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"restful legs" relief for restless legs durring Opioid withdrawal?

The Hebrew Hammer

Bluelighter
Joined
Nov 21, 2006
Messages
585
I was at the pharmacy picking up some imodium andheating pads and benadryl and naproxen and all the typical withdrawal kit nescesities available otc when i found something called restful legs that says exactly


"temporarily relieves symptoms of the compelling urge to move legs to relieve sensations of itching, tingling, crawling , and restlessness of legs, symptoms may occur while sitting or lying down and improve with activity"


did i just get ripped off of my couple bucks or does anyone k now of this stuff and have any anecdotes they would like to share, the active ingredients are ...

arsenicum album 12x HPUS
lycopodium 6x HPUS
Pulsatilla 6x HPUS
Rhus Toxicodendron 6x HPUS
Sulphur 6x HPUS
zinc metallicum 12x HPUS



Any info would be greatly apreciated, im also wondering if i can pick up l-theanine at health stores or if its typically only available online, i hope that question doesnt break the rules, if it does please edit....


thanks in advance blulighters
 
I feel like, given the severity of most withdrawal symptoms, that most herbal OTC stuff doesn't do much to assuage the various symptoms of withdrawal. I haven't heard of these compounds before, but I did do a quick search on a few of them, but I haven't seen anything conclusive stating that they would be helpful in treating RLS. Let us know if you give this compound a shot and how it works, but I'm not sure I'd be too hopeful for any overwhelming relief. Rhus toxicodendron, according to at least one site, has a slightly stimulatory effect...which makes me wonder if it would actually exacerbate some of the adrenergically-mediated withdrawal symptoms?
 
i have used restless legs i get it at walgreens, comes in a red and white bottle which is like the travel bottles of asprin, i have terriable RLS when I W/D. It is the only thing i have found that works for me.. you dissolve the pills under your tounge, and i actually feel relief.. its been a long time since ive needed them but they actually work for me and highly recomened them.. Sounds like your getting prepared, dont forget hot baths they are a life saver too!! I wish you luck and may time fly by for you!!!
 
Quinine and Magnesium are better OTC aids for RLS. While the FDA stopped OTC sale of medicinal Quinine for this purpose (i.e. Legatrim), some herbal tablets containing Cinchona (and thus Quinine) are still sold for Restless Leg OTC tablets (several drugstore chains carry these, they say 'With Quinine' on the box in big letters).

Magnesium supplements are usually in the OTC analgesic (pain reliever) section, usually in Magnesium-only tablets, often for back-pain OTC pills.

As others have said, they most likely won't give any real relief. Ibuprofen & Loperamide are about the only OTC medications that can help.

A few of those plants are toxic (one is Poison Ivy, one contains Arsenic, one is known to contain carcinogens, etc). Wikipedia the ingredients, you'll see.
 
I apreciate the feedback, im gona be starting withdrawal on my second to last day of work so the peak of the withdrawals should be hitting me on arround day 3 or 4 like usuall thus giving me the abilit y to get through work with minor withdrawal and then get through the worst of it in time to be ready to work again on my next scheduled shift, luckily i work from home and can do my job sitting on a bucket full of endless amounts of shit while drenched in sweat and shaking like a madman, but its the sleeplessness that kills me with withdrawal, also the side effects from the blood pressure change ie warm flashes and cold sweats as i like to call them ..... i think i will try the restful legs when in the depths of sorrow just because even if its a placebo effect if it has any effect that makes me feel better durring withdrawal im happier....

im really mad that i just binged on klonopin a few days ago before i decided to get off these fucking monkey on back pills .... otherwise i would have about 50mg of kpin to help lots with withdrawal

wish me luck and i will try to keep you posted on my progress
 
Quinine and Magnesium are better OTC aids for RLS. While the FDA stopped OTC sale of medicinal Quinine for this purpose (i.e. Legatrim), some herbal tablets containing Cinchona (and thus Quinine) are still sold for Restless Leg OTC tablets (several drugstore chains carry these, they say 'With Quinine' on the box in big letters).

Magnesium supplements are usually in the OTC analgesic (pain reliever) section, usually in Magnesium-only tablets, often for back-pain OTC pills.

As others have said, they most likely won't give any real relief. Ibuprofen & Loperamide are about the only OTC medications that can help.

A few of those plants are toxic (one is Poison Ivy, one contains Arsenic, one is known to contain carcinogens, etc). Wikipedia the ingredients, you'll see.

Word on the Loperamide. I found that if I doubled up my normal dose at night, (which for me turned out to be 4 50 mg. tablets), it helped the RLS considerably. Many folks might need to take more than that, but I'd sort of been doing a half-ass taper all spring and summer, so that amount was enough to have helped me. Anyway, I'd definitely try that before that stuff you bought, although what may work for one person might not work for everyone.

Hang in there.
 
Very true Hebrew hammer, what you said about the possibility of placebo. When in the depths of wd anything you think will help probably will. For me anyways this has always held true, as everyone else has said don't underestimate the power of loperamide. Good luck man, you can do it:).
 
Just so you know, in many people benadryl worsens the symptoms of restless legs syndrome.
Try laying off your benadryl during WD.
 
if you can get hold of any methocarbamol, meprobromate, or carisprodol, or even diazepam, they are all great muscle relaxers and should help with yyour RLS... imo

I used methocarbomal and it did absolutely nothing for my RLS, well it made it 1/10 more bearable but still. eeek, i quiver at the though of that feeling.
 
