I just had my sleep study a few nights ago. It is hard to fall asleep with all the sensors attached to the body, but I finally was able to get about 4+ hours. Comparing it to a previous sleep study, I am now curious to find out whether Gabapentin is helping with the PLMD. Also, my sleep therapist advised me to go to bed later. I am now going to bed at midnight and for the last two weeks, I have been getting more stretches of sleep. However, 5-6 hours is still not enough. I am getting up tired and feel like I need to take Geritol, or something like it. It is also hard to fill the many hours before I can go to bed. However, I tell myself that going to bed this late is better than tossing and turning and having fragmented sleep. Has anyone ever taken Geritol? (I know there used to be a lot of jokes about it years ago, but it is still on the market).
Gabapentin and new sleep study - Restless Legs Syn...
Gabapentin and new sleep study
If you buy the Geritol Nutrition, you are just buying a high priced multivitamin. You can get the same thing a lot cheaper. If you buy the Geritol Energy, you are also buying a high priced supplement (amazon 52 cents a serving) containing the same B vitamins you get in a multivitamin and only 1 is a higher amount than in their nutrition one. It has 18 mg of elemental iron which is a lot lower than the 325 mg of ferrous sulfate which contains 65 mg of elemental iron and which costs 3 cents each. Did you ever have your ferritin checked?
Thanks Sue. My Ferritin is 72 ng/mL and the Iron is 80 ug/dL. I know I have a ways to go.
The idea of going to bed later is a new idea but makes absolute sense.
The difficulty is to avoid napping after lunchtime!🤔😢
I know nothing about Geritol - Sue has answered that, but I take vit B complex and magnesium citrate in early evening, and find that helps.
Good luck.
I’ve seen going to bed later recommended in a few places including I think the RLS-uk website, the idea being that if you know you won’t sleep then it’s better not to spoil your sleep experience. General advice on sleep is that if you really can’t get to sleep you should get up and do something else for a while. However I’ve tried both and on the whole I found that going to bed earlier gets me more and better quality sleep even if I do get up. I suspect the difference is the fact that I have no problem actually going to sleep (normally less than 5 minutes) but the RLS normally wakes me after about an hour. If I go to bed later I still get woken up even if it’s one or two times less.
I also prefer to go to bed earlier, around 10:00. However, I find that I have difficulty falling asleep because of anxiety about sleep, and then the sleep is also more fragmented. I look at my bed in the morning, and it looks like a battle field. I must be moving around a lot with the PLMD. I will be talking with the Doc about this, since taking Gabapentin should make things better. I am curious what the sleep study results will reveal.
Are you taking any medicine for your RLS?
No, I'm not taking any medications. I'm looking to try an iron infusion next.
Since your ferritin is above 100, an iron infusion is less likely to help than if it were below 100, although it does help some people. If it doesn't help, have you thought about taking gabapentin which can completely control your symptoms?
Most discussions say 100 is the minimum for ferritin and it’s also well inside the “normal” range which goes up to about 250. The people I’ve spoken to who have had infusions say they get relief from significantly higher levels than 100 so that’s what I’m hoping. I took pregabalin for a year for neuropathic pain from a back injury and it didn’t seem to help the RLS much but I really disliked the loss of clarity and the disinhibition so I came off it. That’s why infusions are the next thing I want to try because although they are not without possible side-effects, they don’t have any of the mental impacts of other drugs.
Understood and I certainly hope it helps you. If it doesn't you might want to try gabapentin. Although gabapentin and pregabalin are basically the same drug and the side effects are basically the same, some people find that the side effects that bother them on one don't bother them on the other. You certainly would have nothing to lose. If you find it does, you can always stop it.
I have spoken to my doctor about iron infusions a while back. He said it would be very expensive and the insurance companies do not pay for it. I have to find out how much it really is and maybe pay for it myself. I am at 70 and it took forever to get there. Probably will take even longer to get to 100.
Eager to hear your response, all falls under my success pattern.
Google sleep restriction therapy. It really works but it is very very tough. I started in spring so I wasn’t up until 2am in winter.
I have done sleep restriction several times. It is very tough, as you say. I think going to bed late---12:00-12:15 is all I can do. I wake up early anyway, (and unfortunately) so I am really very tired by the time the next night comes around. It is really hard to kill the time until that late a bed time. I walk in the morning. I observe all the sleep hygiene, including watching my mind. Aside from taking medication, I also do breathing exercises, autogenic relaxation exercises and EFT=emotional freedom therapy. The night before last, I had 6 hours straight and was so happy. Unfortunately, shortly after getting out of bed, I was extremely tired and felt exhausted. Despite the Gabapentin 1200, I must have been stomping and running all night long with the PLMD. I can't explain it any other way.
Hi, Maximus_ I see some hope on the horizon for you: with not so much reliance on medications, and more on sleep Hygiene (you may introduce sleeping in two stages, like me; works very well), more knowledge on your sleep quality(is there something else than Rls plmd? As in my case); sleep study is far from being the ideal, you might ad using a CPAP and interpret by yourself the data for some nights;
_ just in case, you may want to see my strategies with RLS and UARSb(doing well) in my replies elsewhere here;
Alll the best and good luck
I sometimes take cocodamol 30/500 mg which gaa as be me constipation then I have to sort that. With co codamol I do have good sleep but I s as m avoiding it. I have to try ibuprofen see if that work. I am on gabapenton more than a year300 mg in morning and 300 at night after two hrs of sleep awake with restless legs after struggling for two hrs try to get few hrs mot sleep this is every night.
