Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Before I was diagnosed with RLS and had this severe sleeping problems I went to the gym 3-5 times per week. The result was that over the months my strength, my mood and my energy dramatically improved. I've never felt so well! I did this for about 1 1/2 year until I had to stop because of my RLS and sleeping problems.

I've tried a lot to get back to my old exercise routine but I wasn't successful. It's kinda simple! If you don't sleep you have no energy and can't recover. In the past weeks my sleep improved and I started a new approach. Can't tell in which direction it is going. Normally my energy is pushed very fast but until now nothing really happened. I am going every second, after a hard workout every third day to the gym.

I wonder if someone here goes to the gym too and want's to share his experience.

I really hope that I can reactivate the effects I had before all this RLS/WED trouble started.

Medical literature says that in general exercising is one of the best things you can do for your health. But I also read that exercising can have negative effects on RLS/WED and worsen the symptoms. Until now I can't report improvement or worsening. Normally my mood improves pretty fast when I start exercising but this didn't happen this time. Instead I had a depressive mood swing, maybe because of L-Dopa.

I do hope a lot that I can reactivate my old routine because I have never felt so good before and after I was regularly going to the gym. I can't see how I will be able to manage life without the energy and motivation I was getting from exercising.

I usually manage to get to the gym once a week. However, I am a competition class runner and usually get in three hard workouts each week in addition to doing weights in the gym. So far, I have not seen any correlation between my RLS symptoms and either the workouts or my racing schedule. But this weekend might end up providing a key indicator to that since I will be racing a marathon tomorrow and then have to fly cross country first thing Sunday. That was never a great thing to do before my WED got severe, so I am not sure what I will be like on Sunday.

As for my running, I cannot conceive of my life without it (but I do expect to give up the competition level in a few more years). I started running relatively late in life and before that I had serious issues with depression. The running has resolved the depression problem. If I could not run and WED prevented me from taking antidepressants, I would probably end up in a very bad state.

Thank you for your input!

I play hockey 3 nights a week and play net in broomball 2 nights a week, for most of the winter. I just ripped my knee apart and can't play either, so I am going insane. Exercise is a life-saver, and I break all the rules and do it in the late evening because that's when the games are. For my body it's not late, anyway; I sleep in. But for someone who had to work/study early in the morning (i.e. at a normal time), who also had WED, it would not be possible to keep up that schedule.

Something like a gym, which I will have to do to stop the impending insanity, at least can happen at a more reasonable time of day. And it will help a lot. There were many, many times when I didn't feel like dragging my **** off to a game, but I forced myself to and it almost always paid off (once or twice I was really dragged out and should have stayed home). We're low in endogenous opioids, so it stands to reason that something that raises them will be good for us. I just feel great after a game, no matter if I played well or not.

I've found that regular exercise can mitigate RLS/WED. I've had to experiment with exercise type, timing, intensity and duration--and am still experimenting. One thing that regular exercise has helped me with is weight control. I've been taking a low dose of pramipexole for over two years and have gained weight (about 10 lbs/ 5 kg). Not much, but enough to put my BMI in the overweight range.

Here is what works for me:

Evening-- slow, rhythmic exercise on stationary bike for 30 to 45 minutes.
Days-- Plenty of walking and up-and-down movements , which has a relaxing effect. I carry a pedometer, and usually have at least 10,000 steps daily
Days-- Aerobic exercise 3 times weekly. Strength Training with weights twice weekly

Experiments--I'm trying some various other exercise types, including flexibility, Pilates, balance and foam roller.
I'm always on the lookout for new things to try.

I've been lucky. I have not had the life- devastating consequences from WED that many have. I've been able to maintain good control of WED with a low dose of pramipexole two hrs prior to bedtime for 2+ years and have never augmented . I'm experimenting with daily oral iron to increase ferritin level and reduce symptoms.

My RLS is in the severe stage. I find that if I work out too intensely in the evenings that I have a difficult night. Stretching and foam rolling of my legs and back help. Yoga is helpful because of all the stretching that I do.

srgraves01 wrote:My RLS is in the severe stage. I find that if I work out too intensely in the evenings that I have a difficult night. Stretching and foam rolling of my legs and back help. Yoga is helpful because of all the stretching that I do.

I do yoga as well, but I it's more useful as an ongoing thing that helps with general well-being, not as something that helps while I'm having symptoms.