Restless Leg - Update

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flutterbee

Guest
OK...all you restless leg sufferers..tell me if this is what you experience with it.

I tend to only get it when I'm really tired OR if I can't go to sleep and lie in bed for a long time. My legs jerk uncontrollably and/or I need to straighten them...hard. I also get it in my arms - need to straighten my elbows - and my back wants to arch. Then, my skin gets hypersensitive and anything that touches me - clothes, sheets, a hair - makes me jerk. It's a feeling somewhere between pain and tickling. It's like my joints - and my spine - itch deep down inside where you can't possibly scratch, too.

I'm seeing my regular doctor tomorrow for something else and I'm going to talk to her about this, but wondered if this is a pretty typical manifestation or not. Everything I read just talks about the legs, but doesn't mention the rest of the body or the skin hypersensitivity. It's really interfering with my sleep and I need something for it. Melatonin helps some - cause it helps me relax - but not always enough.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Heather

Sounds like what I have with it. I also have it in my arms and such, not just in the legs. Mine is caused by the kidney disease. doctor didn't seem surprised when I said I had it in other places.

This is why when I go back to the doctor I'm requesting a real honest to God SLEEPING pill. Right now he has me prescribed the Trazadone for sleep. Ok, sure. Helps me sleep, IF the restless leg thing isn't too bad. BUT I don't want to be on an AD for sleep when there are medications out there for it that aren't addictive. And the darn trazadone makes me tired all day, plus dulls my thinking. ugh

I hate it. It makes me have to wait til I'm exhausted to the point of not being able to keep my eyes open in order to sleep.

I haven't a clue if it might help you, but when the doctor put me on the B6, B12, and folic acid because I have that type of anemia, it helps with the restless leg. I still have it, but not as bad. (although mine is prescription strenght instead of over the counter)

Maybe doctor could check your blood levels for these?

Last thing you need is this too. :frown:

Hugs
 
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flutterbee

Guest
That's interesting, Lisa, because one of the things the neurologist was checking in the blood work was B-12. I'll be interested to see how that came out.
 

Steely

Active Member
I have it in my arms too........but not my legs. I have never known why, and I have never asked a Dr about it. I will be interested to see what you doctor says.

I take Ambien and it helps immensely with this sort of thing. I have so many sleep problems, and the Ambien helps every single one of them. My doctor wanted me to go off of it because it can be "addictive", but I told him if I had to go to a sleep clinic to get the right medications, I will do it, because I am not going back to sleeping (or trying to sleep) with-out it. Grrrrr. :frown:

Let us know how the doctor appointment. goes.
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
I don't have a severe problem but only my legs are involved. My
symptom is solely a "need to move" my legs with-o violent jerking.
Also, it only happens maybe ten or twenty times a year. No big
deal for me. An odd thing, however, is that if I take an OTC
sleeping pill (like Sominex, for example) I seem to be more likely to have the leg problem. I mention that because some of
you are seeking sleep aids to help and the opposite seems to be
true for me. DDD
 

Lothlorien

Active Member
Magnesium deficiency tends to cause this problem too. I know you've been taking it for some of the other issues, but I'm curious how much you are taking. I need to take 700 to 800 mg per day.
 
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flutterbee

Guest
She put me on Requip for restless leg. Gave me a 2 week sample. You start off at .25 mg and work up to 1mg. I hope it works. 3 hours of sleep last night/this morning.

I told her about what the neurologist said about the shrinking of my cerebellum and how he said he didn't know what it was from; maybe my age. I said I'm only 34 years old; how much shrinking should there be? She said none. She said at my age I should have a fully functioning cerebellum. She said if I were 80, she wouldn't think much of it. She thinks it's indicative of lack of blood flow. Coupled with my memory issues, word recall, sometime inability to follow conversation...she's thinking I had a small stroke. Back in April. That's when I had the really freaky symptoms and the conversation, word and memory issues started. Back when my former cardiologists wouldn't return my calls.

I really like my current doctor. But the rest of 'em.... :grrr:
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
Arrgh! How frustrating, Heather. I'll ask around and find out what I can about blood flow and brains and such.
In the meantime, I hope the Requip works.
Take care.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Heather,

I am very sorry. This sounds very painful, not to mention the lack of sleep.

I wonder if Lyrica would help? Just my musings, though it did stop my feeling of walking on ground glass and my clothes all hurting. Not just at night, not all the time, was hard to predict. The skin sensitivity is a MAJOR thing for me, so it had a LOT to work on. It does a great job, in my opinion.

It is used for a number of things. I haven't had the urge to repeatedly hyperextend my knees since I have been on it.

I hope the Requip works. Might be worth an ask about Lyrica.

Hugs, and hopes for a good nights sleep!

Susiestar
 

timer lady

Queen of Hearts
I don't share the joy of restless legs - I do have incredibly low vitamin b levels. I take the B complex vitamin every day & then twice a month the GP has me giving myself shots of vitamin B12, I believe it is.

Being that I no longer remember why we went there I really can't say if it's helping any symptoms. I do know that we've gotten the levels to an acceptable level for the docs.

Not sure if this helps or not.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
I've been given low dose valium to take if the restlessness and muscle spams are causing me enough problems to stop me from sleeping. I'm only taking 2 mg when needed, sometimes months can go by. I also only take it when I need to sleep (such as night time). The valium is nowhere near enough to sedate, but it does calm the legs down enough so I can sleep.

There can be different causes, it's always worth checking it out. Keeping your own medical diary can help too, because you can identify patterns and possible causes that way.

Marg
 
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