Restless legs, losing the will to live

[IneedcoffeeinanIV]

For weeks on end now I have been suffering so much with restless legs. Sounds ridiculous to say suffering but it's driving me absolutely insane. It's started moving into my arms now so I'm spending hours tossing and turning and when I finally manage to sleep through sheer exhaustion, I'm up within 4 hours with both kids and then working full time. I honestly cannot do this for another night. I'm taking magnesium supplements, trying to keep as hydrated as I can but nothing is working. Does anyone have any remedies at all? I'll be eternally grateful

No but am following for tips as I get restless legs too. It's infuriating!

Iron supplements and magnesium help me. It's torture, you have my sympathies.

Sorry you're suffering. I take magnesium daily. It helps.

I should probably be taking iron. I lost quite a lot of blood in labour with DD2 and haven't really taken anything. I didn't want the prescribed ones as I had them with DD1 and the constipation after having an episiotomy left me traumatised. Gonna have to start taking them though if they will help ease this off

My first guess is that you have magnesium deficiency. It can cause horrible restless legs/muscles as well as cramping. Take magnesium glycinate, (it must be glycinate), every day, and get magnesium oil spray as soon as you can. Use it at night on your legs, every night, until your legs settle down, and take the oral supplements at the same time and continue the oral supplements indefinitely.

The first several times you use the spray your skin may itch like mad but this is totally normal and will go away. You only need to leave the spray on your skin for 20-30 minutes so feel free to rinse it off if you wish.

I suffered for years with this, it started during pregnancy and it gradually worsened until i barely slept at all.
There are medications available, please see your GP and tell him or her that you have restless legs sleep disorder and they can prescribe something for you. I would research which meds are currently prescribed as some are not recommended these days.
The medication I take, a dopamine agonist , has been extremely effective for me but some people have problems with it and I don't think it is a first line one any longer.
But please see the your GP, you don't have to suffer with this. There is also quite a bit of online help and info, forums etc, out there. Get googling!

Ooooo: Just had a google. I've been suffering with terrible headaches lately too so that will explain those as well

I'm going to call the doctors tomorrow. I felt so daft complaining about this but it's nice to know it's not just me (not nice that you're all suffering to but nice that I'm not being pathetic). I just want some solid sleep. Starting to feel like I'm getting to a burnt out point and I don't have time for a breakdown right now ahaha

Compression socks, braces, weighted blankets all work but hell in this heat. Maybe slightly less hell than not being able to stop twitching though.

Pressure on the soles of my feet helps, it's something to do with "plantar pressure" and the muscle groups there but it can help. I literally just tie bandages or even socks tight around my feet so there's constant pressure on the under arches.

To be honest I have also been known to pummel my legs until I'm black and blue with bruises, and while this actually does help I don't recommend it.

You have my sympathies OP, it's absolutely bloody horrible.

Personay, I wouldn't bother calling the doctor unless the magnesium and iron supplements didn't work, but of course up to you. The odds are excellent that you are magnesium deficient and you can easily remedy this yourself. The magnesium spray treatment works very quickly. You should see results by the second night.

Excellent shout with the compression socks, I'll buy a few hand fans to make it more bearable. I've been tempted to start fighting my legs on several occasions so I'll probably be joining up in the black and blue club very soon. I've tried so many times to come to her early when it's DPs turn for the night feeds and I feel all fine and relaxed and then the second I close my eyes, the twitches start. My youngest is still in our bedroom currently so I've taken to the sofa a lot of time so I don't wake up from moving around and making the bed creak

Magnesium, and also quinine, oddly enough. Drink some tonic water before bed!

I think it's low iron causing mine, just started on Spatone and a magnesium supplement so hoping one or the other helps, it's miserable.

I have some spartone actually, I'm going to start taking it daily. At least point I'd eat a snail to get rid of it, it honestly feels like I am going insane

Mine are linked to hormones so getting those even helped a lot. Restless legs drove me mad in pregnancy and were starting up again with peri menopause - HRT helps. It is also a lot worse if I have any alcohol at all.

I have a relative in the USA that takes methadone for them, which is insane, but he was very unhappy.

If it continues to affect you then definitely see the doctor. Gabapentin can really help with restless legs..

To everyone who's starting to take magnesium, especially to treat restless legs or cramping...

Don't just take an oral supplement in the beginning. It will take weeks for it to have any discernable impact. You really need to use a magnesium oil spray for a couple of weeks to get the relief you so desperately need. The spray is not expensive and is easy to get. Amazon has several different brands.