I have always gone CT from opioid withdrawals so this time its my first with some medication to help me.
Im thinking of buying some Magnesium, can't hurt.. Naproxen and loperamid (which i most likely will overdose a tad).
Then i got some 40-50 10mg Valiums and about 40-50 Soma 350mg's.
Then of course Propropranol(spelling) Inderal 40mg, beta-blocker.

Hope it will help with the restless leg syndrome because that is the one thing that drives me nuts, along with the leg and backpain.
For that i am not so sure... i was thinking on using Tramadol which i have about 40-60 50mg's and 20-30 100mg Sustained release tabs.
But If Codeine 50mg's would work better I would get that instead... what do you people think?

Any experience in Tramadol VS Codein to ease pain in opiate WD?
 
Amen EnYAY! Last thurs. I was out of my methadone and my last fentanyl patch wore off. This about 6pm thurs. I could not get my methadone from the clinic until it opened @ 530a fri morning. So I go to the pharm to get my Robaxin (methocarbomal) refilled cause I knew the w/d's were coming before morning and methadone w/ds are absolutely agonizing! So they began in earnest about 9pm but I had dosed heavily with the methacarbamol until I was stumbling around the house when going to bathroom and getting water to drink. Was very drowsy when the w/d's began but soon enough taking more of the methacarbomal only made me more unsteady on my feet. Twice I fell in the bathroom, blacking my left eye, and wrenching my left shoulder really bad. Frantic by about 1am, I began going thru my methadone bottles, licking the inside of the bottom caps, anything to assuage my agony! Then going thru all my used fentanyl packets, in the hopes I had forgotten one, but nope, no such luck. By about 3am, I really thought I would not make it until 530am, but I kept tossing on my bed, trying to watch tv, anything to get my mind off the agony. By 445am, I was at the end of my rope but still 45 minutes to go and I knew the methadone dose would take at least 1 hour to begin it's work. So I take my two dogs to the park near my home and walked them around the 1/2 mile path. Sheer AGONY!!!!!!! When I get back in my car, 505am so I head to the clinic, with fees in hand.(they will not dose you if you owe money) However I am a healthcare professional, so the money has never been a problem. This clinic costs $77/wk, so is one of the better cost clinics. Arrived at clinic at 515am about insane with w/d pain and anxiety.(I get both restless arms and legs, hooboy!) To my relief the door was already open so I hurried in, paid my fees and asked if I could go on back to the dose window. To additional relief, the nurse was sympathetic and dosed me early and I also got my 2 week take homes. Head back home still feeling horrible, but knowing relief was on the way. Got home and went ahead and took another dose (I take 120mg daily), so now I had 240mg of methadone onboard. Slowly, I began to feel better and by 9am I was snoozing away, no worst for the wear. So EnRAY, you are sooooooo right, methacarbomal does nothing to ease the agony of w/d's. Yet I have had success with Soma (carisprodol) and I know it will double the effect of opiates. I guess is why Soma is really popular with hydrocodone and oxycodone users. Most certain, I WILL have Soma on hand the next time this happens. You think I would learn, but no. I get 10 of the 100mcg Fentanyl patches each month, but usually gone in a week if I want to feel in an elevated mood, but the methadone prevents an all out high. Hey, good to be aboard here. Hope to find some good support here.
 
For real? I just never heard of this and would love to know more if anyone does.

I've never heard of this either. I believe that for whoever posted this, it might well be the case that benadryl makes RLS worse for THEM during withdrawals, but for most people I've talked to, they have had nothing but good things to say about benadryl during withdrawal. Helps them sleep, and calms their muscles down a little bit (albeit not much..even an icy hot patch helped more for me).

I'd like to see a source for this if someone can find it. I'm not saying that its an untrue statement, but I'd like proof of this before I believe that its true for more than a small group of people. It just seems to go against the evidence I've seen.
 
Anti-Histamines have a wide range of side effects, many of which can be counter to the nature of the drug (i.e. like finding the sedative Diphenhydramine to be agitating).

Burroughs said he believed Barbiturates were contraindicated in the treatment of opioid withdrawal. I believe sedative Anti-Histamines are contraindicated in the treatment of withdrawal.
 
Thanks for the link, sebukab! That's some pretty interesting reading, and I do believe that there could be an interaction between the histamine pathways and RLS now. Antihistamines do seem to have a high degree of paradoxical side-effects compared to other drugs, for example during a very youthful and ill-conceived "experiment" with diphenhydramine, I found myself quite wide-awake, despite the fact that every other time I've taken Benadryl, its made me extremely tired.

But the reason I was touting benadryl for withdrawal was just based on anecdotal reasons, as I think I stated. Taking 50 mg around bed-time always helped tire me out enough to snatch at least a couple hours of sleep, and many other people I've talked to reported similar experiences. One person (who admittedly did not have a large habit to break; he was only using about 1/10th of a gram daily) got through his withdrawal using only diphenhydramine at night to sleep, and was able to endure the other withdrawal effects without any medication. Granted, alot of this could be expectation effects at work here.

After reading this study though, and yours and tchorts posts, I have changed my opinion from my other post, and more apt to believe that the efficacy of Benadryl would not be very helpful during withdrawals, looks like its probably me who is in the minority when i said that it helped me!

Also, tchort, thats interesting what you said about barbiturates being contraindicated in opioid withdrawal. I've tried taking them during bouts of dopesickness, and I didn't find them helpful in assisting with me with sleep at all! I thought I was an anomaly there, but I guess it may be more common than I thought.
 
I am thinking (haven't experimented but am quite sure) that Soma, Phenobarbital, Clonazepam or any other benzos would be of great use in this. Mabye some Aspirin as well for anti inflamation and pain.
 
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