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Restless leg syndrome

Old 04-29-2007, 08:26 PM
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Restless leg syndrome

I posted a thread about lexapro a few days ago and a high percntage of people that responded mentioned RLS. RLS is fairly rare and not much is known about the cause or treatment. To those of you with RLS have any of you found ways to get some relief. Sometimes it doesnt bother me for months and then other times I get it severly for a few weeks. Benzos always worked for me, but I got addicted for 10 years and I really shouldnt be taking them. I tried requipe and that was awful. Didnt help the symptoms and I was awake all night, and groggy the next day. If any one has any suggestions I would be really grateful.
I am also curious to know if anyone has found things that might trigger it. I know it is neurological, but Sometimes I think certain types of food might be a trigger. If anyone has any suggestions I could really use some help.
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Old 04-29-2007, 09:27 PM
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Okay. I take Depakote and Seroquel for bi polar Type I .

I had terrible RLS for months.

My doctor gradually reduced the Seroquel to a minimum...

And added Trazadone at night...a calming anidepressant.

Works like a charm...no more RLS.

Love,



Sherry
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Old 04-30-2007, 12:40 AM
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Ok, I have RLS, but mine is caused by neuropathy. I am on Neurontin, 300mg in morning and 300mg at night and it has really calmed the RLS and helps a great deal with the other pains of neuropathy.

I too am on Lexapro and without it, no one, and I do mean no one would be able to be around me, lol

J M H O

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Old 04-30-2007, 02:50 AM
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Requip, in doses .25, .5, 1.0 taken once a day works great!! I take the 1.0 dose. Although it is recommended at bedtime when restless legs are usually at their worst, I take it around noon or 1p for me.

Honestly, this is not a promotion for this drug. Their is another new one on the market, I think called Miramax (or something like that but have not tried it).

I don't know the expense of these drugs. My husband is an MD so I get them free from the pharmacy reps.

I take 20mg Lexapro each morning.

jane
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Old 04-30-2007, 08:00 AM
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Sometimes I won't be bothered with symptoms for months, then BAM it's excruciating. Massaging my legs, a hot bath, stretching all help but if these don't help I have to take a tylenol #1.
Strangely, since stopping anti d's 4+ months ago, I've had few incidents.
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Old 04-30-2007, 08:23 AM
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I get that at night sometimes when it's right after I've gone to bed. What I do, as hard as it is I know! is to lay flat on your back and don't move a muscle. Concentrate on your legs first, and then in you mind tell yourself "now I'm relaxing my hips, then, belly, hands, arms, neck. Pretty soon that your whole body is relaxed completely. This is also a great way to get relaxed and fall asleep for insomnia. Please try this, it works for me!
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Old 04-30-2007, 08:27 AM
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I have this problem too and yes, it comes and goes. For me, stress has a lot to do with it. I did find that when I was trying different antidepressants, Paxil really bothered me, but I haven't tried lexapor.

I talked to my dr and asked about Requip but she said I would need to see a neurologist first, so I haven't acted on that.

Like Rowan, I try massaging, baths, walking. I have found that Advil can help sometimes, but I agree it's a nuisance.
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Old 04-30-2007, 09:21 AM
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for me, magnesium in powdered form helps. There is a product called "natural calm" that I take at bedtime, which is pure natural magnesium. I mix half a tsp ful into a cup of warm water. It tastes pleasant, like lemonwater.

Magnesium is a large muscle relaxer, but it is not a sedative. It acts like a nervine food, meaning it nourishes, or, brings greater amounts of nutritive oxygen and minerals directly to the spinal nerves.

I also massage my legs with organic sesame oil, which is a traditonal methjod of reducing nervous sensitivty. Sesame oil is best but others work.

Yoga helps for body-mind-spirit stretching and stabilizing. The yogic practice of grounding and anchoring the energy is probably one of the safest drug-free methods of addressing central nervous system disorderrs that I know of.

If you can find some community yoga classes or start a practice on your own, it may help you.

Good luck. Let us know what works foir you~~
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Old 04-30-2007, 09:35 AM
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Oh yeah Miss communicat that reminded me - when I remember to take cal/mag before bed, it helps a lot too.
Now .. to do something about my memory so I can remember to take it ...
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Old 04-30-2007, 09:39 AM
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hehe rowan
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Old 04-30-2007, 09:45 AM
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Hi Rowan I have friend with RSL so posts were interesting - since yours mentioned memory - what I have is a personalized home page with "Things to do" right in the middle you can list the items you want but I have REMEMBER PILLS DOWN A COUPLE OF TIMES so each time I go to my home page I see PILLS - they are a pain to remember arn't they
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Old 04-30-2007, 09:49 AM
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they are a pain - but that's a great idea. Thanks!
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Old 04-30-2007, 12:10 PM
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Thanks for the magnesium suggestion. I will try taking my calcium/mag supplement at bedtime and see if it helps.
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Old 04-30-2007, 01:02 PM
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When I was on seroquel the RLS was absolutely unbearable. I had to stop taking it.
The Dr. i have now gave me a script for trazadone, but I didnt fill it yet. Now that I know it might be of some relief I will go pick them up. I used to take cal/mag, but couldnt be sure if it worked or not. I think I will give that a try again because it seems to be getting worse. I still have the requip here maybe I should just give it another chance I only took one 2.5 mg then you increase the dosage gradually, but I really think that made me really cranky and didnt sleep well at all. Found myself in a weird state I know I was dreaming but didnt feel like I slept much at all.

