Edit: they only have the book used and costing $47. But what about "Clinician's Manual on Restless Legs Syndrome" by Dr. Buchfuhrer? And/or "Restless Legs Syndrome: Coping with Your Sleepless Nights (American Academy of Neurology Press Quality of Life Guides)"? What do you think of those?
Buchfuhrer's 2016 book is a very slim, small handbook. It is focussed on diagnosis and management, so it doesn't have the sections that the blue book has on causes of WED/RLS (genetics, pathophysiology) nor on psychiatric comorbidities (though the latter are discussed briefly). The book is also much more succinct in other areas. It covers clinical presentation, differential diagnosis, and management in some detail. His recommendations re IV iron therapy are much more conservative than he practices - he only says it can be considered for people who also have anemia and don't respond to oral iron. He discusses augmenation well, and recommends maximum daily doses of 0.25 mg pramipexole, 1 or 2 mg ropinirole, and 3 mg rotigotine (the patch).
The American Academy of Neurology book (also by Buchfurher, along with co-authos Hening and Kushida) is older, 2009, and differs from the other two in that it is aimed at the patient, not the doctor. However, it covers much of the same ground, and a lot of people might relate better to the writing style. It contains useful information on medications that can exacerbate WED/RLS. However, it is too out-of-date to give your doctor, and I wouldn't recommend buying it for yourself, either. It lists pergolide and otehr ergot-derived dopamine agonists as possible treatments, but these medications [were pulled from the North American market - -for a while? - I thought - but I can't find info on that - anyway! they] are not recommended for WED/RLS anymore, because they can cause fibrosis. The book recommends iron only as oral iron and only if serum ferritin is less than 45 ug/mL.Augmentation as a consequence of dopamine agonist use is barely touched on - not enough was known in 2009.
Overall, for me it's a toss-up between the blue book (Clinical Management....) and the slim 2016 Buchfuhrer-only book (which is also blue). The Clinical Management blue book is still quite conservative on iron therapy compared to the 2018 consesnsus guidelines, it still mentions the ergot-derived meds, and it is not as emphatic as I would like regarding augmentation - in that respect, Buchfuhrer's 2016 book is better.
The Foundation's pamphlet "RLS Medical Bulletin: A Publication for Healthcare Providers" was last updated in 2018 and would be a useful adjunct to either little blue book. It is free to members. Unfortunately, the subsection on iron therapy is called "Iron Deficiency" and is tucked away in the section titled "Secondary RLS: RLS Associated with Other Conditions". It belongs in the Treatment section. However, the discussion of iron therapy generally reflects the 2018 consensus guidelines; for this reason it would be useful to give your doctor. Some other problems with the pamphlet:
- It fails to recommend a check of iron and ferritin concentrations before prescribing dopamine-type medications for Chronic Persistent RLS/WED, though the recommendation is made for Refractory RLS/WED.
- It underplays the consequences and perhaps the risk of augmentation.
- It fails to clarify that sleep aids do not treat the sensory and movement parts of the disease (except perhaps clonazepam for some people), and that people can therefore be sedated while being forced to move around.
But overall it's very good. If you can't buy a book, buy a membership and download the pamphlet.
