WOW! Top Marks go to your doctor for having the good sense to get to the bottom of your son's problems; and also to you for persisting in finding out what is wrong!
First things first, some links for you and your doctor are below. I do not recall seeing much about treatments for childhood RLS, however, I love a challenge and will be doing some major ferreting about the net to see if I can't find something for you.
Below are some links to some excellent RLS sites, including medications & treatments:
General RLS Information
http://www.wemove.org/rls.html
http://www.jmjudson.com/rls.html
http://www.rlshelp.org
http://www.sleepnet.com/disorder.htm
http://www.rls.org
RLS Treatment Information
http://www.jmjudson.com/medications.html
http://www.rlshelp.org/rlsrx.htm
Fighting RLS with everything else
http://www.rlsrebel.com
After a prod from a friend, I have checked out Jill's site (RLS Rebel) and in her FARQ (Frequently Asked RLS Questions) section is the following:
QUESTION #12: What can I do for my child who has RLS?
ANSWER: First, realize that many of us have had it since childhood, and we survived. So do NOT panic. Learn as much as you can about it, and learn how to use the Rebel Program. Give these tools to your child, teaching him/her to take control and stop it in its tracks. Help him choose appropriate tricks, like suckers (for distraction), sitting on aisle seats at movies, using music to get to sleep at night. And help him analyze what thoughts, foods, or over the counter drugs might aggravate RLS symptoms. Do NOT call it a "beast" in front of your children. Help the child see it as an obnoxious bully that can be managed and survived. Knowlege and a few good tricks, are very powerful for children.
(Source: RLS Rebel 2001 - http://members.cox.net/gunzel/faq.html )
Having read that, it might be helpful to start keeping a diary/record of what your son eats and drinks; any medications he takes & what dosages; the times when he complains about his legs; how many hours he sleeps at night. I know, this sounds tedious, but it will go a looong way in helping to get your son the right treatment; and you may start to see a pattern develop over a period of time too.
If your family doctor is open to specialist help, this link will take you to the
Healthcare Provider Listing on this site:
http://beta.restlesslegs.org/provider_directory/
Your family doctor may also find the
RLS Foundations 2004 Medical Bulletin useful. The link is here:
http://beta.restlesslegs.org/pdf/2004_m ... lletin.pdf
You might find it helpful to print out any information you think is important and put it together in a folder.
I am 28 (well, 29 next month) and I suffered from a severe case of RLS when I was a child. I can clearly remember my mum and dad taking turns to sit with me each night, rubbing/massaging my legs, trying in vain to help to settle when all I wanted to do was thrash and kick all the while crying "my legs are So Tired, I don't know what to do with them!". I would've been around your sons age when this started. Our family GP at the time did test after test, but could find nothing, then I was dragged all the way to Brisbane (600kms south & an 8 hour drive) to see specialist after specialist who all did their own tests, only to shake their heads and say "we have no idea, sorry!"
Our GP would not give up though as he could literally see what it was doing to me. I was agressive, frustrated and awfully tired. Not exactly a model child. He kept doing more tests and finally one day he decided to try a different approach: what if it was something within my lifestyle that was causing this? So, 20yrs ahead of his time, he thought OUTSIDE the box, took the plunge and suggested that I go on a TOTALLY Milk Free Diet. When I say Totally, I mean Totally, not a skeric of dairy was allowed, which meant that doing the groceries would take over 3 hours as mum would read each and every label.
I can vividly remember the day I was taken off milk too, it was Easter, and, as most kids do, was hoeing into my choclate easter bunnies! Only to have mum take them away from me saying "sorry sweetie, but we think this might be what is making you sick". Well, within 48 hours I was a new little girl! I ended up having such a severe dairy intolerance that even one literal drop of milk in something would have me in hospital within 6-8 hours
Like my childhood RLS, I eventually "grew out of" my dairy intolerance, although now I think of it more as having gone into remission. I was hit with it again last year, and once again, good ol dairy foods are a part of the problem. On the plus side I must say that the range of dairy-free products available nowadays is far greater than it was 20yrs ago
Talk to your family doctor about possible links to the ingredients of food/drink, he's come this far with you already, so he should be open to trialling things that might help find some relief for your son.
Take it one step at a time, one day at a time and most importantly, Stay Positive!! You have found a wonderful "family" here and we are here for each other day and night.
Take care of you (and your son!) and keep us posted on your journey.