Tweaking the Treatment for Restless Legs

[Koala77]

Forgive me everyone for just noticing this thread, but I find what you've all been saying, very interesting.

Originally Posted by sassy

........I had RLS before they had a name for it I swear. ......

I'm with you there Sassy. I seem to have had it forever and have never found anything to give relief.

I thank you for the Magnesium information "mrsd". I take Magnesium when I have bad cramps, so not every day. I didn't realise it would work for RLS as well, so thank you....I'll give it a try.

Originally Posted by Lara

......It's all old stuff I've saved. That's why I freaked when I lost my bookmarks when I downloaded the new Firefox 2.0. lol 10 years of hard reading and poof all gone in a second. Got them all back thank goodness!!! .......................

I lost all mine as well when I upgraded Firefox. Unfortunately mine seem to be lost, or else I don't know how to retrieve them

[ddrsi]

Could U Share The Amounts Of Mag That Worked For U Please?

[Elissabetta]

I was talking to my new P-DR. about my diagnosis ---RLS, PLM, REM problems...and he said that RLS and PLM was the same?

Requip has helped tremendously -- but now having to increase it --- throw in a side dish of Fibromyalgia and uggghh!

But the Requip has been good --- if you haven't tried it for the above symptoms, please do so.

[Brokenfriend]

If I've had a active day these days,when I go to bed,the back of my legs start cramping,and I have to get up. This hurts allot. I also get nauseated sometimes. After the cramping of the back of a thigh,I'll go back to bed when it stops. Then sometimes the front of a thigh starts to cramp,and I have to get up again. It again hurts quit a bit. It makes me hop all around the room,followed by my groaning,and sometimes crying about it.

Does that sound like restless leg syndrome,or just leg spasms? BF

[tied]

i used to take sinemet for rls, now i just use life style changes. sinemet is a parkinsons drug.

the dose for magnesium should be adjusted as follows. take a calcium supplement in the eve, and magnesium in the am. start at lowest dose and increase it each day until stools get too loose, then back down to the previous days dose. do not take calcium and magnesium at the same time unless you are constipated.

rls for me is worse when sleeping on your back, so i sleep on my side. eat fruity stuff before noon. cut out sugar and refined white flour. wear natural cotton against your legs. fruits should be eaten raw, not cooked.

[billie]

Although Requip has been effective for my RLS for maybe 3-4 years now, the real relief came in the absence of severe nocturnal leg/foot cramping, which left me leaping from bed whether I wanted to or not. Magnesium, potassium, etc., did not seem to help this cramping, but Requip has, and continues to be effective for both the restlessness and cramping. I am grateful, but am also grateful for your information about rotating the meds. That sounds like an excellent idea! Thank You. billie

[perfectlypeg]

A few years back I was doing Hyperbariac treatments for Lyme and Fibro. After most dives I would go home and the released toxins would begin their dirty work stirring up trouble. I think they call it a Herx. My limbs both legs and arm would become so restless I looked like I was dancing the funky chicken with my arms flapping. I would go to bed as they would last till the next day or so. I have not heard of anyone having the jerking restlessness in the arms, is there a name for that? I did the HBOT three days a week for one year and found that it was able to completely rid me of the fibromyalgia, but I still have all the other disease processes. Dag nabbit.
Perfectly Peg

[katcar]

My neurologist gives me Mirapex and I can't live without it. My RLS is so severe that I am absolutely miserable without the meds BUT I have become very compulsive with money and I am not trustworthy with access to our bank accounts anymore...that is hard to live with also...
sure wish I could find a natural way to deal with it....
I still don't sleep well at night but at least my legs aren't making me miserable.

[bruegger84]

does magnesium work on an empty stomach, or work better? i dont know if anyone discussed this but i thought id throw it out there.

also, another set of drugs worth trying for RLS is amantadine or parlodel. they both are used in similar situations to levodopa.

so i believe, these drugs and requip are the best in the line of treatment. Mirapex seems a little too stimulating to calm down the restlessness.

I've tried some that no one has even mentioned. I went overseas and tried piribedil, but it was awful and which i believe parallels mirapex in some ways. altho it cut the restlessness it was too stimulating and made my heart race and pound.

like the person said about fruits it is helpful. but also eating fruit on an empty stomach (which most people do anyways), such as a banana can make the nutrients, and serotonin like components of the fruit be absorbed better. You cant sow down a burger fries and coke and go, oh look a banana.

[mrsD]

I don't agree about Parlodel. This drug has lost favor for chronic adminstration for other conditions.

This is the reason:

Among patients on Parlodel, particularly on long-term and high-dose treatment, pleural and pericardial effusions, as well as pleural and pulmonary fibrosis and constrictive pericarditis, have occasionally been reported. Patients with unexplained pleuropulmonary disorders should be examined thoroughly and discontinuation of Parlodel therapy should be considered. In those instances in which Parlodel treatment was terminated, the changes slowly reverted towards normal.

In a few patients on Parlodel, particularly on long-term and high-dose treatment, retroperitoneal fibrosis has been reported. To ensure recognition of retroperitoneal fibrosis at an early reversible stage it is recommended that its manifestations (e.g., back pain, edema of the lower limbs, impaired kidney function) should be watched in this category of patients. Parlodel medication should be withdrawn if fibrotic changes in the retroperitoneum are diagnosed or suspected.

from http://www.rxlist.com/parlodel-drug.htm