or even those tapering down. Nor does it work great for people with RLS who are on anti-depressants. I personally think it's a matter of amount. You and I might only need 25mg of the iron, whereas people on DAs, or anti-depressants, might need to take 75mg or even 100mg at night, in order to get relief. Lastly (and this is probably unnecessary because the bis-glycinate is so darn bio-available) I open up the capsule and pour it into water. It doesn't dissolve all that well. Then I add one capsule of Quercetin to the water and watch the iron completely dissolve, leaving only black water. Doesn't taste great, but I don't care...it's a miracle substance.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Oh wow, just noticed your post from 6 months ago where you talked about trying iron with no improvement in your RLS. Bet you were taking the wrong kind at the wrong time of day? But now for the past week you've been taking the right kind with apparently good results. I read about the iron trick about 15 years ago now. The person said "just take some iron at night, there's something about that free-floating iron that seems to help." I bought Gentle Iron (aka ferrous bis-glycinate) from a health food store because I have a sensitive gut - not because it was recommended or anything. Worked that first night and every night there after...until I ran out one night and the health food store was closed. Oh the HORROR!!! I went to the corner drug store and bought regular ferrous sulfate figuring I'd rather be constipated than sleepless. So I took one capsule (which was actually 65mg) and after an hour went to bed. I still had horrible RLS. I thought WTF??? So I took a second capsule. At some point I fell asleep but the very next day I was back at the health food store. I NEVER run out anymore. These days I just order it off of Amazon.

[Hope61 in reply to Hidden]

Great post thank you. What is Quercetin ?I am currently tapering off mirapex onto Gabapentin . I have been doing great with the switch. I imagine using just iron would only work if you weren't on any RLS meds ?

I would love to get off these meds. I have had RLS for over 20 years if not more. I'm 56 soon to be 57 and have had it with RLS to say the least 😊

[Hidden in reply to Hope61]

I'm glad you liked the post. Quercetin is a flavonoid, as is something called Rutin. Rutin comes from the skin of fruits like oranges. Not sure where they get Quercetin from...onions? Flavonoids are being heavily investigated for Covid. Surprisingly, among the dozens (100s?) tested, Rutin showed the best results. I believe it stops the virus from locking into our cells - or I should say better/more efficiently than the other flavonoids. After Rutin comes Baicalein in terms of efficacy. Quercetin/flavonoids are kind of, sort of, in the vitamin C family. People should actually take both since they work synergistically. Anyways, back to your other question -YES-OMG YES. Try some ferrous bis-glycinate at night on an empty stomach. It sounds like in the not too distant past you were diagnosed as anemic, or am I thinking of Ally? So this is what I would do if I were you...the first day you go to try the iron I would wait until you feel the RLS kick in, be it late afternoon or early evening AND I would take two capsules, rather than just one (hopefully on a somewhat empty stomach) and wait about an hour to see if the RLS goes, or at least improves greatly. Then you can carry on with taking the other RLS meds for the evening. Even if the iron does not give immediate relief that day you should continue to take it every night or every other night to get your iron stores up. You probably don't need to take quercetin or vitamin c with the iron, since it's so bio-available, yet numerous people on here still do. Muchas suerte!

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I'm not smart enough to make this stuff up: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Hidden]

Initially my restless legs when tired were sorted by lying down too. Perhaps as some insist this wasn't RLS as such, but like Allyp69 it certainly eventually evolved into full RLS in the evenings/night. You may have already tried e.g. regular exercise and/or if applicable cutting back on caffeine/alcohol, to tackle your current problem. Beyond that as above many people find iron supplements helpful, some find magnesium supplements helpful: if you take either, do make sure that they are readily absorbable forms of the mineral - e.g. ferrous bisglycinate, magnesium citrate. Good luck!

[Hope61]

I don't know but it does not sound like RLS to me. Laying down or in activity is when it starts and gets worse. I would go to your doctor and get a physical and see what they have to say

[Greenseagirl]

As a few others have said, this is how my RLS started. For many years it was a sign I was tired and needed to go to bed, but then 22 months ago it got dramatically worse and really impacts on sleep. I have assumed the worsening was connected to reduced mobility whilst I waited for a hip replacement, but even though I am now back to doing regularly daily exercise it is still bad. On the merry-go-round of trying iron, CBD etc to see what might work, determined to avoid the prescribed drugs that just make things worse in the long run for most people sadly.

[MumofSam]

I have occasions when my RLS starts up when I’m sitting trying to watch TV and going to bed and lying flat is the only thing that helps. 99% of the time though my RLS starts up while I’m in bed lying flat. So what you’re talking about could well be RLS, especially if it’s eased as soon as you get up too. It’s definitely RLS I’m feeling on those odd occasions when lying flat in bed helps. I’ve suffered from it all my life so know the feelings only too well. Not everyone fits exactly with the stereotype of typical RLS.