@missjb
Hey! I’m new to this forum! I have been suffering from RLS for over 40 years! It started with my first pregnancy. My OB doctor thought I was having ‘some sort of seizures’ in my legs! It was horrible. I had what people describe as the ‘budgies’ - creepy, crawly, uncomfortable feelings in my legs (thighs). Then the uncontrollable jumping legs. It was not just an ‘urge’ to move my legs; mine were violently jumping! When I would drive my car to work, they would jump and jerk and slam right into the steering wheel!! At night, I would lay on the couch and my husband would rub my legs to try and give me some relief. He was so kind and patient rubbing my legs. And then the violent jerking would start. He would say, ‘hold your legs still so I can rub them’!! I would say, ‘I can’t keep them still’!! It was horrible! I ended up taking Ambien for sleep! That would knock me out and I didn’t care if they jumped or it!! My husband would tell me the next morning that they jumped all night! Needless to say, I have been sleep-deprived for decades! My career was a Medical Transcriptionist. I worked in a Neurological office for about 6 years. One of the neurologists in the office started me on low dose opioids in the 90’s (Vicodin). He said there were studies that proved it helped RLS greatly. It did! The Vicodin (plus Phenergan that I had to take to quell the nausea from the Vicodin) finally calmed my legs and allowed me to sleep! It was a miracle! So, I was on Vicodin (1/2 tablet) and Phenergan for well over a decade. Then it got where my legs were getting really ‘busy’ in the evenings, so I bumped the Vicodin up to a whole tablet. During this time, I was also soaking in very hot tub baths trying to get relief! That helped for awhile. Then, my doc added Clonazepam to the regime. She said it was used off-label to treat RLS. The combination of the Vicodin plus Phenergan, plus Clonazepam, plus hot baths did seem to help for awhile! Then I would wake up in the middle of the night and they would be jumping so bad that I couldn’t get back to sleep! So, I would wrap a heating pad around each leg and go back to sleep! It was all so frustrating! Went on like this for 30 years. Then my doctor recommended trying Gabapentin. I started at 300 mg and it was a miracle! I couldn’t believe they were my legs. They were calm! I could sleep! Lasted about 6 months. Doctor upped the dose to 600 mg. That worked a good while - until it didn’t. All the time, I’m constantly researching about RLS, looking for new treatments! When I saw an article on a new, non-pharmaceutical treatment, I was intrigued. After reading reviews on the TOMAC Nidra bands, I made an appt to see my neurologist immediately! She had never heard of it! I told her Medicare covered it and gave her the codes to use to get it approved! It took about 5 weeks, but her nurse got me approved! I was so hopeful and so excited to try it! I have been using the Nidra bands since April and I must say they are little miracle wraps! They work! I am shocked, yet so very pleased! My legs feel normal! And if I do start getting ‘busy legs’, I put the pads on immediately and them then the jumping stops and I can sleep through the night! No more scalding tub baths, no more opioids, Gabapentin has gone from a max of 1200 down to 300! I am thrilled!! No more budgies, pain, cramps, jumping. . . I am 70-years old and so grateful I have been given some normalcy back in my life! Thank you Noctrix for the Nidra pads! Life is good again! And once I do a 30 minute session, sometimes my legs stay calm for 6-7 days. I don’t really understand why, but I’m very grateful. I do hope other folks are having just as much success!!