Vein Clinic Consult

[IThinkImInTorture]

Hello

I went to get a Vein Clinic consult with a follow up leg vein ultrasound Thursday. The vein doctor says many people who get varicose vein removal treatment due to venous insufficiency notice their Restless Leg Syndrome symptoms are treated with good results.

Anybody else had the sclerotherapy or other vein procedure done and notice it treated your RLS symptoms?

Thoughts?

[Polar Bear]

Possibly 20 years ago I had treatment for a varicose vein on one leg. The Consultant told me it would have no affect on my RLS and indeed there was no difference on my RLS after surgery. I am unaware which method of treatment was used.

[badnights]

worth a try. I read a few papers on it. I think they were all (or 2 out of three?) written by people who worked at one vein clinic, but I still think it would be worth trying if you have varicose veins.

[IThinkImInTorture]

I had the ultrasound today which revealed blood pooling in my great saphenous vein in both legs. I’m scheduling the next step procedure of destroying the veins as ~20% of vein disease patients had RLS symptom relief.

[badnights]

Did you have the procedure? I hope you can get it soon, if not. I want it to work for you!

[IThinkImInTorture]

I had ablation done on both the left and right great saphinus vein and also sclerotherapy.Doc says could take up to a year to tell but that is just lip service.
I am controlling my RLS nicely with 2xAleve, 4xmagnesium glycinate and 10,000ug of biotin nightly.
I can no longer run because of excess weight and bad knees so I never have really bad RLS as long as I take the regiment above.

[badnights]

Wow, it's nice that that regimen works. I hope the surgery fixes it permanently

[Carolina]

My vein specialist thinks that my RLS will stop or be less once I have vein ablation for both legs. I hope so. Meanwhile I have been working myself off pramipexole because the side effects were unpleasant. The RLS has not been bothering me so far. I am wondering if that is because I started wearing compression socks when my ankles stayed swollen all the time due to vericose veins and venous insufficiency. Pramipexole, I have taken for about 9 months. At first 0.25 mg/day. After a week I just tapered down to 0.125 a day and then yoyoed awhile. Then I settled on 0.0625/ day. Is this a low enough dose that DAWS is not a big problem? From time to time I notice an unusual tiredness, or slight lightheadedness, or extra anxiety. Maybe worrying causes all this. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[Rustsmith]

Stopping from a dose of 0.0625/day of pramipexole is low enough that true DAWS should not be a problem. You may still experience some insomnia and increased RLS symptoms, but that is due to the pramipexole withdrawal. The symptoms of DAWS are depression and anxiety and usually are an issue when people try to quit cold turkey from doses like 0.75mg/day or more.

[NeverGivingUp]

Carolina, I have a friend who is a vascular surgeon. We were having lunch and he advised me to wear compression hose and see it that helps my severe RLS. Before we got to that, here is how the conversation went. . . I am SO hopeful. He listened to me for a bit and then asked about the standard things. . . Have I tried a magnesium supplement, iron levels, etc. Then he asked a question that caught my attention immediately. "Is the RLS worse in your left leg?" I said "absolutely" and asked how he knew (I have mentioned that 93% of the time it begins in my left leg to sleep study doc and PCP who didn't say anything worth typing here . He said there is a vein in our left leg that has to cross the body to get where it ends up and that he can put a stent in (I'm getting more detail at my appt coming up) and at least get my left leg to have the same level of RLS that my right does (which is not much). Back to the compression hose. . . he asked me to wear them all day (not night) as well as elevate my legs above my heart for a bit each day and see if those things help. If they do he believes the stent will also help. Fingers crossed! Hope this helps you or anyone else. Pramipexole gave me bad augmentation. Best of luck and so sorry you have RLS.

[Polar Bear]

NeverGivingUp - thank you for this. We are always happy to hear the experiences of another RL S sufferer and look forward to hearing from you again with your opinion on the compression hose and your leg elevation. Good luck.

[badnights]

From time to time I notice an unusual tiredness, or slight lightheadedness, or extra anxiety. Maybe worrying causes all this. Any thoughts? Thanks.

These are all things that everyone feels from time to time. It's easy for us to fall into a trap of scanning ourselves for symptoms and worrying about perfectly normal variations.

Good for you on having the foresight to reduce the pramipexole! I hope both compression sox and medication can be thrown out after your surgery.

[badnights]

he asked me to wear them all day (not night) as well as elevate my legs above my heart for a bit each day and see if those things help. If they do he believes the stent will also help.

This is the second time lately we've heard that raising the legs might benefit WED/RLS. (The other one: viewtopic.php?p=108072#p108072) This time, there's an interesting connection with vein surgery - the surgeon's experience seems to be that if the pose relieves the WED/RLS, then vein surgery would probably help. This is interesting stuff to follow.

PS I love your user name

[Carolina]

After seven vein ablations my RLS is less but not gone. At my recent 3 month after the last ablation check up my doctor did another ultrasound and said all veins were closed as they should be. The problem I told him is that my ankles are still swelling, especially the left. He mentioned that 80% of the time the ablations take care of swelling which helps eliminate RLS. He thinks I have iliac vein compression which what NeverGivingUp mentioned. In 6 months he will have the equipment to test for and repair this condition with a stent. Has anyone found this helps? I already take Gabapentin and if the RLS gets bad then I take iron tablets. A pillow under my feet elevates them which I think helps. Thanks to all for your comments.

[NeverGivingUp]

Carolina,

I have an update for all interested. Ultrasound showed that I had "deep vein thrombosis". In February this year I completed the procedure where the Dr put stents in to repair the compressed area in my Iliac vein. He said that when he got in and could see the vein it was "flat as a pancake" in one area. He put in 2 stents and then another area collapsed (which occasionally happens) so he put in a 3rd stent in. I am glad I have been able to increase the blood flow out of my legs.
Since the procedure I have been able to reduce my Gabapentin. Yay! I have gone from 1000mg to 500mg. Most days I can stay at 500. Dr. did this procedure because the RLS was starting in my left leg 98% of the time. He said by doing the stents he thought he could bring my left leg down in RLS incident to "match" or be the same as whatever I had in my right leg. In other words, the reason he did the stent was specifically b/c RLS was so bad in the left which can be indicative of the May Thurners (compressed iliac vein). Now the little RLS that I have starts in right leg just as much as the left as is caused by other sources not iliac vein related.
I have noticed increased RLS during this allergy season but don't know for sure if that is the cause. I am also positive that corn and corn products such as High Fructose Corn Syrup cause increase in my RLS. I imagine there are other foods that keep me at 500mg but I am very happy to have reduced the amount I am taking. Gabapentin makes me sooooo sleepy. Good luck to you in your efforts. I wish you the best!!