Restless Legs

I find soaking my feet in Epsom salts before bed really helps. I use the Westlab from boots . Good luck and hope it helps.

I get it occasionally maybe twice a month but only in bed. I use the power of the mind I know it sounds crackers but it’s only thing that’s worked for me. I dig deep and engage my mind and keep telling myself don’t do it don’t do it and I eventually fall asleep. I do have very vivid imagination so not sure if that helps.

I follow the same regimen as @TerryM & @MadeInYorkshire.

When you first use spray-on Magnesium, start with a couple of light squirts, as you may experience a strong ‘burning ‘ reaction, & increment a squirt as required.

I first suffered with this when I was pregnant. My daughter is now 50 years old. I have had the problem off and on over all these years. Some nights I’m lucky to get 3 hours sleep. I will definitely try some of the things others have suggested. Fingers crossed I get some relief.

I take evening primrose oil capsules, do a couple of calf stretches before bed, breathing exercises in bed, and if RL starts after i’ve been in bed for a while, as it frequently does despite everything, my second line of defence is to get up & walk around as though wearing high heels until I feel cold. That usually does the trick. Heat is my enemy once I’m in bed - the warning sign of an attack is my legs feeling as though they’re on fire.

Yvon

Iron tablets work for me. Just buy them from the supermarket

Or get your ferritin levels checked properly and get them on prescription. Ferritin isn't the same as iron. Too much iron can cause all sorts of problems, so be careful unless you definitely know you have a shortage.

PS: I occasionally get some relief from paracetamol, but if taken in the middle of a full-blown attack it makes it worse. I know it’s not ideal, but sometimes needs must.

I have peripheral neuropathy, diagnosed eventually by my Neurologist and suffer not too badly during the day but nighttime can be unbearable with difficult to describe burning crawling sensation in my legs which gradually creeps all over, even my lips but disappears when I move about. Capsaicin cream on prescription, tiny amount rubbed into my legs at bedtime has been a godsend in keeping the sensation at bay plus Pregabalin 3/24, I can have a decent nights sleep.

My sympathies to all who suffer ?

There seem to be different types/causes. Mine is only my left leg and comes from a sort of itch deep in my left hip joint.
I asked the Dr. recently if there's any treatment but she said there are tablets but they can cause falls.
Which I have plenty of already.

Be careful with Ropinirole - my OH was on it for his PD and it made him have paranoid delusions.

Luckygirl

Be careful with Ropinirole - my OH was on it for his PD and it made him have paranoid delusions.

There's a warning about that - it seems it can have some weird side effects. I was warned, but the dose for RLS is lower than for PD and apparently is extremely rare. All I know is that it worked for me after years of suffering from RLS every night and trying just about everything else.

Kalu

I have peripheral neuropathy, diagnosed eventually by my Neurologist and suffer not too badly during the day but nighttime can be unbearable with difficult to describe burning crawling sensation in my legs which gradually creeps all over, even my lips but disappears when I move about. Capsaicin cream on prescription, tiny amount rubbed into my legs at bedtime has been a godsend in keeping the sensation at bay plus Pregabalin 3/24, I can have a decent nights sleep.

My sympathies to all who suffer ?

I have peripheral neuropathy too, as well as having been an insomniac nearly all my adult life, so RLS was the last straw. I was so thankful to get some relief from it. I've just started Amitriptyline for my neuropathy and I'm cautiously optimistic.

Right...... it's 'havin' a laugh' time. I suffered from this very badly and regularly until I read a tip offering a couple of solutions. One was a bar of toilet soap loosely in the bed. The second was half a raw potato (in muslin) also loosely in bed. I was desperate enough to be willing to try both. However, first option was tried and I haven't experienced the agony since. The same bots is still my constant companion. Go ahead. Laugh. I do too. I'm willing to concede it's coincidence but, because of the result, I'm changing nothing.

I am such a lightweight with a low tolerance to drugs growstuff from morphine, amitriptyline, even gabapentin, all wipe me out and feeling spaced out so I have reached and accepted a happy medium with my script which I can top up with Nurafen Express when I need to calm things down further.
I wish you all the best and sincèrely hope Amitrityline does the trick. ?

Adding to my previous post - I had my right hip replaced in 2006 and before the op. the specialist asked me if I had had RLS in the right leg? Which I hadn't at that time.
So it's a strange condition, various types and causes.
One DiL had it and tried some dietary changes which helped.
I wish the Dr. would give me sleeping pills, but no way.
I'm like a wet rag and depressed the next day.

