Restless leg syndrome

Anybody! I'm so tired all the time. At first I thought my restless legs had something to do with blood thinners that I have to take because of thrombosis in my legs. However, Dr. says no relation to the two. So I began to think maybe not enough hydration but I am always sipping on water.  It's so frustrating because I want to sleep but my legs will not settle down. Nothing seems to help. I'm ready to climb the walls and hang upside down like a bat. 

low magnesium can cause restless legs. I take magnesium and I also use a prescribed medication  that is great,Sinemet 25/100. It is actually a Parkinson's disease medication ,but help with restless legs too.

Low iron - ferritin can cause that Also.. 

When my ferritin gets below 20 I get RLS. 

I've been taking magnesium too.  I've read it's good for restless legs, anxiety and depression.  I take 2 tsp of Natural Calm every night.  I don't have restless legs, but you never know, it may help you!

There is a diet supplement called "Calm"It comes in a powder and you dilute it with water...and drink it before bed.It is amazing and an incredible holistic practioner recommended for me...Found in good health stores

I am so sorry that you are going through the pain of RLS, I too am a person who has severe restless legs and if I didn't have the such a fantastic and intelligent sleep doctor, I would be dead.  Also, because I used to be a sleep tech - doing sleep studies on patients, there are so many reason why and how people get RLS....anything from low ferriten (iron levels), advanced - end stage renal failure, pregnancy, multiple sclerosis, other neurological conditions, genetics, etc etc.....so, for you it could be anything but the main point is to find treatment.  It took so long to find a treatment that has now been working for about 4 years and after trying every single medication; and so many didn't work or they worked but had horrific side effects.  I was down to the last option: methadone.  

The other pain meds like vicoden, etc....worked o.k. but I would still have at least an hour - two per night of leg episode....but that was an improvement bc before that things were worse.  It took a while to figure out the right dose of the methadone; but a very small amount compared to people taking methadone for other reasons.  Also, when I first started the methadone, I had horrific nausea....the kind that is debilitating....it took 6 months of sleeping on the bathroom floor and/or just lying in bed with my eyes closed..non of the anti-nasea meds worked for me and some I was allergic to.  

However compared to the pain from the legs....I would have spent the rest of my life in bed bc nothing for myself is worse then my legs.  When people ask me about the pain, I tell them that I'd prefer breaking a leg, arm or what ever, 100 times everyday than put up with one hour of restless legs.  

My doctor said that it will get worse over time and over the past 4 years, we've had to increase the dose a little bit every year.  I now need about 4 5mg tablets (2 in the am and 2 at night).  And it has saved my life.  I still think about what would happen if something went wrong and it stopped working or whatever and I know that suicide would be the only option bc for me, that type of relentless and never-ended pain is not worth living with.  I hope that yours is not that severe.   

I'm so grateful that my doctor is so amazing.  He saved my life and continues to.  

Take care and I hope that this info helps a bit....at lease knowing there are more options out there than most doctors know about.  Personally I would recommend a sleep doctor or a neurologist.  I haven't seen much on-line of any one using methadone for RLS (By the Way, it has a new name now).  

I wish you the best and I understand what your going through.  

Take care

Thank you so much for your advice and story. I'm not nearly as bad as what you have to live with. But the nights that I do get RLS, Are never ending and painful. I don't have it every night. It is weird, I will have for one or two nights and then good for almost a week. Then it comes back. Maybe the iron levels are a beginning. I spent three years Vomitting at nights but I thought it was because of my twisted stomach. I would not take any meds for two years. It was horrible. But since my RNY as a revision to previous gastric stapling, I only have the RLS problem. The internal meds Dr that I had to see for surgery is also a sleep Dr. Anyway I called him to ask him if my blood thinner meds had anything to do with RLS. He said not at all. But I think I will make an appointment to talk to him further about the occasional sleepless nights and your suggestions. Great direction