LAurie6781. Do you mind if I ask you what neuropathy is.

Miss communicat how are you doing? I have been thinking about trying yoga. Not exactly in the position to pay for classes, but I can try and get a tape fromt the library I know they have them there.
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Old 04-30-2007, 01:19 PM
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My doctor said it was the Seroquel....it was unbearable......

feeling foggy and anxious. Trazadone at night ....i fall asleep

fast..very little RLS these days. If your doc gave you the

script...you probably should take that before trying other things

that might be dangerous mixed with your prescribed meds.

Love,

:

Sherry

(Remember..even herbal meds are meds.)
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Old 04-30-2007, 06:28 PM
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I have horrible RLS brought about by nutritional issues from gastric bypass as well as family history of it. I take up to 2mg of Requip per night. Other than going through a periord of yawning uncontrollably for about 30min and at times becoming deathly sick to my stomach for 30min (usually only when I take the 2mg all at once) it has been a miracle drug for me.

It is so bad and one of the reasons I drank to pass out (I couldn't stand the sensations!) It took a while to get adjusted to the Requip and my doctor has asked if I wanted to try something else but I'll take 30min of discomfort a night than the hours of h*ll I used to!

Hugs,
Kellye
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Old 04-30-2007, 08:32 PM
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LAurie6781. Do you mind if I ask you what neuropathy is.
It is damaged nerves. My nerves got damaged by all the alcohol I drank, it burned off the coverings that normally protect the nerve endings. Now the nerves in my legs send erroneous messages. I will get stabbing pains from the heel all the way up the leg, or my legs will feel like someone has thrown burning gasoline on them. I also get twitches and my legs jerk (RLS).

I also have neuropathy in my arms, but it is peripheral neuropathy caused by my diabetes. Again, the nerves are dying because of the irratic amounts of insulin in my body, so one are or the other will go numb down to the hand. The medication I take helps to keep the symptom episodes at a minimum.

Hope that answers your questions.

I am glad you are doing so well BFree, that is great.

Love and hugs,
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Old 05-01-2007, 12:03 AM
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I take ropinirole (requip/repreve) and it's been fantastic. You have to remember to start very low, like 0.5mg and work up weekly. Otherwise it can make you very sick. I only need 1mg. My sleep Dr told me to stay away from ALL over the counter sleep aids because most of them are anti-histamines based and aggravate RLS making it unbearable. Anti Psychotics like seroquel, prescribed for sleep can also aggravate RLS greatly because it blocks your dopamine.

There are lots of treatments for it now. Google RLS and look at some sites, they really helped me. There is a bunch of natural remedies and medical treatments available these days. I hope this was of some help to all fellow funky leg sufferers. It drove me NUTS for years!!!!!!!
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Old 05-02-2007, 10:43 AM
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I am thinking about trying the requip again, but I am not sure. I only took it once and didnt like it but I suppose I should have given it more of a chance. I did some research on RLS and from what I read it said only 2.7% of the general population have it.

there seems to be a bunch of us fellow sufferers here on this site so I am wondering if there is any crrelation between RLS and addiction. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Did most of you have the RLS before you started using or do you think it started after you started using. I am just curious.

The first time I got it I was 5 or 6. I remember clearly cause it happened while watching mary poppins at radio city. I had no idea what it was and really didnt know how to explain it. It was years after that that I finally heard of RLS.

I think I will go google and see if I can get some more info. I am really tired of having this. I used to only get it at night, but now I find I get it during the day also.
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Old 05-02-2007, 10:54 AM
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From a non-medical, or, rather from a complementary medical viewpoint, RLS seems to have to do with nerve conduction and hyper sensitivity.

Like Laurie said, the alcohol damages the nerve sheaths, leaving the nerve itself exposed and highly reactive to stimilui....kind of like a "hair-trigger" response to even the subtlest stimulus including respiration and cardiac pulses.

But its not so much the alcohol itself that wrecks our nerves as it is the fact that drinking lots of it depletes the body's water-soluble B-Vitamins. Add to that poor nutrition, lack of oxygenating exrcise, stress chemicals and stress cycles that we put ourselves in, and it is easy to see the pattern develop.

While drugs may intervene for a while, it is so important to include diet changes when possible. Whole grains, vegetables and fruits, good quality proteins, limited nerve toxins like sugar and caffeine will go along way to reducing symptoms.....

......In my very humble opinion, based on my own experience in my own body as well as a health practitioner.
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