Going to sleep later does work for me. It kinda happened by default. Usually my RLS flares around 9PM and 11PM, so I just wait it out by reading books and fall asleep around midnight and sleep until 8:30. A Ereader should be recommended for RLS treatment 😆!
I'm privileged in the sense that I can make my own schedule. I'm not sure it would work otherwise. Trouble starts when I have to wake up early for meetings, conferences, classes, etc. 
Are you retired or can you make your own schedule?
Yes, indeed.....I rebirthed after retirenment some 7 years ago,only then since 1970's.
I struck with the two stages style in " at day's close " book....A. Roger Erich.
Lucky
They are trying sleep compression. The idea is to start with less sleep, so you are more tired and start falling asleep and sleeping better in that time frame. Once you’ve achieved that, that gradually expand to a normal sleep span. Not sure how all that works with the RLS disrupting the sleep duration.
Are you taking any medicine for your RLS?
I just withdrew from Prami after 18 months (1.25 mg) because of sudden and rapid augmentation. I went from one leg below the knee to entire leg, the other leg below the knee, right arm, and daytime episodes. I’ve been off a month now and the rebound has settled down finally, arm has resolved, both leg s below the knee, daytime episodes almost gone. Still waking up 2-3 times a night and having to walk in out. I’m up and down so much my Fitbit doesn’t know how to record! No more dopiminergics for me!
That's great that you are off pramipexole - I know that wasn't easy !!! And absolutely - you sure don't want to go back on a dopamine agonist. They are no longer the first line treatment for RLS because of this, gabapentin is which does not have the danger of augmentation. Unfortunately so many doctors are not uptodate on the treatment for RLS which is why they prescribe drugs like pramipexole. Check out the Mayo Clinic Updated Algorithm on RLS which will tell you everything you want to know including about its treatment and refer your doctor to it if needed at Https://mayoclinicproceedings.org/a...
On the gabapentin, beginning dose is usually 300 mg gabapentin. It won't be fully effective for 3 weeks. After that increase it by 100 mg every couple of days until you find the dose that works for you. Take it 1-2 hours before bedtime. If you need more than 600 mg take the extra 4 hours before bedtime as it is not as well absorbed above 600 mg. If you need more than 1200 mg, take the extra 6 hours before bedtime. Most of the side effects of gabapentin will disappear after a few weeks and the few that don't will usually lessen. Those that remain are usually worth it for the elimination of the RLS symptoms. According to the Mayo Clinic Updated Algorithm on RLS: "Most RLS patients require 1200 to 1800 mg of gabapentin daily." If you take magnesium take it at least 3 hours before taking gabapentin as it will interfere with the absorption of the gabapentin. Also have you had your ferritin checked? If it is below 100 improving it to 100 or more helps 60% of patients and in some will completely eliminate their symptoms. If you haven't had your ferritin checked, ask your doctor for a full iron panel. Stop taking any iron supplements 48 hours before the test and fast after midnight. Have your test in the morning when your ferritin is lowest. When you get the results, ask for your ferritin and transferrin saturation numbers. You want your ferritin to be over 100 and your transferrin saturation to be between 20 and 45. If your transferrin saturation is OK, then if your ferritin is less than 75 then take 325 mg of ferrous sulfate with 100 mg of vitamin C or some orange juice since that helps with its absorption. If you take magnesium take it at least 2 hours apart since it interferes with the absorption of iron. Don't take tumeric as it can interfere with its absorption. Take it every other day preferably at night at least 1 hour before a meal or coffee and at least 2 hours after a meal or coffee since iron is absorbed better on an empty stomach. If you have problems with constipation switch to iron bisglycinate. If your ferritin is between 75 and 100 or if your transferrin saturation is below 20, you probably need an iron infusion since iron isn't absorbed as well above 75. It takes several months for the iron tablets or iron infusion to slowly raise your ferritin. Ask for a new blood test after 8 weeks if you have an iron infusion or after 3 months if you are taking iron tablets.
- "No more dopiminergics for me!"
_it looks a good pathway, in my modest opinion;
_ as I said many times elsehwhere, my drug of choice is 0.5 mg of clonazepam only. It works, combined with alternative techinques (EFT, basically...) ; rigorous sleep higiene, and sleep in two phases, if you can, however still waking in general 2 times, with obssessed trips do toilet: (this last night, for example: a crisis before bed at some midnight, went to bed at some 1;00 am; new strong crisis and waked up at some 4;30 - never look the clock - stayed waked for some 1;30 hrs, aplplied techinques, EFT + including ECO meditation, and back to sleep at some 6;00 am, maybe, and up to some 8;30. It looks is going to be a good day!!);
all the best and good luck
Congratulations. You found something that works for you. I am taking 1 mg Lorazepam. Is Clonazepam better? I also use EFT and it does help. I still wake up very tired; whether I have slept 6 hours or not. Must be the PLMD activity during sleep. I am curious what the sleep study will reveal.
Not what you're looking for?
You may also like...
Gabapentin and PLMD, SLEEP
Gabapentin - new meds
Sleep study on Thursday! HELP!!!!
Gabapentin for Sleep?
Gabapentin and no sleep
Related Posts
Sleep study in one month
Sleep study
Sleep study anomaly
Gabapentin and PregabalinModeration team
