Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

I've had RLS since as far back as I can really remember. It doesn't kick in every single night, but when it does, it is extremely annoying and can cause me to lose hours of sleep. What I do to relieve the symptoms is get up and do about 5 minutes of leg excersises or stretches. Manipulating your brain by shifting the focus from rest/sleep to active movement seems to give me about a 5-10 minute window to get back in bed and fall asleep before the symptoms arise again. I have read that there is some sort of iron/magnesium defficiency due not so much to a lack of these supplements in our bodies, but because a receptor in our brain does not give the adequate amounts of iron and magnesium to the proper places in our brains when we go into rest/sleep mode which leads to this condition. I am no doctor and I am not saying that taking these supplements will not help, but it sure didn't for me and many others from what I've read. The only catch to the excersise/stretch theory is that you do get a little worked up and trying to fall asleep immediately afterwards can be tough at times with your body temparature and heart rate up. And by the time you are ready to fall asleep, so much time has passed that your brain is backin rest mode and the symptoms come back, thus causing this process to be done all over again. However, this works for me and I must take the positive with the negative as laying around in bed miserable and awake for hours is the other option and not one that I enjoy. Hope this helps.

Hi I have a bad/troublesome case of RLS. I have been taking physical therapy and that definitely helps. I get the pains when I sit for an extended period of time or when I go to bed. My most troublesome time is when I go to bed, the pains start when I lie down. An item of great relief for me is the exercise cycle. I pump for 1 1/2 hours and it works. I can count on possibly two or even more hours of sleep.

An other help exercise for me is walking. I walk the dog outside for like 1/2 hour or less. That does help.

I also go to a health club, pump the bike, do some stretch exercises which the physical therapist suggested, then a little weights, then sit in the whirlpool. All does help.

However, all I seem to do is pospone the pains. They always come back.