DOES ANYONE TAKE SONATA, LUNESTA, or RESTORIL for their RLS and if so, does it work for you?

[Reb0013]

Dr. Buchfuchrer's website list a host of drugs that have been prescribed over the years for RLS and their effects. Wondering if anyone takes either of these three for insomnia and RLS?

[SueJohnson]

Sonata has a half life of only 1 hour so not a good choice if ant to sleep all night.

[Reb0013 in reply to SueJohnson]

Yeah, I read that too. It isn't a benzo drug which made me think a physician would be quicker to prescribed if asked. The literature does say it affords about 4 hrs of sleep and might be a good choice to take if one falls asleep but then is awaken in the middle of the night with RLS. On the positive side; you wouldn't wake feeling groggy.

[Frustrated-RLS]

could you share a link to the page please?

[Reb0013 in reply to Frustrated-RLS]

I think Dic responded below. The information on the drugs is from Dr. Buchfuchrer's website Dic listed below rlshelp.org.

[SueJohnson in reply to Frustrated-RLS]

See my reply to DicCarlson.

[DicCarlson]

Here is the website - click a link on the left...

rlshelp.org/

[SueJohnson in reply to DicCarlson]

Be careful. This site is not up to date under treatments as it mentions NEW for medicines approved in 2012 and it said the average dose of gabapentin being 800-900 mg and the usual bedtime dose is between 300-800 mg. He also lists Lyrica (Pregabalin) as new - with no reference to it being basically gabapentin; and he says take iron 3 times/day. Even his email at end to use to report a mistake is out of date. Also he doesn’t recommend magnesium therapy says Lunesta is the only drug that has been studied for long term (6 months or longer) use is now the only sleeping pill that has been proven to be non-addictive or cause tolerance which is not true. I contacted him about this and he said he doesn't have time to update it.

[Reb0013 in reply to SueJohnson]

Wow, that's rediculous that his comment was he doesn't have time to update it. I have read conflicting reports on Lunesta - some say can be addictive (which I believe it can and probably would be long term), others say it is not addictive like this article. Thank you for pointing those controversies out.

[Hidden in reply to Reb0013]

That’s because he’s in it more for the money than the science. An outdated website like that borders on malpractice.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

This guy (can’t really call him a doctor) never learns. He’s singing the praises of a gadget you tie to your calf for RLS. Ya know why he’s singing the praises, cause he’s being paid by the manufacturer as a “consultant”and it sounds like the clinical trials are being conducted at his offices. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

As far as I can tell, this thingamabob, improved RLS scores by about 6.5 while the placebo group was 3.5. I don’t consider that a significant difference, nor should he, yet he’ll continue to praise this product as long as he gets paid to do so. $$$ Ka - ching.

He was already fined about a million dollars for endosing a throat spray (called Snore-D) and telling people it would help them with their snoring/sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be a life threatening disease and he knew darn well that throat spray wouldn’t do a thing for patients. He should have been fined $10,000,000 and lost his license to practice medicine.

And he knows “neurostimulation” will not help patients with severe RLS, no matter how fancy that calf strap is. Dr. Winkelman gave neurostimulation a thumbs down 5 years ago. m.youtube.com/watch?v=i-U9t...(Not working as expected?) The problem is that sleep specialists don’t do surgery and it’s really mostly surgeons that make the big bucks. So what’s a money grubbing doc to do? I know - become a grifter.

[SueJohnson in reply to Hidden]

I don't believe he is in it for the money. He freely answers all questions that we ask him and he has a lot of patients, but yes, he should take the time to update his website, or take it down until he can.

[Hidden in reply to SueJohnson]

There’s no question he can answer that we on here can’t. He’s willing to prescribe opiates, so there’s that. And that’s about it. But that’s a big something in a world of sleep doctors unwilling to do so. Never underestimate the profit motive and then go from there.

[Typicallygaslit]

I’ve used Zopiclone since 1999, I have no problems with addiction and can take breaks whenever I need to. It has a very positive effect on my state of being/mind, I feel more like myself. It still helps with my sleep. But people are different.