Friday, 18 March 2011 10:44

Daily dialysis makes restless legs better - yeah, now you tell me!

Written by  Kamal Shah
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"For dialysis patients, performing daily dialysis at home can help alleviate sleep problems related to restless legs syndrome (RLS), according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN). RLS, a common and troublesome problem for dialysis patients, affects hemodialysis patients about four times as often as people in the general population."

This is an excerpt from an article you can read here.

Restless Legs was my most major problem for the longest time on dialysis. Even when I was on Peritoneal Dialysis. The worst part was I had no clue what it was until I joined a group of dialysis patients on the internet. It was difficult to describe. My legs would feel totally different. I had to get up and shake them. Or walk around briskly. Car journeys became hell. I often would ask my family to stop and I would have to get out and prance about. Movies were equally torturous. My sleep was also affected. I had no clue what this was. This was my biggest problem on dialysis.

Then one day I joined a support group for dialysis patients on the internet. There as I was browsing through the archives, I couldn't believe my eyes. Exactly the same thing.Many people had the same problem. And what was more, there was a solution as well!! Gabapentin! I printed out the posts that described the symptoms and the fact that Gabapentin had helped and took this to my nephrologist. He prescribed Gabapentin for me. Within three days, the restless legs disappeared! I was so relieved!

Around May 2006 I started daily dialysis at home - short daily for about three weeks and then daily nocturnal. Most of my side symptoms were settling down. So, my nephrologist and I decided to try and stop Gabapentin too. No restless legs! This proved to me, without any trials and studies that daily dialysis helps restless legs too.

But now it is official! 

... http://www.kamaldshah.com/2011/03/daily-dialysis-makes-restless-legs.html

Kamal Shah

Kamal Shah

Hello, I'm Kamal from Hyderabad, India. I have been on dialysis for the last 13 years, six of them on PD, the rest on hemo. I have been on daily nocturnal home hemodialysis for the last four and half years. I can do pretty much everything myself. I love to travel and do short weekend trips or longer trips to places which have dialysis centers. Goa in India is a personal favorite. It is a great holiday destination and has two very good dialysis centers.

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