What is Restless Legs Syndrome
RLS may be described as uncontrollable urges to move the limbs in order to stop uncomfortable, painful or odd sensations in the body, most commonly in the legs. Moving the affected...
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What to do for RLS while pregnant?
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I just found this site tonight and am so happy to find others that are going through what I am! Though I feel aweful because I know how agonizing it is.
I have had RLS for about 20 years and have been on Requip for 5 and it works great. I have it pretty severe and without the meds I literally don't sleep more than 30 minutes a night. I had a baby in October and my legs (and arms) were worse than I could have ever imagined during that pregnancy. I was still up EVERY night (well, morning) when my husband left for work and could only nap for a few minutes here and there throughout the day. Last weekend I missed my chance to get my prescription refill and had the same, terrible, experience. But now I have an 8-month-old baby to care for. I had to call someone to pick him up because I was seriously putting him at risk with me having zero sleep. So my question... We desperately want more children but I have no idea how I can go through that again - this time with a baby to care for. Has anyone done anything or heard of anything that could help? Thank you and I look forward to having a group to talk to that understands what I'm going through! Posted on 06/17/09, 12:06 am |
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Hi Lardas I never had any children so cannot help you in that department; however I am going to give you two sites to read as I am sure there is something on there that will give the info that you need to know.
www.rlshelp.org www.wemove.org I need to ask you some questions if you do not mind. Has anyone else in your family had rls? Reason for this question is that rls is hereditary Have you ever had your ferritin level checked as It is the iron deficiency which is completely different from the iron that you have when you have the normal blood work done. You have to request this blood work for the ferritin level. The ferritin level for ones that have rls should be 50 or higher. If you have medical insurance, you can check to see if they pay for this but I believe they do. Is there a rls support group where you live? If so I am sure they can give you some info too. Even if they do not live that close, you can either call or e-mail them and ask these questions. I hope that this has been of some help to you. Please keep me posted on how you are doing. Charlene 
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Hi Charlene! Thanks for getting back to me. My name is actually Lara. When I was little I had trouble sleeping (surprise surprise) and would tell my parents Lardas Tarda. It kinda stuck.
Anyway, yes, my father has RLS pretty severly and my grandma had what she called the "eebie geebies" but would never admit to having RLS. Thanks for the advice on the ferritin level. Every doctor I have seen has tested my blood for iron and it's always been fine but I never asked for that specific test. Good to know! I've just up'd my dose of Requip to 2mg and hated doing it. My doctor told me that he's seen patients who become so used to the meds they begin to find no relief in them and end up having RLS all day. Have you heard of this? Thanks again. So nice to have support!
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Hi Lara what your dr says is true; however it depends on the person's body and yours may never have that problem. I know the first time I took clonazapem for about a year and then it stopped working and then I went on Requip which did not agree with me.
Now my neurologist has be back on clonazapem .75mg, mirapex .125 the lowest dosage and 25 mg of lyrica as I have the painful rls. With the mirapex he had me split up the dosages. I take 1/4 of the pill at 12 noon, 3pm and 6pm with 25 mg of lyrica. In that way it stops the onset of rls. I also have had rls for over 30 yrs and hope that yours gets better with wanting to have more children. You must of had rls when you were at a young age. I am so sorry to hear that and know that you dad must feel bad but it is not his fault as like I said it is hereditary. I still now and then get the symptoms but not like I did. You are more than welcome for this information. Please keep me posted as I am a rls Group leader in my area and love helping people as I have walked in your shoes. Until someone walks in your shoes they have no idea what you are going through. Charlene
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Thanks Charlene! I know, it's hard to talk to people about it that don't have it. None of my friends understand why I'm seriously considering not having another child biologically. They think "Too bad you can't sleep well but that shouldn't stop you." If they only knew... Thanks again for the help!
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Hi Lara I am going to give you a name, phone number, contact name and e-mail address of someone who is the support group leader in So. Calif. It may not be close to you and if the phone call is long distance e-mail her.
Her name is Janis Lopes phone # 714-633-0123 e-mail address is j.lopes@sbcglobal.net Please if you can get ahold of her and tell her exactly what we have been talking about and also there is a Dr Mark Buchfuhrer who is with the rls foundation. Ask her for his e-mail address too. I got this info off of www.rlshelp.org Also when you click on that site number 17 has a Medical Alert Card that you can fill out and I think that you can print it out. This medical alert card should be given to all of your drs. dentist, pharmacists and hospital (in case of surgery) if you cannot print it out, ask Janis as she made up the form. I hope that this of some help to you. Let me know what happens ok. Charlene
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Hi Lara, im new to this site and have just seen your posting. I too have suffered over 15 years with RLS and found my first pregnancy very difficult. I am now 33 weeks pregnant with my 2nd baby and am just about demented. I usually take 60mg of codiene per night to manage my RLS but had to stop this when i found out i was pregnant. My doctor advised me to take a lower dosage once or twice a week and for the first 20 weeks and this did provide some relief. However, i am no longer getting any relief from the codiene and am exhausted from the lack of rest and sleep. My doctor has now perscribed sleeping tablets to take once a week to try and catch up with some sleep. Im sorry that i dont have any useful tips or advice, but just wanted to share my experience. Id be interested to know if any of the other advice you received has helped and whether you have decided to go ahead with another baby? Lynsay
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Thanks Lynsay! My Dad takes Codeine also and it helps him so much. We're not planning on more kids for a while. Now that I know what pregnancy is like with RLS I think I need to wait until my son is in Kindergarden so I have some time during the day to sleep. Thank you so much for sharing your story. It is nice to know there are other people out there dealing with this stuff. No fun! And no one else understands! When I told people I couldn't sleep while I was prego they were like yea, me neither. I said no, I couldn't sleep at all! They just didn't understand...
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