BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Neuromuscular Diseases Restless Legs Syndrome

I am surprised at how many people complain of not sleeping enough at night because of the restlessness of their legs, arms and body. The experts are still not sure what causes the syndrome. At times even my hair irritates me where it touches my skin.

In winter a glass of hot milk, Rooibos tea and walking up and down helps me to fall asleep when I go back to bed. Sometimes taking a calcium and magnesium tablet also help.

Ever been to a concert, wedding, church or some place you are supposed to sit still for some time and finding it impossible to keep your feet from constantly needing to move? I have and found it humiliating and irritating, wishing I can get up and leave to some place I can rub, scratch, kick or do whatever my body needs to rid itself from the
Never-ending Unwanted tingling sensation!

Join the Forum and tell us how you cope with restless legs. Perhaps we can build a helpful pamphlet on handling this irritating occurrence of having our well-deserved sleep interrupted by our own bodies interfering with our rest.

You know, I never heard of this until a drug company started trying to sell the drug.

Is it posible that the drug company has HYPED something in order to sell medication to an unsuspecting public is there? They would NEVER do something like that would they (said with HEAVY sarcasm).

It's certainly possible, but alas, my ex-mother-in-law had the condition way back in the day when there were no drugs for it. To hear her talk about it was weird--I couldn't comprehend it then--your legs want to move when you try to lay down & sleep?

Her treatment then was to just live with it.

I'm sure it existed but I think the drug company has hyped it so much to sell their drugs for it.

When I was a kid my grandmother called me a fidget because I couldn't lay still in bed.

RLS is a very real condition. I have it myself but taking iron, magnesium and folic acid pretty much takes care of it. It is many times caused by a vitamin deficiency-something a drug company won't tell you.

What you say makes sense of course, that there is a simple solution for it rather then taking what must be an expensive drug.

I am afraid that certain companies may do just that to promote their product. I am always a little sceptic when remarks such as "full proof" or "no side effects" or similar strong claim is made. One also needs to know what the ingrediants of the kproduct are as some of them can cause more damage than do good.

Restless legs syndrome is well-known amongst people with one or other type of neuromuscular disease.

I always talk to a doctor or pharmasist first before I buy a new product.

On the other hand, I will not turn a product down before I have done my home work first as certain natural products may very well bring relief to pain or discomfort.

My DH has restless legs - it started about 4 years ago when he was 44 - it doesn't bother him that much but it certainly disturbs my sleep. It seems to come and go...it won't happen for a few nights and then it will be dreadful for a few nights. It's interesting the restless legs started at about the same time as the snoring - I wonder whether it has something to do with my DH giving up the gym and gaining 4-5 kilos.
All of the men in my husband's family have restless legs and it presented at roughly the same stage of life so it certainly sounds like a genetic thing.
My DH did take some very expensive medication for a few months (at my urging) - it didn't seem to make a big difference so it's back to the drawing board.
I wonder whether stress aggravates the condition....sometimes after a stressful week at work, his legs don't stop moving - sometimes the movements are jerky - I've been kicked a few times!
Interesting though, it only happens in his sleep.

I've noticed that stress does aggravate the RLS. Also, sitting at the computer all day and not moving around enough. Yoga stretches are helpful too.

We found that for those with Fibromyalgia, RLS is a direct result of not enough deep, restorative sleep.

We "perceive light and sound as being more more important than they are". Enough so that we can't stay down in deep sleep enough.

Fortunately, we can wear an eye mask and ear plugs to block out all light and all sound - at our heads, and get that sleep.

RLS stops.

Hope this is helpful for you, too.

Anne Hillebrand
www.FibroFix.com

Free site tells about Fibromyalgia.

