New

[Trese]

:) I am grateful to have found a place where I can talk to people like me. I felt so alone in this for so long. My father has RLS but never knew what it was until I figured it out but he does not live near me and I was left alone again.

I get sensations at night mostly and it has kept me up many nights. I have tried everything, (I think) without success. I am a runner and thought perhaps adusting how hard I run would make a difference. I am still playing with that one. I did find that the last two times I had an attack I would pull my legs up under me while on my stomach and stayed on my elbows, this actually worked. I stayed in that position for appx 5 mins (while I read my book) and then layed down and walla, gone! I was surprised. I am still waiting to see if it works every time. I get RLS a lot but not every night.

Anyway, thank you for being here and I hope to learn more.

Trese

[ViewsAskew]

Welcome, Trese. Lots of us find that putting out legs into a position the pulls and tightens the muscle can help. Since my leg RLS is in my thighs only, hurdle stretches work great for me. I can even get my leg into that position in bed and fall asleep. It causes problems with my hip, however, but it took 30 years of doing it to start the hip problem.

I just had a memory of being a teen with RLS and figuring out that hurdle stretches worked. I remember trying to tell my grandmother (who had nasty RLS by that time) that she should try it. She didn't. I also remember that feeling I had of "Gosh, I've figured it out! All you need to do is what I do." She was probably about 55-60 at the time. I'm approaching 50 and I have a much better understanding of how ridiculous that idea was!

It's the second part of my idea that I laugh at the most now. It took a long time, but after I'd done at least 4 or 5 things for awhile only to have them stop working or the RLS get worse and have to find something else to work, I finally realized that not only isn't there one solution...but that it doesn't mean it works forever or that it will work for someone else.

With that, I hope you find LOTS of great ideas here. Some of them may work, some may not. Some may work now, but not in the future or vice versa. Trial and error...sometimes quickly, sometimes not. But, most of us find ways that really do work and help us tremendously.

I highly suggest starting with the sticky posts in each section, particularly this one and the non-pharma. I hope you find what you need here.

[Sojourner]

T, Another hello and welcome to the family. I frequently will knee (prayer-like) with my elbows on the couch. Sometime have actually dozed off that way. Again, welcome and best wishes,

M.

[Polar Bear]

Hi and welcome,

I find if I can get to it quickly enough, say when watching a movie at home, that if I lie on the couch on my tummy, knees bent and feet in the air, it can buy a little time, till the movie is over and I go and do something mobile.

When travelling in a car as a back seat passenger I once had to kneel on the floor, elbows on the rear seat. This was in February 2007 when on holiday in Canada and travelling from Niagara Falls to north Toronto in a snow storm such as I had never experienced in my life. I must have looked to other travellers in other vehicles as tho I was praying for safety.

[Trese]

Thank you all so much for the replies. I look forward to learning from everyone and I will certainly share if I discover any statagies that work for me. This is great! Being 50 years old and having lived with this for so long by myself I find this a light in the tunnel just to be able to talk with others that share my experience. Again thank you, Trese

[ctravel12]

Hi Trese and welcome to this site.
When I have a bad bout with rls and cannot sleep I also kneel in bed with my knees up to my chest and my face in the pillow and try to fall asleep that way. Not always successful but at least I try. If that does not work then I sit on the edge of the bed and swing my legs back and forth until I get totally exhausted and finally fall asleep.

We are willing to do just anything to get relief.

You may want to read some good sites on this board.
www.rlshelp.org and www.wemove.org

[Scarlett46]

Hello!
I am also a runner with RLS. I find that on the days (yes, I have RLS during the day) that it is bad, I can't wait to get home and run! I don't run hard, or fast, but just "shaking it out" and then a good stretch afterwards really helps.

I often sit on my feet at work, switching often. On really bad days, I turn my chair around, kneel on the seat and sit back on my feet, and lean my chest over the back rest on my chair to work on my computer.

And I always sleep on my side with one leg curled up almost to my chest. Sometimes I turn away from my husband and "bicycle" my legs until I fall asleep.

[Betty/WV]

This forum is like a port in a storm, Terese. I have had RLS forever, it seems. Tried everything, now I am getting some relief from Mirapex and Klonopin. Don't know how long it will last. But I just find it great to be able to sleep. Some of the friends were saying how they kneel or lay on their stomachs with knees drawn up. That reminded me of what I would do. To watch TV I would kneel on the floor in front of a chair. Sometimes I would read that way or lay my head on the chair just to get some relief.

I feel the same as you and most everyone else at this site. No one ever really understood what RLS was like, they would just look at me as if to say, "Big deal, you had a bad night!!!? There were nights when I would pour my heart out at this computer, standing up as I was typing. Tears running down my face, because I knew that the next day I would be wiped out. But it was such a relief to know that those who read my posts understood exactly what I was going through.

So, welcome and I hope it makes you feel better to vent when things get tough.

I wish you peace and good nights sleep. BETTY/WV