I am so so glad to see I'm not being dramatic with this. When I first mentioned it to DP I felt ridiculous as I guess to someone that's never had it, it just sounds like a cramp or something but it just feels like actual creatures in my muscles that won't ever stop moving

I agree with previous posts re: magnesium spray. Spray on to legs before bed, rub it in well. It leaves a tingling itching sensation on legs until you get used to it, but it’s well worth it, starts to work after a couple of nights.

RLS is awful, you have my sympathy.

I'll start with the obvious which I am sure you don't do but smoking and alcohol are triggers for RLS.

If you take antihistamines make sure they are of the 'newer generation', eg loratadine; the 'old generation ones', such as diphenhydramine or promethazine, exacerbate RLS. Many sleeping tablets, eg Zopiclone and Zolpidem are terrible!

Copied from Web MD: Incorporate a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet with an emphasis on dark leafy greens. Eat a variety of iron-rich foods like lean meat. Include seeds, tree nuts, and legumes in your diet. Avoid processed foods, sugar, and fried foods.

Drink plenty of water and take a Magnesium supplement. Magnesium oil (such as 'BetterYou'), sprayed on and rubbed in to legs, feet and affected parts is extremely helpful but messy so have an old towel handy and put on some old pj bottoms and loose socks after applying.

Have blood tests to ensure you are not iron deficient, or have B12 or folate deficiencies.

Take red vine tablets; Healthspan's Vein Vine is very good but Boots, Superdrug, Holland and Barrett and other own brands are just as good. Antistax gel applied locally is good for circulation which helps.

'Hyland's Restful Legs' sublingual tablets have been recommended by many RLS sufferers.

De-stress as much as possible.

What type of magnesium are you taking?

I take magnesium malate. I take more than the recommended dose (6 capsules instead of 4) and it does work.

The over the counter magnesium is magnesium oxide and it's not very effective.

Not useful for the RLS, but a bit of prune juice everyday is helpful for the constipation with the iron.

Spa tone is good stuff.

As everyone else has said, magnesium, magnesium, magnesium. I know TikTok is problematic, but it also has a wealth of information on health issues, why you are feeling like this, and how to up your magnesium levels. See if you can find some helpful videos on restless legs and magnesium deficiency.

I had recurrent muscle cramps, esp in one calf, and eye tics until a friend got me on to spraying the soles of my feet, underarms and tummy every night. It's quite astonishing the difference, and I am back to square one if I slack off. Epsom salt baths and good quality sprays are way more effective than supplements you ingest, as even the most potent pills will lose 40/60% of their potency before absorption.

P.S. If you spray yourself, and it stings, that's a classic sign you are hugely deficient. I like to have no reaction at all, so I know my levels are good

I have suffered from rls 24/7 for 40+ years. My GP admitted she knew little about it. After 15 years without medication I was prescribed the dopamine agonist Ropinerole. At that time the max dose was daily 4mg. Experts now say it should be no more than 1mg daily to try to avoid the almost inevitable augmentation. This is when the drug actually makes your rls worse. It took me 10 months to wean off it.
It is no longer first line treatment and I would avoid it like the plague because of the augmentation.

The web site rls.org is excellent. Based in the USA it is a registered charity and has members worldwide. There are published papers available without joining....other papers are only available to members.
If you go to the site you should then go to the Discussion Board. You can read this without joining. To ask a question you need to register. It is very informative and literally saved me 20 years ago when no-one knew much about rls.

The cause is believed to be a lack of blood ferritin serum in the brain. I did take daily oral iron to try and raise my fs level but without great success. There can be other triggers but a high fs level helps. Normal fs can be 20+ but an rls sufferer should aim to get their fs iron level up to around 100. Over the counter remedies rarely help for any length of time, if at all.
Most sufferers like myself who suffer 24/7 find that an opioid will bring relief. I take cocodamol 30/500 x 2 with great success.
There is a Mayo Clinic Algorithm for the treatment of rls, many links are on the above mentioned discussion board. I'm sure it could be found using Google.

This is a horrible disease and even many neurologists are not well versed in its treatment and are often outdated and still prescribing a DA.
Pregabalin or Gabapentin can be helpful at the correct dosage albeit with side effects.
Cocodamol works for me.
It would be great if a sufferer could get their doctor to even prescribe the cocodamol for a few days so they could try it out.
I wish all sufferers the benefit of an understanding doctor.