I have suffered almost nightly for years and years. Sometimes I am awake just about all night. There are only so many times you can walk around the house or go up and down the stairs when you are completely exhausted. Recently it has started in my arms too. I bought magnesium tablets but they gave me horrible tummy ache.

Juicylucy

I get it occasionally maybe twice a month but only in bed. I use the power of the mind I know it sounds crackers but it’s only thing that’s worked for me. I dig deep and engage my mind and keep telling myself don’t do it don’t do it and I eventually fall asleep. I do have very vivid imagination so not sure if that helps.

I can relate to what you have said, to a certain extent.

In my case, when my restlessness is only mild to moderate, I have become aware that I can indeed engage my mind on other matters and almost forget about my legs.
However, once my legs have reached a certain point of twitchiness, then power of mind no longer works for me.

I have also noticed that sometimes, when I am lying there quite comfortably, the thought of restless legs suddenly comes into my head, and seconds later my legs start twitching.
Have I brought it on by thinking about it, or was there a signal from my body to my brain as it began that alerted me to it? Anyone else experienced this?

I used to have something similar with hot flushes in bed - seconds before one hit me, I would suddenly be aware that I was a comfortable temperature!

Kalu & Growstuff, I also have something called small fibre peripheral neuropathy & RL seems to be associated with it in my case. The consultant told me I could get some benefit from either anti-convulsants or anti-depressants, but he advised me against them, as they become less and less effective with time, so I decided against.

Yes, MamaCaz, I too have experienced the thought of restless legs immediately before it starts and I always feel as though I’ve triggered it myself when that happens. I do wonder sometimes if it has a psychological element?

Kalu

I am such a lightweight with a low tolerance to drugs growstuff from morphine, amitriptyline, even gabapentin, all wipe me out and feeling spaced out so I have reached and accepted a happy medium with my script which I can top up with Nurafen Express when I need to calm things down further.
I wish you all the best and sincèrely hope Amitrityline does the trick. ?

Thanks. I'm allergic to ibuprofen, which is the active ingredient of Nurofen - it causes an almost instant and nasty rash - so I can't take that. Before starting Amitriptyline, I was taking the maximum dose of Co-Dydramol, which I wasn't happy to continue.

I had a heart attack three years ago and it all came out then how badly I'd been sleeping. I'm not overweight and am a non-smoker and non-drinker, so the consultant came to the conclusion that lack of sleep was a contributory cause. I started Ropinirole on the advice of the consultant at Papworth Sleep Centre. Quite honestly, I would have tried anything and any side effects were worth it for a few hours of decent sleep. Before starting on Amitriptyline, I had to have an ECG, which will need to be repeated every six months.

I got RLS (restless legs syndrome) a few years ago after a knee replacement ( no idea why that started it) I had to move into the spare bedroom it was so bad. My legs would be “cycling” in bed and I was constantly moving them (and it’s difficult to sit in a train/plane/cinema. Can’t keep still) My GP eventually prescribed Clonazepam, which I take only if desperate. Codeine is another drug that’s recommended. Both are potentially addictive so you have to be very aware of that, and going down that route isn’t for everyone. But it works for me. I did buy a weighted blanket which helped at first, but because of arthritis it hurt my joints, so I had to give it up.

Ropinirole works for me. Make sure you get the right dose from the doctor though. Mine prescribed 5mg and it made me fall asleep while decorating with a paintbrush in my hand! When I went back to him it should have been 0.5mg! In fact I only need 0.25mg to get a good nights sleep, and take 0.5mg if I want a really fantastic nights sleep. (I don’t take any other medication so don’t know how it interacts with others.)

My husband used to suffer but prescribed iron tablets cured it completely.

I first had it while pregnant and was told it was 'the baby pressing on a nerve' !!! Came back with a vengeance after menopause and I tried all the remedies suggested here with no success. Eventually a GP who was well versed in RLS prescribed Pramipexole which is also a Parkinson's drug = An Instant Cure. As long as I remember to take the tablet a couple of hours before bedtime I get a kick and flailing arm free night. If I forget or am out till late, The RLS kicks in within 10 minutes of lying down - every time.

If you suffer from this horrible syndrome, don't faff about with old wives tales and silly cures. Go to the GP and ask/demand Pramipexole or Ropinirole. Any side effects are small and as nothing compared to the exhaustion and sleep deprivation that RLS causes.

PS Quinine or tonic water works for cramp but not for RLS.

Such an interesting thread. My main health problem currently.
Do men also have it? Could it be to do with our anatomical differences?