Restless Legs Syndrome Support Group

Good luck with the surgery!

Dunno what your surgery will be or what pain meds you will receive, but I've found great success with hydrocodone 5/500 for my RLS. So your pain meds may solve that problem for you.

I'd talk to your doc ahead of time though. Particularly because I think with traditional non-narcotic RLS meds like ReQuip or Mirapex, you really kind of need to build them up in your system. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that.

You might also ask your doc about Klonoprin or Clonazepam. They even have versions of the Klonoprin up here in the U.S., at least, that comes in a quick dissolve on your tongue, that can really deliver faster relief sometimes.

Has anybody had any luck with those?

As someone who has struggled with RLS for 25 years I can tell you that none of the normal treatments work for me.
When i got to the point of thinking about suicide due to the inability to sleep Literally I had to start using narcotics.
Using pain pills to deal with something like RLS is quite risky. Narcotics are addictive and can easily be abused and even if not abused it is still likely you will be physically dependent on them.
If you do have to use them long term vicodin or hydrocodone is not the answer as the acetimetiphin is extremely bad for your liver. In fact FDA is pulling much of it off the sales racks and making it prescription only. They are severley reducing the dose of what is salable over the counter.
The other two drugs mentioned above are quite scary and there can be reactions.
I agree with the fact that whatever dose of painkiller they give you after surgery should handle your RLS.
I had no problems with my RLS while recovering from two major major surgeries.

This is a reply I posted on a thread started by Dr Orange after the death of Danny Ganns the Las Vegas entertainer due to a prescription drug overdose.

This is a subject that I am very familiar with and have a lot of personal experience with.
Just so you know where I'm coming from I will tell you I'm a recovering alcoholic of 14 plus years. I have suffered from chronic illness Ulcerative colitis at age 21, chronic acute liver disease since age 28, P.S.C., severe restless leg syndrome for at least the last 20 plus years, and chronic pain for most of the past 33 years. I have been taking various doses of pain medication for the last 6 years.
I started taking them because of the aches and pains associated with end stage liver disease and more so because I completely lost the ability to sleep due to RLS that none of the normal treatment helped.
I have taken this pain medication without abusing it. taking more when circumstances called for it and less when they didn't.
The way I have done this without abusing the medication is by being completely honest with myself, my family, my doctors, my AA sponsor and other friends. I never doctor shop and only get pain medication from one doctor. I tell him when I am in need of more because of certain conditions and when I need less when things have improved. My family and friends always know when my dose is changing. I Never take it to get a buzz or that light headed feeling. If that happens then I'm know I have taken too much. It is always a goal to not be taking any, unfortunately without taking 5mg of oxycodone before bed which is all I'm taking now I literally would not sleep. When I made the decision to start doing this after discussing it with my doctor it was because it had literally been weeks since I had had more than 20 minutes of sleep. I was suicidal and could not sit or lay down without my legs driving me crazy.
Last year I had a liver transplant spent 10 weeks hospitalized on a lot of drugs and have been hospitalized 3 times this spring on strong doses., but thanks to God and my openness about the subject I have been able to immediately taper down without problem.
I'm not special I just learned that honesty about drug use is critical to avoiding abuse.

Thanks for the advice guys - I'll ask the doc about the suggestions you've made. I'm not keen to be on the rls meds so I'll ask for the 'zonk me out' drugs just for a couple of days! lol!

Thank you for your good luck wishes :-)

well i have been out of mirapex for awhile now and coping. I am drinking tonic water(the quinine is suppose to help) and taking a suplement of calcium, magnesium and zinc. Seems to help. Still have moments where i must get up and walk around, but doing better.. good luck on your surgery!

Hi guys - an update for you :-) The op went fine and the RLS settled for the best part of a week and I had peace - thank goodness. I was on painkillers so maybe they helped a little bit.

Thanks again for your advice...still, it would be great to find a permanent fix :-)