Well, I just joined after I was looking at the posts on RLS. I notice it has been a while since anyone posted in this category. just wanted to give a quick history lesson on RLS, which surprises me. RLS is a very real problem, and I can assure anyone who doubts it that there is a ton of info on the internet about it these days. Back when I started researching it, we barely knew what it was called. It was named RLS in the 40's by a Dr. Ekbom, so it is also called Ekbom's syndrome for those of you who do not like the RLS name. Whatever it is called it is not a disease made up by the drug companies to sell drugs. I swear I hear that so much I could scream, and do sometimes! LOL It was written about in the 1600's and I am quite sure that there were no drug ads on tV back then, or in the 40's for that matter. And the Mayo Clinic, or the New England Journal of Medicine, the Atlanta Sleep Clinic, Johns Hopkins and lots more did not make it up either. It can leas to severe sleep deprivation, which can lead to heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure, and many other diseases. if you think you have RLS, check out a reliable web site such as WEB MD, the RLS Foundation, and read the diagnostic criteria.In RLS land we usually say that Fibro gets worse as the lack of restorative sleep caused by RLS wears you down. RLS causes lack of sleep, it is not a result of lack of sleep. Yo can also have PLMD, whcih is leg movements in your sleep that you are not usually aware of. Your sleep partner may be very aware of getting kicked by you however. LOL RLS is when you are awake, and you cannot lay or sit still, so falling alseep is impossible at that point. The feeling is that you have to move to make it feel better. If you have to move all night, or walk, we call that being a "nightwalker". so, if you have to walk all night, obviously you are not going to get any sleep. One should get a sleep study done to see if PLMD or sleep apnea is present. RLS can be idiopathic (no known cause by elimination tests), it can be cased by a low Ferritin level score. This is how your body stores iron, so it is a diffferet test than just a regular iron test. You have to make sure that the lab is going to run a ferritin score on you. Pregnancy can bring on RLS, and disappear when you have given birth, although with some people it sticks around permanently after birth, too. there have also been a gene mutation that proves it can be hereditary. In my family I have it, my two sisters, my 3 nieces, and many cousins. So, we are fairly sure (LOL) that it runs in families. There are several ongoing studies involving some large families with RLS. We all react differnet to the same meds, so no med works for everyone. It is a trial and error scenario as far as finding what meds and coping techniques work for you. Some only have mild RLS, and then others have it 24/7. it is brutal. Exercise is good, but too much will excite your legs. We need t make sure that we do not exercise too close to bed time, as that brings up your core temperature, and we need pur bodies to cool down in order to fall asleep. and yes, stress can definitely make RLS worse, as it can the pain of Fibro. There are a lot of people with RLS always looking for support. The yahoo online support groups are great for support. I moderate and own several groups with people from all over the world. the biggest one has 1277 members, and has been going since 1998. Some people have very good luck with natural treatments, who are usually the ones with a milder case. There are several medications that are approved for RLS, which d ot workmfor everyone, or the side effects are too mjuch. I cannot take them, so my RLS is controlled the best with low dose opiates, which also help with my fibro, and chronic pain disabilty issues. so, am killing 3 birds with one stone. Nothing works all the time, every day. There are some days when nothing will work, and then that is when we have to develop very good coping skills. Eventually, after much trial and error most people can find something that will help; some others never find anything that helps, whether it be prescription meds, or herbals, which have to be considered as meds, too. there arec several fraudulent web sites out there that advertise a cure (there is none) or promise your RLS will disappear immediately, 100% guaranteed, etc. I advise anyone desperate enough to try any of these "magic" web sites t save their money. these are just greedy people trying to take your money out of eesperation for sleep. So, I just wanted to go over the RLS picture to give a clear and factual account of, some issues that surround RLS. It is very real and very miserable, and gets worse with age. That is also a fact. It can go into a sort of "remission" at times, but especially if you have the gene, it does not go away. There are also many meds that can exacerbate RLS terribly like certain anti-depressants in the classes of SSRI's (paxil) and tricyclics (Elavil).BellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

Well. I am not sure wether my input is welcome since I am "male", but I was suffering from the restless legs syndrome for more than eight long and very painful years. And than a friend of my family, a holistic healer, gave me the hint of a natural mineral remedy, that I tried. And after just seven (7 !!) days the RLS has gone forever. I am painfree and can sleep every night WITHOUT any medicaments since June 2007, when I defeated the restless legs syndrome. For mental reasons I wrote the entire thing down on my website www.vegamagic.com Have a nice day, live long and healthy Matthew

Both myself and my partner suffer from RLS and our GP's both recommended taking 2 x 500mg co-codamol (paracetamol and codeine) before going to bed, it certainly works for us both.

After dealing with RLS for 20 intense years, I (with the help of a lot of people) discovered the cause of Restless Legs Syndrome and developed a remedy that will work for everyone. Basically there are 4 stages to recovering from RLS. The first, and most important is the healing of the inflammation in your legs that is causing the RLS. Here are the 4 steps to a FULL recovery ... STEP 1. Stop the Spreading Inflammation in its Tracks STEP 2. Encourage the Repair/Replacement of your Damaged Cells STEP 3. Encourage the Healing/Repair of your Nervous System (nerve cells frayed from prolonged inflammation) STEP 4. Prevent Inflammation from Reoccurring Less inflammation = less RLS. This is as universal a truth as you will ever hear in regard to Restless Legs Syndrome. This is not a "personal" cure that is only going to help a few. This will help EVERYONE that is willing to try it out. It doesn't matter what sort of heavy duty drugs you're taking for your RLS. You don't need to go off of them. Eventually your inflammation will lessen and you'll be able to wean off at your own pace. The best way to heal the inflammation that is causing your RLS is to load up with as many anti-inflammatory herbs as your budget will allow. Curcumin, Ginger Root, Cayenne, St. John's Wort, Licorice Root DGL, Devil's Claw and Skullcap are good ones. Also, to enhance the healing, take a high quality Cal/Mag, Iron, Zinc, Omega 3 and Vitamin B12. It sounds like a lot, but you will not regret the effort when you start to see the results. David Wimble www.RLcure.com