Exercise is RLS Cure

[er12345]

Exercising my legs when I am in bed by raising from knee - 50 times each leg - then totally relaxing and sleep comes straight away 95% of the time - the other 5% I just repeat the exercise and I sleep. I have had RLS for 45 years and this works everytime. Never had medication. Please try it.

[Hidden]

i used to do that but never worked for me just reliefe at that moment in time for rls not long enough to get to sleep got good thigh muscles though lol bout it glad it works for you

[er12345 in reply to Hidden]

I must be lucky and I am so sorry it did not work for you x

[mmm66]

I, too, have tried exercise. It will work while watching TV, etc. But not enough to go to sleep. I don't think any of us should be overweight with the moving all night.

[insomnia2]

I love this idea and can't wait to go to bed tonight so I can give it a try!

[er12345 in reply to insomnia2]

Fingers crossed for you - do it quickly until it hurts nearly by the 50 repetition on both legs. xx

[insomnia2]

I find this too romany53! I was out gardening for four hours the other day, then walked my dogs. What a terrible night I had with the leggies, so I think you may be right!

[arjay]

Just like insomnia I find a few hours in the garden a gaurenteed way to miss a nights sleep. It seems to me that it's pot luck finding which method gives us some relief.

[Hidden]

Too much exercise can for some cause their RLS to go nuts. I have found it doesnt matter for me whether i exercise or not. If the beastly RLS wants to play its games at night and stop me sleeping it will, regardless what i have done or not done that day. Most experts say, do some light exercise before the evening, too much can over excite the RLS. I guess as with anything we try to help our RLS, it seems to be hit and miss.

[er12345]

It only works for me if I am in bed - lying down and do the exercise quickly then completely go into relaxation. sorry it does not work for you x

[er12345]

I dont know whether this applies to any of you - but since I stopped smoking I have suffered much less

[er12345]

XXX

[Hidden]

My RLS got worse when i tried to stop smoking too...was awful...

[Rish]

I have tried this before and it makes my legs worse god knows I have tried not to take any medication so I can have a family but I just can not do it

Wish it was so simple for me but with out the medication I would be a lost cause!!

[Pete-1]

Smoking reportedly helps keep Parkinson's disease at bay too - although it doesn't seem to have helped me. Unless my PD would have started much sooner if I had been a non-smoker.

Anyway as PD and RLS occur due to shortages of Dopamine and since smoking tobacco results in a "flood or perhaps just an extra trickle" of dopamine then romany53, one can begin to see how that might be.

[peterk]

That's great. I find either too litle or too much excercise makes it worse. For me I have to balance it.

[arjay]

Like other members, a couple of hours in the garden is a perfect way to ensure a sleepless night

[nightdancer]

same here

[nightdancer]

One thing to remember is that what works for one person , may be the next RLSer's nightmare. It is usually recommended not to exercise 3 hrs before bed time, and again, everyone works out their own time, but studies show that most people who exercise to vigorously too close to bed time, it may help bring on the RLS. I have personally figured out that at 6 pm meds start for the evening, sleepytime tea, stretching while watching Dancing With the Stars with my 84 yr old mother, more meds, more tea, more stretching backwards over my excercise ball to stretch my back out, and checking emails every few minutes. but, also do bretahing exercises t keep heart rate down, and keeping your core temperature down also helps you sleep. Generally speaking Good Luck and welcome.

[twitchycardifflegs]

the only thing I can do when my legs are soooo restless is to constantly move them about randomly and take more meds than prescribed. I eventually fall asleep whether from meds or all the exercise I couldn't say

[nightdancer]

er12345- I use an exercise ball, lay backwards over it to stretch out my back. also, lay on my back and press my legs against a wall. That helps sometimes, but we don't like to use the word cure-the word that is "politically incorrect" in RLS Land. The word that we prefer is treatment. There is no cure for RLS. If you have to exercise every night to get rid of RLS, then it is a treatment, not a cure. A cure would mean your RLS does not come back ever, and I doubt that is what you are sayng.