Hello and thank you for the welcome! I found this site to do some research for my dear mom who lives 1300 miles from me, wish I had a Lear jet! She is 72 and has suffered from this awful RLS for many years. A little history; as long as I can remember she has always had what she called "happy legs" most often in the evenings. I don't remember her saying she had the shooting pain along with it until she had her knees replacements, one twice, in her 50's. She was on Mirapex for years. When taken regularly it worked. In 2008 she fractured her back which only adds to the pain, she was taking pain meds for that and is still on hydocodone. My dear father was diagnosed with cancer and passed in 2009, (rest in peace <3) So with both of those life changing events added to the picture, she is suffering from depression and is on medicine for that. The Mirapex back fired and she started gambling, lip licking and was paranoid. So my siblings and I intervened and had her switch meds in late 2010. Sorry if I am rambling. The gambling is gone and she is more herself. Currently she is taking carbidopeda-levo, Gabapentin, Celebrex, levo-thyroxine, hydro condone, escitaloperam, trazodone and something for hormone replacement, calcium and magnesium. Wow! Scary!
With all of that she is going RLS crazy. She craves and eats ice all day. She has been checked for diabetes' which was negative. She has Nogales on her thyroid which they are monitoring. Her voice is very raspy and she has to continually clear her throat. (I'm never complaining about me again). She lives in a small town and sees the local doctor and a couple that come from a larger city about 150 miles away. She still works 3 days a week on her feet, which she claims helps her legs but hurts her back
After reading you wonderful blog, and hearing your stories I can relate and send my healing prayers! I see that there are several things that may help. First off the elimination of sugar, chocolate, alcohol, and caffeine. That may be a start, I'm cautious as to the teas etc... because of the other meds she is on. Lastly I looked up RLS specialist from your site and will talk to my mom about making an appointment and taking the long drive. Thank you for listening!
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