Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

Was reading an article and discussing it with the person who shared it with me. It talked about how dopamine meds often have only a temporary effect and the propensity for augmentation. It mentioned how Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Iron are integral to processing dopamine. Makes common sense to me those things should be optimized before we put something in our bodies we can't process due to other deficiencies. Then questions ran across my mind that I realized I am totally uninformed about. What happens to unused dopamine in the brain? Is it harmful? How does it leave the body? Is augmentation caused by a buildup of unused dopamine, and if so, by what mechanisms does that happen? Just thinking about when there's too much iron in the body and wondering if it's a similar type issue with dopamine, where excesses get stored in a harmful manner. Figured I could find someone knowledgeable about this on here.

"Unused" dopamine goes back into the cells it was released from.

Here, this explains more about the situation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine_transporter

Thank you for the reference. Will spend some time digesting it.

There is also this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monoamine_oxidase

This enzyme deals with dopamine "not longer needed".

If you read those two articles I linked it should answer all your question.

I thought about an easier way to answer you questions but since you asked so many and don't seem to know many fundamentals of neurobiochemistry I thought it is best to post these links.

Also augmentation is not caused by a buildup of unused dopamine. There is not even such a thing as unused dopamine.

As far as I know it is not properly understood what causes augmentation.

My doctor says she has had patients on DAs for decades for RLS. I have never met one. I know this forum caters to those seeking more help but is there anyone out there that knows one of these people successfully using DAs for decades.

I tried and supplements you mention by themselves and still do with lots of drugs but any relief for my severe RLS is in the noise. If you can get by with supplements even with some discomfort, more power to you and stay away from all the drugs. My brother only uses his hot tub after trying a DA.

There have been studies done by groups such as Johns Hopkins that compare the fraction of patients who augment on different DAs over extended periods of time. There are probably a few "outliers" that can go for decades, but the majority of patients will have augmented on most of the various products within the first ten years.

There have been one or two people on here who took well over 10 years to augment. So perhaps there are others who have been taking DAs for well over 10 years who haven't augmented yet.