I've had enough- today!

[Sezzy]

Hi this forum has been great

I'm 30 wks pregnant, anaemic and have sufferd RLS on and off my whole life and severely in all three of my pregnancies. My symptoms resolve after the births. This time, however, it's gotten really bad early. I had my first completely sleepless night last night after a run of worsening nights. My husband had to stay home from work today to take care of the kids while I slept.

So how come I can sleep during the day? tch...

With my first pregnancy I used diazapam occasionally over the last weeks and stopped it two weeks prior to the birth. It helped a bit.

With my second I used L-tryptophan which didn't help much with the initial struggle of getting to sleep but once I was out I'd get a good four hours without waking again. Doesn't seem to be working this time though...

I see my doctor tomorrow (who is also an acupuncturist so might try that.)
In the meantime I have been reading about codeine and have decided it will probably be OK to use that occasionally when I'm desperate. So tonight I will try one tablet (left over from husband's dental surgery). It has 500mg paracetamol and 30mg codeine. I just can't face another sleepless night. God-willing the codeine will work.

This forum has been really helpful

Thanks,

S.

[SquirmingSusan]

So how come I can sleep during the day? tch...

That is one of the weirdest parts of having RLS. Even when we get the other symptoms under control, many of us still can't sleep at the "normal" times. In my case, it about takes anesthesia to fall asleep before 4am, but if I wait until after 4am I can sleep easily until early afternoon.

Is there any way you can boost your iron levels? Oral iron supplements can be harsh anytime, but especially during pregnancy. Can you get iron shots or IV iron? Boosting the iron stores can help dramatically with RLS.

You'll probably want to talk to the doctor about the possibility of low doses of oxycontin or methadone for use during pregnancy. I believe those are the safest options for medication during pregnancy, and they are usually quite effective. The problem with some of the opioids like codeine or hydrocodone is that once we get used to them, they tend to be a bit energizing and keep us awake rather than helping us sleep.

The benzos and most of the other meds are bad during pregnancy...

Have you had a chance to check out the "New to RLS" part of this forum? There is a sticky post at the top that has all kinds of information.

Welcome to the forum, Sezzy!

[Sezzy]

Thanks for the advice

I was thinking of asking the doc about methadone- but I read something about SIDS... I don't remember exactly what it was...

To date I've had three iron shots over six weeks and am on two supplements, iron amino acid chelate so its not consitpating. My ferritin has doubled to 20.

I hope the codeine will work for me as it's only a short term emergency treatment- after ten weeks when I give birth my RLS will be next to nothing.

I feel very grateful for that as I know many people are much worse off

Thanks again,

S.