Restless legs at night

[Eve]

Does anyone have problems with painful and restless legs at night and any idea what to do about them as they're driving me mad.

Thank you :)

[4gottenabout]

A warm bath before bed, massage backs of legs, drink some tonic water, have a good old stretch. Eliminate coffee and alcohol from diet. Or if really bad Alternate hot and cold packs on your legs for a half-hour before bedtime

[Eve]

Thank you :) I will definitely try that!

Will definitely have to watch my coffee intake as I'm a proper coffee junkie.

Am lucky my partner is a very deep sleeper so at least I'm not driving him mad too :) He may about me nicking the tonic from his G&T though haha :)

[ladymuck]

I suffer from restless legs although they've been ok for a while, this question will probably jinx it!!! I normally put 2 pillows under my feet and this normally helps

[patsyann]

Definately try tonic water. It is great for cramp too.

[Eve]

Will definitely get some in :)

Raided the fridge but no tonic water so will pick some up, thank you :)

[CAJ1]

My boyfriend has this and it drives him mad too! He went to physio on Monday for shin splints and mentioned it, he was told to take Magnesium tablets and they seem to be ok again now

[Eve]

Ahh may try them as well then. I did have some (recommended by my osteopath a while back) but my other half nicked them I think :)

He is getting me some tonic water on the way home though bless him :)

Not being a lazy cow, honest, recovering from labarynthitis so sofa bound :)

[crisgal]

ooh labyrinthitis - you poor thing!
I had that last year and dread it coming back.
Hope you're soon feeling better x

[Eve]

Thank you :)

It's evil indeed, I have meniere's and figured it was that playing up til I saw the Dr yesterday.

Am drugged up now though and can pretty much walk in a straight line again now :)

Have to go back to work tomorrow as my assistant's birthday and would never ask him to come in on his booked day off but am not lookin forward to the noise and city madness, may be taking some earmuffs in :)

[crisgal]

well jenna, i do think you're silly for going into work, but understand your reasons.
This is going to sound quite mad, but I wonder if you would be brave enough to try it!
I heard from a friend of a friend in America that he knew someone with a vertigo type illness and had to attend his daughter's wedding. He couldn't stay upright, let alone walk in a straight line!
Anyway, someone brought him an eye patch - just over one eye, and apparantly - Der der!! he was ok.
Obviously I know it's not a cure, but I did think that if i ever get the bloody awful thing again, I would definately try it!
What do you think?

[Eve]

I am mad as my other half keeps telling me, downside of being a head of dept I guess though I have a fab team around me who'll look after me :) It's the final slog before we move to lovely new offices later this month and can take on more staff to help.

Will definitely try that and recommend to my mum who has meniere's as well and a friend of mine I met through a meniere's site, see how they find it too.

It's strange how things can "fool" it, like listening to a personal stereo to concentrate on one noise and wearing sunglasses and a hat with a brim (back in fashion...yay!).

I don't mind how I look if it helps :) Thank you x

[Pythia]

Hi Jenna
I get thissometimes too, and it's DEFINITELY caffeine-related, in my experience. Try a good-quality decaff instead - decaff tea too.
Good luck

[filibuster]

I too suffer from restless leg syndrome and find that rubbing Arnica Gel onto the feet before bed really does the trick. Don't rub the Arnica in too much after you apply it, let it sink into the skin.

Good luck.

[Eve]

I will definitely have to watch the caffine then!

I have a venti fairtrade coffee every weekday morning to start work with so will have to change to a decaff!

I've bought some decaff Tassimo things but they're still stuck on my desk rather than by the coffee machine so will have to sort that out tomorrow.

I only drink decaff tea at home and have decaff instant coffee though rarely have coffee at home.

Arnica gel sounds good, do you know where I can get it from?

Thank you all for all your help, much appreciated esp as legs killing me as been lying around for days with the labyrinthitis.

[stonekicker]

In all seriousness, iron tablets and the tonic water is the quickest way to ease your legs and will probably give the most consistent results. No way! I had labyrinthitis a few weeks ago and although I'm a psych nurse, I'd never heard of it. When I told my employers, it was clear they thought I was taking the p!ss until they went away and read about it. Ha ha ha!!! And most of my colleagues thought feeling very drunk for 10 days was extremely funny, although I can assure everyone its not. It's so nice to know you are not a freak!!! Still having worrying dizzy spells at times now, tho and could not bear the thought of getting it again.

[crisgal]

that's really interesting, stonekicker -excuse me butting in Jenna!
Do you think that having had it, the labyrinth could be scarred or damaged in some way? I only ask as I too get a quick burst of that awful reeling feeling (hard to describe) and I think Oh no here we go again! But then it passes.

[Eve]

Not at all :)

I get vertigo and general dizzy and unco-ordinatededness with the meniere's anyway (along with ear pressure, pain and tinitus and hearing loss and other wierd ear and hearing things).

I've kinda learnt to adapt to mine to a certain extent though, usually keep in check by how many times I'm bumping into things, burning myself etc...

Have just started on iron tablets again as was feeling very lethargic, so hopefully they'll help too.

My other half bought me some tonic water home to about to have that after a bath and rub some voltarol in (until I can get to Boots for some Arnica gel tomorrow).

Have found the magnesium tablets too so had one of those along with my anti dizzy/sickness drugs and betahistines I take for the meniere's.

Fingers crossed I shall get a half decent night's sleep although wide awake at the mo from dozing on the sofa...oops! :)

[stonekicker]

Hi crisgal. Didi a bit of reading myself when I got labyrinthitis and as far as I am aware, the section of the ear can get scarred to varying degrees, where you either:
*get it once and it never comes back - hunky dory
*get a little scarred and have transient attacks/takes a while to recover i.e. months instead of weeks, or
*gets scarred to fook and the symptoms can become permanent

When I read the latter, I absolutely pooped myself and thought omigod! whats if this never goes away? one woman i read about had had it for 6 years, but this is a very extreme case and rare. its likely that most people who get it will initially feel crap, have transient attacks in a recovery phrase for a couple of months and get fully better and never experience it again. It has certainly put my perspective firmly in place about how limiting illnesses could be as this was really the first illness I have had where i basically couldn't do anything for myself for what seemed ages and ages. I hope you also feel fully well soon and i bet that the odd dizzy bits will disappear with time (i hope!) stonekicker x

[jno]

heavens, don't tell me 4get is in the dungeon again. No wonder if she has restless legs

[stonekicker]

eh?