RLS - Restless Leg Syndrome Message Board

shannonduke · 09-09-2003, 10:54 PM

Although I have not been diagnosed by my doctor with RLS, I have had the horrible symptoms since I can remember. When I was eleven, I had extensive tests that showed nothing and those doctors told me it was growing pains and because I had flat feet. They told me it would go away as I got older. Well, I am now 30 and I still have them. My legs start bugging me no more than 15 minutes after I lay down for bed. It starts out like a deep itch then it turns into a very painful pulling deep in my lower legs. I can't help but move my legs, if I try to hold them still, it makes everything worse. There has been more than one night when I have had to stay up all night either sitting with my legs stretched out or walking the floor. My family doctor has given me muscle relaxers but they don't work at all. I am trying magnesium to see if that will help but I am at my wits end.

Do any of you have any suggestions as to what I could try that would provide any relief so I can actually sleep like a normal person?

Shannon

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Grant me patience with the changes that take time, Appreciation of all I have, Tolerance of those with different struggles and Strength to get and try again one day at a time.

BrianKosh · 09-11-2003, 06:01 PM

No.

And risk of losing my membership on this board, I am posting this piece of info.. (sometimes helping an individual would be a bit more important than a TOS, especially if it was life threatning and could save someone's life.. although this isn't one of those situations, it could have been.)

"Although it's been long-suspected that iron deficiency had something to do with RLS, a study found that a specific receptor for iron transport is lacking in patients with RLS. When that mechanism malfunctions, enough iron gets into the brain cells to keep them alive, but not enough so that they function optimally. That missing iron may cause a misfiring of neural signals to the legs creating the creepy-crawly feelings.

This doesn't necessarily mean that a person has dietary iron-deficiency and needs supplements, It means only that these receptors aren't packaging and delivering an adequate amount of iron to the specific cells in this portion of the brain.

This explains why some patients find temporary relief from iron supplements, but it is important that any supplementation therapy be managed by a physician.

Although not FDA-approved for the treatment of RLS, a few prescription drugs, which have been approved for other conditions, have temporarily relieved symptoms in some patients. One such drug is that used in Parkinson's disease to calm tremors. The cells in the brain in RLS that are iron deficient are the cells that make the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine synthesis requires iron and this is the likely reason that small amounts of the drugs that are used to treat Parkinson's patients can be effective in RLS.org"