Doctors admit: ‘We have treated the restless Beens syndrome incorrectly’ and this simple 40p-per-day supplement can offer millions of lighting

A simple 40P supplement can provide relief from restless Beens syndrome, a common but debilitating state that affects millions, say leading experts.

The condition, which affects a maximum of one in ten people, causes an unpleasant ‘crawling’ sensation in the legs – usually at night – along with an almost irresistible urge to move them.

In the worst affected, it can seriously interrupt sleep, damage mental health and ruin relationships and careers.

For decades have been people who suffer from chronic restless Beensyndrome treated with medicines called dopamine agonists.

But although effectively, these drugs can cause disturbing side effects, including bizar gambling addiction, obsessive sexual desires and suicide thoughts.

Now a growing number of experts admit that they were wrong to prescribe these tablets and say that there is a simple side -free solution: iron supplements.

Doctors are now calling on the NHS to offer all patients with restless Beens syndrome a blood test to control their iron mirrors, to see if they would benefit from the crucial nutrient registrations.

“Research shows that up to 50 percent of people with restless Beens syndrome can benefit from iron,” says Dr. Kirstie Anderson, a neurologist who specializes in sleeping medicine in Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

“If you have the restless Beens syndrome and your doctor has not checked your iron levels, ask you to do this.”

The exact cause of restless leg syndrome remains unclear, but it is thought that it is linked to problems with how the brain use dopamine – a chemical that helps to control muscle movement.

Medicines that are known as dopamine agonists, such as Ropinirol, are intended to illuminate the symptoms by stimulating the dopamine activity.

However, studies have shown that in a maximum of half of the patients these tablets can even make the symptoms worse.

And in recent years the NHS has paid compensation to a number of patients who have developed addiction addictions after taking dopamine agonists.

This rare but serious side effect is linked to the role of dopamine in pleasure and reward-it-raising levels can over-stimulate these paths, making people more vulnerable to developing coercion on daily activities, such as shopping, sex and online gaming.

In one case, an Essex woman received £ 170,000 in compensation from the NHS after she developed an addiction to the Candy Crush Candy Crush and then virtual slot machines.

Last year the mail also revealed that a campaigner of a mother’s rights, Joeli Brearley, became suicidal after taking Ropinirole, which also disturbed her sleep.

Campaigner Joeli Brearley van Moeders became suicidal after increasing her dose of a dopamine agonist called Ropinirole

“We are currently remembering all our patients who have previously been on dopamine agonists because of the serious side effects,” says Dr. Anderson.

And, in the light of these disturbing side effects at the end of last year, the American Academy or Sleep Medicine (Aasmic) recommended that restless leg patients are offered irons supplements as first -line treatment.

Iron is crucial because it helps the body to transport oxygen to the organs. The nutrient can be found in certain foods, including liver, red meat, beans, nuts and dried fruit.

When patients have dangerously low levels of iron, this can cause anemia – a condition that leads to fatigue, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, paler than the usual skin and headache.

Pregnant women and people with tough periods run the most risk of low iron mirrors.

Low iron also seems to activate the restless Beens syndrome. Experts say that the connection between the two conditions is still unclear, but it seems that iron is also needed to help dopamine reach the brain.

It is crucial that experts say that restless Beens syndrome can be activated by moderately low levels of iron, which means that they may not have linked symptoms to anemia.

In 2019, experts from Cochrane, a leading medical research organ, concluded that stimulating the iron levels of patients with restless leg syndrome the symptoms considerably improved even when patients had no low iron levels.

Graphic courtesy of the Center for Vascular Medicine. It shows the different sensations that a person with RLS feels when he tries to fall asleep

The newest Aasmic guidance recommends that doctors offer patients intravenous iron – that offers them a large dose of nutrient. This treatment must be performed under medical supervision in the hospital.

Some patients report one dose that resolve their symptoms, while others need repeated treatment for several years.

At present, few NHS patients receive iron infusions and treatment can cost up to £ 800 at private clinics. Charitions have called on the NHS to offer more restless leg syndrome patients the treatment.

However, experts say that for many patients a freely available daily iron supplement can be sufficient to combat the debilitating symptoms.

“Supplements are fast and must be the first earliest intervention for people with low iron stores,” says Dr. Anderson. ‘That is why we ask all GPS to control the iron levels of their restless leg patients. It can make a big difference. ‘

Mother of three Emma Nash, 58, from Suffolk, had been a restless Beens syndrome for more than 40 years and tried a series of medicines, including dopamine agonists and opioids, before he focused on intravenous iron.

The retired academic has the condition since she was 14 and says that the symptoms got worse as she got older.

“I got this itchy sensation in my knees that used to rob me from my sleep,” she says. “And when I was pregnant, it came back with a revenge.”

In 2023, Emma decided to get an intravenous iron injection after she heard about it from the Charity Restless Legs Syndrome UK.

After months of Pushing, she was able to receive the treatment of a local clinic. Emma says that, three weeks after the injection, her restless leg symptoms have disappeared – and have not returned.

“I wish I had received this treatment years ago,” she says. “It would have saved me from decades of suffering.”

Where supplements take months to have an effect, doctors say that intravenous iron works within a few weeks.

“It should be seen as common sense that all patients with restless Beens syndrome, not only patients with low blood ice mirrors, get intravenous iron,” says Professor Toby Richards, who runs the Iron Clinic on Harley Street and is an expert at IJzer at University College London.

“Why put people on years of tablets, with known side effects, when a 15 -minute treatment could reduce their symptoms?”